Starting Well Index-2012

Starting Well Index was compiled by Economist Intelligent Unit based on Preschool systems around the world. They surveyed 45 countries around the world.The term "Preschool"  is based on UNESCO's ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education),so for preschools  ISCED 0 programmes.These programmes are based on :

•  The curriculum must have educational properties.
• The programme must be school or center based.
• The minimum age of children whom this is designed is three years old and the upper limit is entry to ISCED 1.
• Where applicable ,staff are required to have some pedagogical credential.

This report discusses both quality and inclusiveness .The key indicators are categorized into four -they are 

1. Social Context.
2. Availability.
3. Affordability.
4. Quality.

The rich countries did better than the poorer countries in this survey,and according to the report there is a strong correlation between country's income per person and its overall ranking. India ranks 45th , i.e last in the ranking. According to the report

" India ranks last overall,behind other countries such as Ghana(40th), Philippines(43rd)and Indonesia(44th),with a combination of limited availability,the lowest overall quality, and relatively high costs.This partly related to the fact that India faces the toughest social conditions:high rates of child malnutrition and child mortality,combined with low rates of literacy and immunization. " 

The cost of education is getting higher and higher in India but the quality of education is not upto the standard specially preschool environment.

Here is the list of Top 10 countries:

Rank	Country	Points
1.	Finland	91.8
2.	Sweden	91.7
3.	Norway	88.9
4.	UK	87.9
5.	Belgium	84.7
6.	Denmark	83.5
7.	France	81.0
8.	Netherlands	75.6
9.	New Zealand	73.9
10.	South Korea	72.5