Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali from World Bank Group stresses a point during the discussion yesterday.

By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

Governments of different countries will find it hard to become successful in ending poverty without investing in early childhood education and addressing the wide gap in inequality among children, an official of World Bank Group has said.
“If I were a minister of finance that is where I will put my money,” Middle East and North Africa (Mena) education practice manager Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali said.
“That is a fundamental priority for all our countries. My second point is we have to do this now.”
Speaking as one of the panellists at a discussion at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) yesterday, she cited a University of Chicago study (by James Heckman) showing the extent of inequality between the richest and poorest children in the US.
In terms of the students’ performance in tests and their results, the children from the poorest countries performed 15% points lower.
“That was in first grade when they were six years old. When you observed throughout the years in elementary, by the time they finished elementary, they are even worse than when they started because the difference becomes 25% points,” she explained.
El-Kogali pointed out that by the time children who come from a poor family enter elementary or primary school, they are already at a disadvantage.
“They cannot catch up because it just gets worse. It is really important to invest at the earlier years in pre-school to ensure they will be starting at an equal footing,” she added.
The World Bank Group official, along with Caroline Krafft, also made a similar study in the Mena region, which focuses on (and titled) ‘Expanding Opportunities for the Next Generation.’
The study also looked into the status of early childhood development in 12 countries in the Mena region including health and well-being of children.
“We also look at the extend of inequality within the countries and the whole idea is to tell governments that you will not be able to succeed as long as you have such high gaps in inequality and opportunities for children,” El-Kogali said.
According to the study, the Mena region to date has lagged behind other regions in its approach to early childhood development.
This stage, the study explains, is crucially formative (brain at its peak) and provides a vital foundation for success during childhood, adolescence, and adult life.
“If you missed, that it will be more costlier, children will miss the opportunity to develop their full potential,” she said.
The study also reported some of the key factors affecting early childhood development which include gender, parents’ education, household socioeconomic status (wealth), geographic location (region or governorate), and residence (urban or rural).
During the discussion, she expressed optimism that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will significantly help in addressing poverty and issues about education. SDG number 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lieflong learning opportunities for all.
“There is a recognition that is absolutely critical not just for human development but also for sustainable development because the benefit of it does not just come to the person and to their life trajectory but also to the whole country,” she said.
“All children should have equal opportunities to learn, to be healthy and that does not just occur by chance or by a huge poverty programme or by economic policy, you have to target these specific children to be able to achieve that,” El-Kogali added. Pages 6&8