Colombia University US followed 1386 children 989 of whom were enrolled in Child-Parent Center Education Programme

Children enrolled in a full-time preschool programme that sees them through elementary school, have a better life 25 years later than children who didn’t go to preschool. Researchers from Colombia University, US followed 1,386 children 989 of whom were enrolled in Child-Parent Center Education Programme from 1983 to 1989 and 550 who weren’t, BBC reported. All the children went to full-day kindergarten and received social services. Fifteen per cent of the control group attended Head Start, with the rest in home care.

It was found that children who went through preschool have higher incomes, higher education levels and higher socioeconomic status, are less likely to abuse drugs or be involved in criminal activities. They are also more likely to have health insurance coverage. Preschool was especially beneficial for males and children from high-risk or impoverished families. According to the researchers the preschool programme succeeded for several reasons. First, children were enrolled when they were 3 years old so they got more participation in the programme. Also, since the programme was run by local schools, all the teachers were certified in early childhood education, which is not true of many preschool programmes.

The programme was also coupled with outreach programmes that involved parents in their child’s education. The programme itself emphasised language development and literacy. These findings encourage access to high-quality pre-school programmes through public funding for children.