Early Childhood Care and Development Act

Promotes children’s rights to survival, development, and special protection.
Supports parents as primary caregivers and educators.
Institutionalizes a National ECCD System that prioritizes developmentally appropriate experiences.

Improve infant and child survival with accessible health and nutrition programs.
Enhance holistic development including physical-motor, socio-emotional, cognitive, language, psychological, and spiritual aspects.
Facilitate a smooth transition from home to community or school-based settings and kindergarten.
Prepare children adequately for formal education.
Establish early identification, prevention, referral, and intervention systems for children with special needs.
Upgrade capabilities of service providers and supervisors to meet quality standards.
Reinforce parental roles and enhance community involvement.
Provide special support to poor, disadvantaged, and linguistic minority communities.
Improve quality standards via registration, credentialing, and accreditation of service providers and facilities.
Ensure education for children with disabilities in appropriate languages/modes like Filipino Sign Language and Braille.
Employ qualified teachers, including those with disabilities.

ECCD System: Full range of health, nutrition, early education, and social services for children zero (0) to four (4) years.
ECCD Service Providers: Professionals, paraprofessionals, and volunteers directly handling early childhood care and education.
ECCD Curriculum: Developmentally-appropriate educational objectives, programs, materials, and assessments for children zero to four years.
Parent Education: Formal and alternative means to equip parents with information and skills as primary caregivers and educators.

ECCD Curriculum: Focus on total development; culturally and individually appropriate; uses child’s first language.
Parent Education and Community Mobilization: Develop parents’ strengths and promote community participation.
Human Resource Development Program: Professionalize ECCD service providers with training, education, and credentialing.
ECCD Management: Ongoing planning, supervision, financial management, monitoring, and reporting with stakeholder involvement.

National ECCD System to be expanded to all provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays for universal coverage.

ECCD Council is responsible for implementation, including standard setting, policy development, technical assistance, and monitoring.
DepED, DSWD, DOH, NNC, and ULAP collaborate with yearly workshops for coordinated planning.
LGUs allocate funds, organize parent cooperatives, support professional development, and provide facilities.
Families and communities participate in health, nutrition, social, and education projects.

ECCD Council attached to DepED to ensure sustained multisectoral collaboration.
Composed of Governing Board with national department heads and a private ECCD expert, meeting regularly.
Secretariat headed by Executive Director for coordination and monitoring.

Promulgate policies and guidelines.
Establish program standards aligned with kindergarten curriculum.
Develop national systems for recruitment, registration, accreditation, and credentialing.
Promote awards and recognition.
Coordinate, monitor, and evaluate ECCD programs nationwide.
Develop early identification and support systems.
Facilitate funding mechanisms prioritizing needy children.
Encourage private sector and resource mobilization.

Initial funding charged to current appropriations of DepED, DSWD, DOH, and NNC.
Ongoing funding included in the General Appropriations Act.
PAGCOR to contribute P500 million annually for five years for Child Development Centers.
ECCD programs financed by public and private funds prioritizing disadvantaged children.
Fees monitored to remain affordable; families encouraged to contribute time and services.