International Perspectives in Childhood - Essay Example

Importance and need of pre-schooling in this age is evident where there both the parents are working and where huge number of families consists of single parents. Further, this age requires skills and knowledge more than any previous eras. This will effect individual life chances and low skill person would have hard time to survive in highly regulated market. In the following, I will compare the pre-schooling practices of Sweden and United Kingdom. I will also analyze different factors influencing pres-schooling in both the countries.

Pre-schooling of Sweden is considered one of the best and developed practices around the globe(Korpi, 2007). There could be a number of factors that contribute to this development including political, social and economic factors. UNICIF report card 7(The United Nations Children’s Fund, 2007) ranks different dimensions of child care in 21 developed countries including United Kingdom and Sweden. Following is the ranking of both the countries in those dimensions. Dimensions of Child Well-being United Kingdom compared Sweden Dimensions of child well-being Average ranking position (for all 6 dimensions Material well-being Health and safety Educational well-being Family and peer relationships Behaviours and risks Subjective well-being Sweden 5.

0 1 1 5 15 1 7 United Kingdom 18.2 18 12 17 21 21 20 Source:( Unicef, 2007) Above figures reflects that United Kingdom stands at 18th no. among all the 21 countries where as Sweden stands 5th. Clearly, Sweden has a developed material and educational system as compare to United Kingdom. In Sweden, all 3, 4 and 5 year olds has the right to pre-schooling for 525 hours a year. This is provided in pre-schools and is free of charge for the parents. Further, here parents of the children under one year age have privilege of one year leave.

In issues like bullying, Sweden has a better record than most of the developed countries with about 15% of children reporting being bullied Educational practices of pre-schooling are better developed in Sweden. The pre-school environment is more like a family home(Lewis, 2006). In England, preprimary education is not compulsory by any law. However; private schools are providing preprimary education(European Commission, 2010 ). .Compulsory school age is 5 apart from North Ireland. However during last decade there has been strong political movements to develop public pre-schooling system in U.K. as resent as 1999.

(Krip 2007). Various economic, social and political factors are contributing the growth of childcare the UK. For instance, overall European context about pre-schooling has been pushing the UK to adopt a comprehensive policy and practice in ECE. For instance, in 2003, UK had one of the lowest percentage(25) of less three year old children entering childcare education..There has been a growing body of research supporting government funded pre-schooling. (Mahon, 2008) Female employment has been a key driver of childcare demand in U.K. and other developed countries.

This growth increases the demand of necessary facilities in pre-schooling.in 2004, British government offered The Best Start for Children. Later on in 2006, Childcare Act promised nationwide children care centers. The preschool initiatives in the U.K. include free education for every 3- and 4-year-old beginning with 12.5 hours a week (for 38 weeks) and rising to 15 and then 20 hours over several years. (Halfon et al, 2009). In Conclusion, I would say , in the U.K. pre-schooling is going under development stages whereas in Sweden, it has deep historical roots along with progressive development.

The educators, politicians and social scientist need to reflect upon the successful practice around developed countries including Sweden. References European Commission (2010) National system overviews on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms , EURYDICE, Viwed 12-03-2011,