Defining Quality Early Childhood Education (ECEI) Standards in Nigeria: A Comparative Policy Analysis Utilizing the Canadian Regulatory Framework

Abstract

Quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a definitive issue in determining the outcomes of initial learning, but Nigeria is still grappling with
discrepancies in policy development, regulation, and labor proficiency standards. The paper at hand is a comparative policy research on the
developing ECE policy in Nigeria and the established policy in Canada that is able to establish a logical coherent set of quality standards that
would be applicable to the diverse education environment of Nigeria. The study will review qualitative documents and use a thematic analysis
to examine the major aspects of quality governance licensing, curriculum frameworks, qualification of educators, and monitoring systems as well
as funding models. The Canadian model of high provincial control, a uniform system of educator career, and a regular quality control can be a
useful prism in the evaluation of the Nigerian situation. The results also show that despite the fact that the policy intent of Nigeria has been set
with regard to the global ECE principles, there is still a gap in policy implementation, intergovernmental collaboration, and professionalization
of the early childhood educators. The research paper presents an adaptive model incorporating the best practices in Canada like accreditation
systems of tier and data-based quality evaluation to the decentralized system of education in Nigeria. It is recommended that it be implemented
gradually, that the workforce be developed, and an independent quality assurance body is established, to provide sustainability. This comparative
context highlights the aspect of contextualised regulatory harmonisation to realise equitable access, accountability and quality improvement
quantifiably in the early learning sector in Nigeria.