LET'S BUILD THE FUTURE TOGETHER

According to data released by the monitoring of schools in pandemic, attendance in kindergarten education establishments was below 80 percent during the first semester of 2022.

In this, ignorance is key.

Absenteeism at this stage of life is often a predictor of learning problems in higher grades and even school exclusion in the future. An authority in the field said that early education is the true higher education, the one where we must put all our efforts, because this is the stage in which children absorb knowledge with a natural ease. Their brain is a sponge that needs to be stimulated. It is at this stage of development that the playing field of opportunities is really leveled. Where a poor child, well stimulated, has no difference with a child from a high socioeconomic stratum.

A study conducted by the Choshuenco and Protectora de la Infancia foundations reveals that the impact on the development of children due to the closure of kindergartens and preschools is evidenced in a lower development of language and socio-emotional skills.

In our kindergartens and nurseries, we listen to concerned mothers because their young children wake up in the middle of the night, at two or three in the morning. And we ask them to tell us about their routine: at 11 p.m., the child fell asleep with the TV on, or with moms breastfeeding with the cell phone on until late. In the past, children who arrived at the nursery acquired their routines and graduated from high school with those cycles learned. On the other hand, when they are at home, in environments altered by the health, economic and social crisis, the lag in language, eating habits and health is noticeable. In everything.

We urgently need to take action to address these developmental losses, especially for children currently living in poverty and vulnerability; they are the ones who lose the most by not attending early education. If between March and June 2019, there were 633,414 students with serious non-attendance, this year they increased to 1,254,253 students, including pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, almost doubling. In other words, four out of every 10 students in the system do not attend kindergarten or school.

And this will undoubtedly have repercussions in their future lives. If we don't all do something now, tomorrow will be too late.