Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Objectives. - The ECCD System shall pursue the following objectives:

(a) Reduce infant and child mortality rates, and subsequently eliminate preventable deaths, by ensuring that adequate health and nutrition programs are accessible to young children and their parents and parent-substitutes, from the prenatal period throughout the early childhood years;

(b) Enhance the physical-motor, socio-emotional, cognitive, language, psychological, and spiritual development of infants and young children;

(c) Facilitate a seamless transition to, and ensure that young children are adequately prepared for, the formal learning system that begins at kindergarten;

(d) Establish an efficient system for early identification, prevention, referral, and intervention for the wide range of children with special needs below five (5) years of age, using the Child Find System under Republic Act No. 11650;

(e) Reinforce the role of parents and parent-substitutes as the primary caregivers and educators of their children especially those below five (5) years of age;

(f) Improve the quality standards of public and private ECCD programs through, among others, recognition and accreditation; and upgrade and update the capabilities of service providers and their supervisors through their continuing education, reskilling, and upskilling;

(g) Ensure that special support is provided in the delivery of the ECCD programs and services for the poor, disadvantaged, and minority communities, and that children with disabilities are accommodated through the most appropriate languages and means of communication, and in environments that maximize academic and social development; and

(h) Employ teachers, including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified to manage young children with developmental delays and disabilities, and train professionals and staff who work at all levels of education.