201 - Evaluation of Early Childhood Education: A comparative study of international evaluation assessments from a Global South perspective.

Abstract Information: The article aims to discuss the main international assessments used to measure the quality of early childhood education from a Global South perspective. The comparative study is based on the following questions: What aspects ensure quality to school education offered to children from zero to 5 years of age? What values and dimensions are articulated in the process of offering and organizing this type of education? What are the main learnings generated in Global South about childhoods that can contribute to assessing the quality of the educational experiences offered?

Itaú Foundation works in Brazil with Early Childhood Education, which involves the provision of care in nurseries for babies aged 0 to 36 months and in pre-schools for children aged 4 and 5. Educational care for this age group is a constitutional right and aims to promote fields of experience in an integrated way, enabling children to live, play, participate, explore, and express themselves. Assessing the quality of the experiences offered to children is an indispensable tool for ensuring this right.

For an early childhood education assessment to induce effective changes in educational policies, beyond expanding the volume of enrolments, the indicators used must take into account the context of socio-cultural diversity and economic, racial, regional, and gender inequalities in countries of Global South such as Brazil. These diversity and inequalities translate into a permanent challenge for the development of equitable educational proposals, considering factors such as the concomitant approach to the diversity of knowledge involved in the dimensions of caring, playing and interacting in collective environments; the need for active participation by school units in the network for protecting children's rights and the permanent promotion of horizontal dialog with families and communities in the territories.

We, therefore, propose to reflect on the capacities and limitations of national and international external evaluations for inducing the institutional transformations necessary for the continuous and qualified educational care of all children.