This report aims to analyze the importance of Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Saudi Arabia and why the enrolment rates of children at this age have not been growing and remain significantly low as opposed to other countries around the world. This report discusses why Saudi Arabia continues to struggle with and has not been able to recognize and encompass ECE as a vital stage to begin learning. I looked into Saudi Arabia’s ECE past and present enrolment rates and the current vision for ECE based on the Saudi Vision 2030. In addition, I compared Saudi Arabia’s governance and access to ECE and pre-service education and recruitment policies for ECE educators with the UK. Furthermore, I highlighted the implications of not taking advantage of ECE services on global assessments at later stages of learning based on secondary source data from these internationally recognized assessments – Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMMS), The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The evidence gathered in this report portrays that Saudi Arabia should modify their ECE policies and framework to achieve its Saudi Vision 2030 goals. It also reviews the UK’s ECE policies, which Saudi Arabia can consider using as a model to reform its policies and increase their enrolment rate at this stage.
Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Saudi Arabia, Teaching, Vision 2030, enrolment, preschool education
