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A new mandate for the Working Group on Early Childhood Education and Care at Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

28 January 2022

In 2021, a new Working Group on ECEC has been set up by the Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), continuing its efforts to support Member States to implement the 2019 Council Recommendation for high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) systems and its main component, the EU Quality Framework for ECEC.

Eurochild and ISSA, the co-leads of the First Years, First Priority Campaign, are members of the Working Group on ECEC.

In the new mandate, the Working Group on ECEC will focus on issues related to measuring, monitoring and evaluation of quality, and on inclusion, staff professionalisation and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the early childhood education and care sector. The group started its activity in January 2022 and will end the first working cycle by the end of 2025.

The Group will assist DG EAC in the preparation of policy initiatives in the field of education and training in relation to ECEC, as well as in establishing cooperation/coordination between the Commission and Member States or stakeholders regarding policies in the field of ECEC, and in supporting the exchange of experience and good practice among EU Member States.

Read the report of the previous Working Group