Early childhood education and care in Greece: In search of an identity

Abstract

Despite the considerable improvements that have taken place in the field of early child care and education services the last two decades in Greece, the availability of such services, especially for children under 3 years of age, continues to be rather limited compared to other European countries. The paper briefly presents a set of issues that are linked to the current situation of ECCE in the country such as a number of socio-cultural elements that outline the connection between family structure and childcare coverage, the types of ECCE arrangements and participation rates, the issue of quality and the major problems linked with this. Finally, the major findings that have been revealed by the few research studies are presented including the link between quality and developmental outcomes.