Abstract
The goal of preschool education is to support children’s cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development, providing a safe and nurturing environment for young children to learn and interact with their peers. However, estimates indicate that 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential due, in part, due to inadequate and inequitable access to preschools. In Ecuador, 60% of the children aged 3 to 4 years old remained unenrolled in 2020-21; numbers further declined after the covid-19 pandemic, with only 27% of 3- and 4-year-old children being provided with early childhood education services among rural and vulnerable populations. Recognising the lack of access to public preschools and additionally the lack of motivation among parents to send their child to preschools, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education (MoE) launched a programme to provide regular home visits to ‘vulnerable’ families in 2018. In our study we collaborate with the MoE to improve the quality of this programme through professional development, technology-aided monitoring, and support for both teachers and parents. The evaluation will test if these programme improvements lead to an increase in child development outcomes using a cluster randomised control trial.