Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support children in countries that benefit from UK aid to have access to high-quality childcare; and what plans she has to support an increase in nursery quality in those countries so that all children are prepared and ready for school at age five.

DFID delivers education, health, nutrition and water and sanitation services for young children in several countries benefitting from UK aid. This includes prioritising nutrition investments in children’s first 1,000 days and investing in high quality childcare through pre-school provision. In Burma the UK has supported 200,000 children to access quality pre-school education. In Tanzania the successful 16 week School Readiness Programme benefits 160,000 children.

The UK advocated for the inclusion of early childhood development in the Global Goals agreed in 2015. DFID invests in research to strengthen the evidence for future investments, launching a new research programme with the British Academy this year, the results of which will be disseminated broadly to shape future programming.