The staff of the Taub Center Initiative on Early Childhood Development and Inequality continue to stand at the forefront of research and policy discussions in the area of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Israel. In the absence of any other agency in the field, the role of the Initiative as an essential link between organizations and the relevant policy makers has grown stronger. The Initiative has found increasing opportunities for professional dialogue and implementation in the field.
With the government’s announcement in December 2022 that it intends to proceed with plans for free early childhood education and the growing public discussion on the subject, the staff of the Taub Center Initiative on Early Childhood Development and Inequality published a special Position Paper examining the issue in depth. The paper presented the issues that need to be addressed before free early childhood education is extended to include those children below the age of three, with an emphasis on the importance of the quality of the education and the optimal preparedness of the system for this process. In addition, several alternatives were presented. The publishing of the paper was covered by the Calcalist, Ynet and Ha’aretz, and the staff of the Initiative held meetings and discussions with policy making staff in charge of the program.
Following the publication of the Position Paper, the Taub Center ran a Round Table meeting in February 2023 led by the Taub Center Initiative on Early Childhood. At the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Finance and Education, the National Security Council, academic institutions, and civil society organizations, the Initiative staff presented the main points of the position paper and the central issues of concern while participants discussed possible alternatives. The representatives from organizations spoke of the importance of the Taub Center research and said that they found the research of help in focusing on the issues in need of attention. Representatives said further that they are pleased with the professional cooperation and connections they have been able to forge and expressed their desire to see these meetings continue in the future.
Every few months, the Taub Center gathers a Forum of professionals in the field of early childhood education and care — an interdisciplinary think tank made up of academic researchers, representatives of civil society organizations, and individuals from the field. The aim of the Forum is to discuss challenges and possible solutions in the early childhood education field in Israel and to encourage cooperation between stakeholders. Forum meetings include presentations on the latest Taub Center Initiative research, lectures, and discussions in the areas of early childhood education and care quality.
Meetings with policy makers
Over the past few months as the subject of early education has risen on the public agenda, Initiative staff have been participating continuously in meetings with policy makers, including lectures, discussions, Knesset committee meetings, and media interviews. Following the press meetings held by the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on April 30 where they announced their program for free early education and care from birth to age 3, the members of the Initiative responded to this plan and their response was published by Ynet.
Members of the National Economic Council, who were asked by the government to develop the plan, turned to Taub Center researchers for advice on policy implementation for free early education from birth to age three. National Economic Council members and Initiative staff held a number of meetings where the necessary steps prior to such a policy were outlined. Among other things, the difficulties the system faces today with education from birth to age three in both the public (supervised) and private sector were presented — a shortage of manpower, a shortage of quality manpower, and a shortage in physical facilities — as well as the challenges of implementing a voucher system. Emphasis was placed on the importance of long-term, in-depth treatment of the challenges that the system currently faces prior to consideration of widening it to include younger ages. In addition, the importance of investment in quality education while encouraging parents to join the labor force was stressed. Members of the National Economic Council were very interested and said that they would continue to use the research and publications of the Taub Center in their on-going work.
In fact, it seems that these meetings with the National Economic Council have borne fruit. At the beginning of the meetings the government proposal for expansion of free education from birth to age 3 was presented as a fight against rises in the cost of living, while in discussions following the publication of the Taub Center Position Paper and meetings with the National Economic Council members as well as other policy makers, the issue of quality education and other perspectives were added to the public agenda.
At a conference held in February in the Knesset on the collapse of the early education branch, chaired by Naomi Lazimi (Labor Party), and with the participation of Knesset members from a variety of political parties, Taub Center Initiative researcher Dr. Carmel Blank presented initial findings from a survey of preschool aides in the early childhood education system. Of all the organizations whose members spoke at the Knesset meetings, only those from the Taub Center presented data and results. MK Lazimi commented: “…the Taub Center is a serious research institute. It is of significance to come to the government and tell it what to do.” The findings that were presented raised a great deal of interest among conference participants, and many asked to participate in the survey and to encourage others to do so as well. After the conference, government representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Education asked Dr. Blank for more data from the survey and expressed a desire to assist the Initiative researchers in promoting an appropriate policy before the government.
Over the past few months, members of the Initiative have participated in Knesset committee discussions on the subject of early childhood: the Special Committee for the Rights of the Child which discussed childhood poverty in Israel (February) and the Special Committee for Young Israelis, which gathered to discussed budgets for early childhood (May). In addition, private meetings with Knesset members have been held where Initiative research was presented. Knesset member Naor Shiri (Yes Atid) spoke before the Knesset following a meeting with Taub Center researchers noting several issues that came up during that meeting, like the essential issues of early childhood that must be considered during policy making.
At many Knesset committee meetings, Taub Center researchers’ presence is felt. For example, in a discussion held by the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, held in February on the subject “difficulties in operating afternoon school activities,” MK MosheTur-Paz (Yesh Atid) mentioned the position of the Taub Center on the importance of investment in early childhood and the long-term impact of early childhood education and care programs.
Meetings with civil society organizations
The Taub Center research on early childhood is often quoted in studies by the Knesset Research and Information Center as well as those by the State Ombudsman. Since the Initiative’s founding, its research has been quoted in at least ten reports on early childhood, including Care and Education of Toddlers in Daycare Centers and Nurseries (State Comptroller, 2022, English abstract), Young Children’s Participation in ECEC Frameworks (Knesset Research and Information Center, 2022, Hebrew), Implementation of Reforms and Reduction of Gaps in Early Childhood Education (State Comptroller, 2023, English abstract from 2022), and at times, Taub Center researchers were quoted (from conferences held in 2021 and 2022) as a basis for their reports.
Initiative researchers are frequently invited to speak at conferences and events of experts in various fields. In May, Initiative researcher Dana Shay spoke to a group of 250 social workers from the Families First program of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs on the subject of poverty in early childhood and its long-term effects. She stressed the importance of locating these families and then of early intervention in order to respond to the levels of distress and narrow gaps. At the conclusion of the lecture, there was a discussion of how to translate theory into policy and implementation in dealing with families living in poverty.
Activities of the Initiative on Early Childhood Development and Inequality receive a good deal of media attention. By the end of 2022, the Initiative’s work was mentioned 250 times by journalists, radio, and television programs, particularly on the subject of the impending government program. Examples of the television interviews are:
- Carmel Blank, Senior Researcher, Taub Center Initiative, was interviewed for the Knesset station on the Impact of Family Income on Young Children and Their Educational Attainments.
- Nachum Blass, Chair of the Taub Center Education Policy Program, was interviewed for the Knesset station on Reform in Early Childhood Education.