Investing in Early Childhood Education is the Future: A Public Lecture by Leadership Council Member, Hirokazu Yoshikawa

SDSN, with Pratham Education Foundation and the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) , co-hosted a public lecture, followed by a Q&A session in New Delhi on 9 January by Leadership Council member, Prof. Hirokazu Yoshikawa on Investing in Early Childhood Care: A Foundation for A Sustainable Future.

Addressing a packed audience of early childhood practitioners, teachers, parents, and students, Prof. Yoshikawa’s initial presentation discussed the neurological, psychological, and socio-economic evidence available to support the urgent need of investing in the early years. He stressed on the need for ‘process quality’ rather than ‘structural quality’ when scaling early childhood education (ECE) and provided numerous examples of where successful ECE programs have been implemented across Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Rukmini Banerji, Chief Executive Officer at Pratham, later joined Prof. Yoshikawa on stage to briefly highlight the Indian experience of early childhood care and programs. The session then proceeded onto a dialogue between the two ECE experts, who exchanged the different experiences and challenges they have faced when bringing their research to the field. The discussion concluded on a positive note as the insights and lessons shared aligned in strong support of furthering the work and research of Prof. Yoshikawa and other experts in his field.

This event, was the second in an on-going series of public lectures in New Delhi that aims to bring visiting SDSN Leadership Council members and partners together, and have them engage directly in a meaningful dialogue with local stakeholders, on various issues in sustainable development. The first lecture was in November 2017 by Klaus Leisinger on Global Values, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development.