It's a good question, and sometimes early years education is different in different contexts, of course. There's a mix, a good hybrid mix, between ECD, or early years learning, and formal education marrying up with pre-primary and primary education. These days, in many countries in Africa and Asia, pre-primary education is often in the same school as primary education, so we're talking about sometimes starting four-year-olds or five-year-olds within the same formal setting as the primary. Then there are some settings where it might be even earlier.
Obviously, we're talking more about how to help transition between non-formal settings and community-based education initiatives, because often it's those children who drop off the radar, especially children with disabilities in the early years. Maybe early ECD providers and health care providers might be able to track those children. They get to three years old or four years old and then they're off the radar, and it's a really key stage to keep hold of them and track them. Otherwise, they get to six years old or seven years old, ready for primary, and we can't find them anymore. We often find early intervention is also key in terms of development, so if you do everything early on, you have better and longer-term outcomes. However, it's also about being able to continue with those children and support them through the transition from the early years services through to primary education. Children with developmental disabilities in particular can really benefit from that, but so can all children with disabilities and without, in fact.
Another really quick point is that children with and without disabilities merge really well together at that age group. I've seen it myself in those early settings. They don't notice that the child has different needs; they absolutely don't bat an eyelid. You can really promote inclusion in these younger age groups, which can be a really good model for older groups, where that might be more of a challenge. You can really promote inclusion in society by having inclusive early years settings where children are able to play and get along with each other.