AN OVERVIEW OF IMPEDIMENTS TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED EARLY CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT (IECD) POLICY IN EPE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE

Abstract

The study investigated impediments to the implementation of Integrated Early Child Care and Development (IECD) policy in Epe Local government area of Lagos state, south west Nigeria. The sample comprises 106 parents and 106 head teachers using purposive sampling techniques. The instrument used was a two-part questionnaire. Chi-square (X2) was used to analyse the data. The result showed that most parents in rural areas are not informed about the importance of birth registration at designated National Population Commission centres. The study also showed that few children from age 0-2+ were enrolled in public Early Childcare and Education (ECCE) centres. It was recommended that increased budgetary allocation should be made to education. Massive public awareness campaign for parents and other stakeholders on IECD and on the need for parents to register their children at designated National Population Commission centres for a successful implementation of IECD should be carried out.