SEAMEO Innotech has prioritized Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Southeast Asia as one of its programmatic areas to support universalization of ECCD in the region. As part of its research agenda, the Center has completed an investigation of the ECCD quality assurance policies, mechanisms and models being implemented by SEAMEO member countries. 

Consciously setting aside a time to stimulate young children’s development is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the 1980s, preschools in most countries were largely focussed on providing simple child minding.1 But as economies shift towards more knowledge-based activities, awareness about child development—the need to improve their social awareness, confidence and group interaction skills, and to prepare them for starting primary education—continues to grow. Nevertheless, policymakers still give most attention to the tertiary, secondary and primary levels of education, in descending order of importance, with the least focus given to the early years of child development. 

This study aimed to determine the age specific normative patterns (age percentiles) of what children can do or know (skills) and subsequently use these to compile a series of Early Child Developmental Standards that reflect the development patterns of Sri Lankan children. These norms provide the context specific basis for understanding the development patterns of Sri Lankan children in early years. The age percentiles could also be considered as essential baseline information required for constructing context specific development screening tools.