Situation and Outcome-Based Recommendations to Promote Early Childhood Development

Abstract

Promoting development of the full potential of children in their early childhood will help them become better quality adults. Although the family plays the primary roles in nurturing and promoting the development of their children, cooperation with their communities and support from the state are also valuable. Many government sectors, such as agencies related to public health, education, and socio-economics, are involved in, and play a principal role, child development. All parties involved have to integrate their work accordingly to enable it to be provided in a supportive, concrete way. Currently, the operations among them are clearer than it has been in the past, but the health conditions and development of Thai children still needs to be continuously improved. This article aims to review the current situation and propose outcome-based guidelines for promoting early childhood development. The guidelines are focused on the quality of services for families and providing all agencies involved with an individualized child developmental portfolio, which will be shared among them. The portfolio will be used as evidence of the efficacy and success of development promotion programs for each individual child to help achieve the ultimate goal of all Thai children having proper developmental support to achieve the best outcome possible and become a quality human resource for the nation.