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Written by Winnie Biira - CEO - Children on the Edge Africa

June 25th, 2026

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Our part in shaping and launching Uganda's 2025 Early Childhood Education Policy

After many years developing the play-based elements of our early childhood education programme in Kyaka II refugee settlement, Uganda, our team were delighted to be asked to contribute to the government’s new policy with suggestions on play-based learning.

Contributing to a new national approach

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy 2025 has been introduced by the Ugandan government to ensure that the much-needed change in the early years sector is something the whole country gets behind.

They launched it publicly to show that early childhood education is a strong national priority and, as part of this process, have engaged all kinds of organisations to work together and pull in the same direction. The policy connects early years education to Uganda's wider, long-term goals. The idea is to bring people and resources together so that every single child gets a quality start in life.

For our policy input, Children on the Edge Africa focused on three main areas: child safety, developmental progression, and overall usability. We recommended:

  • Embedding explicit child protection guidelines for teachers and adding simple personal safety lessons into the curriculum for the children.

  • Creating a clearer progression across age groups, adjusting the balance of play so younger children can access more free play while older children engage in more structured learning. We also recommended linking the outcomes logically across the three-year journey towards a clear final goal.

  • User-friendly materials - Standardising formatting to make the books easier to navigate, shortening the guides, simplifying the assessment process, and adding concrete examples on how to support children with special educational needs.

Children on the Edge Africa also joined the ECCE Technical Working Group meeting at Golden Tulip Hotel Kampala on 12th March, 2026, to plan and establish the readiness of the ECCE Policy launch under the theme: Aligning Evidence, Standards and Plans for Quality ECCE delivery (2025 - 2030).

Joining the launch and promoting our model

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy was officially launched on 30th April 2026 by the Ministry of Education and Sports under the theme: ‘Strong Beginnings, Bright Futures.’

Children on the Edge Africa were delighted to be part of the celebrations, firstly joining the ‘ECCE walk’ on the 29th, going from Embassy House, Ministry of Education and Sports, to Nakivubo Blue Primary School. Hundreds of children and early years supporters came out in the rain, a good number on roller skates, and marked the launch of the policy by taking to the streets.

Alongside the march, The Network for Early Childhood Development Actors Uganda (NECDA) curated an ‘ECCE Models Marketplace’, creating a public exhibition of civil society’s work on early childhood care and education. This was organised in seven themed streets tied to the Policy, and Children on the Edge Africa were privileged to host a stand promoting our Cluster Learning model and play-based approach under the 2nd theme street, “Increasing Access”. Cluster Learning primarily contributes to two key objectives of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECE) policy, through expanding access to quality early learning and strengthening community awareness and ownership.

This was a truly special moment for our team, who loved the opportunity to unite with so many others at this milestone for our children’s futures.

Read more about our Cluster Learning Model and find out how it works in action by checking out the links below.

To find out about supporting this work or using the approach, contact Solomon Mutumba - Children on the Edge Africa COO, at:

solomon@coteafrica.org

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