NEED ASSESSMENT STUDY ON EARLY LEARNING ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOLLOWING SDG 4.2 IN PAKISTAN: INSIGHTS FROM STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS

Abstract

Early childhood education plays a central role in children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, forming the base for lifelong learning. Sustainable Development Goal 4.2 emphasizes the need for quality early childhood development and readiness for primary education, yet many countries continue to struggle with reliable tools to measure early learning outcomes. Pakistan lacks a standardized and culturally aligned early learning assessment tool, creating challenges for monitoring developmental progress, supporting classroom practice, and reporting national progress toward SDG 4.2 indicators (UNICEF, 2023). This study examines the perspectives of early childhood care and education (ECCE) professionals to determine the gaps in current assessment practices and identify the features required in a national early learning assessment tool.

A qualitative phenomenological design was used to capture the lived experiences of ECCE stakeholders. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners from Lodhran, Layyah, Bahawalnagar, and Mianwali, representing diverse school settings across southern Punjab. This sample offers insight into assessment practices in real classroom environments. Thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke’s (2022) six-step framework, guided the coding and interpretation of data.

Findings indicate that existing assessment practices are inconsistent, locally improvised, and limited in their ability to measure children’s developmental milestones. Participants emphasized the need for a culturally relevant assessment tool aligned with SDG 4.2 indicators, written in simple language, and adaptable to diverse socio-economic contexts. They also highlighted gaps in teacher training, noting that limited professional development weakens the reliability of assessment data (Khan et al., 2022).

The study concludes that Pakistan urgently requires a standardized early learning assessment tool to strengthen data quality, guide instructional decisions, and support national SDG reporting. The results point to the need for context-driven tool development, teacher capacity-building programs, piloting across regions, and long-term integration into national ECCE systems, consistent with global recommendations for early learning assessments (Benedict & Shaw, 2022).