Mrs. Wallace, is scheduled to leave St. Kitts on 25th, bound for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where she will join her regional counterparts for the four-day event which will stretch from 27th June to 30th June.
Speaking with MiyVue.com, Wallace underscored the importance of this sort of exercise in the advancement of early childhood development.
“The time in a child’s life between 0 – 3 years is a vulnerable period and they (at the forum) would be looking at programmes that they want to implement across the Caribbean that can help in stimulating the children’s environment at this stage in their life. It is said that during this period, the brain is more vulnerable and as a result, this period is critical for stimulation. It is during this time that the architecture of the brain is developed or the rewiring of the brain takes place. It is the window of opportunity for learning.”
MiyVue.com understands that the broad theme of the forum is “Supporting the Development of Children 0-3 Particularly, the most vulnerable” and according to Wallace, the forum provides an avenue where early childhood personnel from across the region would share their experiences and programmes which have been implemented in the various territories.
“Persons will be sharing some of the things they are doing for children between the ages of 0 and 3 years old and if there is a programme that I like, I will bring it here. I also have my own programme that I will share which has been implemented in the Federation for some time now, called ‘Reach the Children Where They Are’. As a result of attending the forum, each participant will come up with some sort of plan or a project that will help children 0-3 years old. Normally when we come up with a plan to be implemented locally, it is executed in consensus of everyone at the Unit.”
The forum – which is expected to attract dozens from across the region – is being organised by the CARICOM Secretariat and Caribbean Child Support Initiative partnership and according to a Caribbeannewsnow report, is aimed at “1) sensitizing influential policy making personnel in government; 2).creating a greater awareness of the need to provide direct support to the development for children zero to three; and 3) solidifying the need for mainstreaming early childhood programming for children zero to three, particularly for the vulnerable, through government ministries for sustainability of child development in the Caribbean Community.”