Challenges Facing Early Childhood Education in Developing Countries

Abstract

The environment where the child is educated must offer different opportunities for children through which they will be helped in their social and emotional development, in accordance with their age and level of development. The physical and social environment affects the behavior of both, the educator and the child. By owning the environment and taking control of the classroom space, the educator and the child fulfill the need to feel capable of responding to any demand or challenge they face. Being a country in transition, Kosovo faces various challenges in terms of providing a suitable environment for education according to standards for children at an early age. The research focuses on early care and education institutions and how they provide adequate conditions in terms of physical and social environment and what are the differences between public and private institutions. The study was carried out with heads of nursery, kindergartens and preschool institutions, as well as, with educators and parents (N = 137). Precisely, ten public and ten private institutions were included in the study. The study was carried out in 8 municipalities or about 1/3 of the municipalities of Kosovo. The results of the study show that 74.1% of the institutions are satisfied with the physical spaces. However, there are significant differences between public and private institutions. The results of the study show that there is a higher satisfaction with 90% of public institutions with physical spaces compared to private ones which is 57%. Regarding social activities carried out in public and private institutions, the results show that there are no significant differences (p=0.129).

Received: 14 September 2022 / Accepted: 25 October 2022 / Published: 5 November 2022