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Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Division

Under the direct supervision of the Chief Education Officer, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Division has overall responsibility for leadership, governance and management of the ECCE sector throughout Trinidad, and in collaboration with The Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport for ECCE Centres in Tobago.

Early Childhood Care and Education is the first phase of the seamless education system in Trinidad and Tobago and targets children aged three (3) to four (4) years. It members work to coordinate, develop and manage ECCE programmes that are developmentally appropriate, and promote the holistic development of young children, thus laying the foundation for lifelong learning.

This Division is responsible for:

  • Programming, coordinating and monitoring ECCE activities in the field.
  • Monitoring delivery of the ECCE Programme in all ECCE Centres throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Advising agencies involved, on the proper implementation of the programme.
  • Monitoring the physical conditions of all ECCE Centres and making recommendation to respective agencies for improvement.
  • Providing professional advice where needed in the system.

Management of ECCE Centres

There are presently one hundred and thirty-eight (138) fully operational Government and Government Assisted ECCE centres throughout Trinidad and Tobago, sixty-three (63) SERVOL SERVOL managed centres and six hundred and ninety-one (691) Privately run ECCE centres.

Each Government and Government Assisted ECCE centre is staffed by an Administrator/ Teacher, Teacher, Teacher Assistants, Auxiliary and Ancillary personnel. In keeping with the Standards for Regulating ECCE Services, a strict Staff/Child Ratio of 1:15 (maximum) is adhered to at all times.

Each of the seven districts is supervised by a District Cluster Administrator while the Core Management Team at the ECCE Division is charged with core functions to oversee the entire sector.

ECCE Teacher Training and Development

All Administrators/Teachers at Government and Government Assisted ECCE centres are well qualified with either a Bachelors in Education (B.Ed.) in ECCE or a Masters in Education (M.Ed.) while the Teacher Assistants and Auxiliary members of staff possess either a Certificate or Bachelors in Education (B.Ed.) in ECCE.

Continuous internal professional development is conducted throughout the year by the ECCE Division for both private and public sector to ensure that quality practices within the ECCE sector is maintained.

Contact Information

Early Childhood Care and Education Division (ECCE)
Ministry of Education
Education Towers
Level 13
#5 St. Vincent Street,
Port-of-Spain.
Tel: (868) 478-0774 
Email: ecce@moe.edu.tt