Parliamentary forum calls for greater investment in Early Childhood ahead of National Budget

A special parliamentary forum highlighting the transformative impact investing in Early Childhood could have on Sri Lanka was organised by the Sri Lanka Parliamentary Caucus for Children in partnership with UNICEF, under the leadership of the Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya. 

Open to all Members of Parliament, this session presented new medical and economic research on the impact of early childhood development on economic and social development across Asia and Sri Lanka.  

In his key note address, renowned economist Dr. Michael Samson, Director of Research at the Economic Policy Research Unit and author of a British Medical Journal Global Health paper entitled ‘Cognitive capital, equity and child sensitive social protection Asia and the Pacific’, presented his groundbreaking research on how, by implementing and investing in a set of proven early childhood development polices and activities, parliamentarians and policymakers could achieve a substantial increase in health outcomes, productivity and the cognitive capital of future generations of Sri Lankans and support the achievement of  Sri Lanka’s Vision 2025 for sustainable development. 

“Childhood investments in cognitive capital generate the highest social and economic returns governments can achieve,” said Dr. Samson, adding that there was no other investment that raises productivity fast enough to address the demographic challenges that Sri Lanka and many other countries were facing.

Addressing the forum, Speaker Jayasuriya said: “As representatives of the people, we formulate policies for the development of the country, including so many projects exclusively for children. Yet early childhood development is a subject on which we have to focus our special attention. We should allocate more funds for early childhood development in the Budget process in order to harness the maximum benefits for future generations.”

The special parliamentary forum was chaired by the Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Chairperson for the Parliamentary Caucus for Children. Dr. Fernandopulle highlighted key follow-up action to be taken by the Caucus, including the need to fast-track the Early Childhood Development Policy, increase the salary allocation for pre-school teachers, promote parenting and community-based programs on early stimulation and the need to boost the role of public health midwives beyond health and nutrition to also cover the cognitive development of children.

The UNICEF Representative for Sri Lanka, Tim Sutton, said: “Investment in Early Childhood Development has been proven to shape the educational success, health and productivity of individuals, ensuring that they are skilled and better prepared to take on the future challenges of a global and digital economy. In fact, its rate of return can be as high as 13.7%.” 

“We all want a stable and prosperous Sri Lanka, achieving its full potential. Through smart investments in Early Childhood Development, we can secure Sri Lanka’s economic wealth, we can ensure that Sri Lanka is rich in its most important and precious resource – its human capital,” he added.

Several key ministers including State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne and Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development Dr. Harsha De Silva as well as development partners such as World Bank Operational Advisor Valerie Layrol provided valuable input at the forum.