‘Places to Grow’ Conference in Prague, Czechia, 14 November 2024.
Photo Credit: Martin Faltejsek
On 14 November 2024, Dr Charmaine Bonello was invited to share her insights at the Prague conference Places to Grow: Supporting Children, Transforming Tomorrow.
The event focused on sharing research, policy, and practice to improve early years systems, highlighting a stark truth: ongoing underinvestment and systemic neglect in early childhood education.
Research by Nobel laureate, James Heckman, demonstrates that early investments in a child's life yield higher returns. Yet governments often prioritise short-term gains over long-term benefits.
Speakers highlighted fragmented systems and the undervaluing of early years educators, with wage disparities, limited recognition, and inadequate training undermining quality outcomes. While accessibility has increased, quality remains compromised. Without coordinated action in the early years sector, the long-term societal costs of inaction will far outweigh today's investments.
Dr Charmaine Bonello is senior lecturer in early childhood and primary education, Faculty of Education, University of Malta. She is co-author of a new book (with Anna Baldacchino and Carmen Dalli) documenting the transformative work of seven early childhood educators in Malta.
