An analysis of early childhood development facilities as centres of care and support for vulnerable children using the asset based community development model: a case study of Uganda

The community-based Early Childhood Development (ECD) model recognises ECD as a community development effort. Knowing the subjective nature of social issues, the study used the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Model as the framework for analysis, not least because it defines development contextually, and covers three major concerns of community development; structure, power and shared meaning. A key outcome of this study was that it modified and extended the use of ABCD model from a tool for community development work to an evaluation tool. Broadly, this pointed to the need to change the way education programmes are evaluated. The study also provided evidence for scaling up of the ECD model in vulnerable communities, especially in the global south where governments are unable to provide the service. The study pursued what happens when a community based ECD intervention is implemented, and how and why it produces a particular effect. Therefore, it was primarily qualitative and used individual experiences as a basis to understand the ECD programme. Theoretically, the study used the phenomenology framework of inquiry, recognising the importance of the social and cultural position of actions, interactions, and interpretations of any given situation. A natural choice of approach was the case study approach which allowed for a focus on the local context and situation. The study linked the theory, the literature and the data through template analysis, and found that through community participation and community capacity, a community’s social assets at individual, organisational and institutional level can work together to provide semiformal pre-primary education. This ECD model provides a viable option for care and support for vulnerable children who may otherwise miss out on the accrued individual, economic and social benefits of EC