[1] Cognitive, socio-emotional and physical development during early childhood is crucial to the child's ability to achieve their potential, and to the social and economic health of society as a whole.
However, poverty, stunting and lack of intellectual stimulus in low- and middle-income countries damage early development of almost half of all children aged 3 to 4, which will affect them through their lives.
One of the main reasons is lack of access to early childhood education programs, particularly for poor, rural families.
IDELA was to be a feasible, holistic, rigorous, open source instrument that ccould easily be adapted to different societies.
Although there were limitations to the approach, results show that IDELA is a practical and rigorous method of measuring learning and development before children begin their primary schooling.