Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) targets children aged 2-6 years old in Mongolia (Government of Mongolia 2006). Overall, ECCE programmes in the country are gradually improving. The gross enrolment rate for pre-primary education was 59% in 2009 with females having a slightly higher enrolment rate than their male counterparts (UIS 2009). All kindergartens are publicly subsidized however preschool education is not compulsory (IBE 2011). The National Policy on Integrated Early Childhood Development (IECD) has been adopted since 2005 and aims at improving and strengthening inter-sectoral collabouration and coordination in early childhood development with specific focus on disadvantaged groups, remote rural children and children with disabilities (UNESCO 2008). 

Access to ECCE in Mongolia is above the regional average gross enrolment rate (GER) of 28%, with a GER of 57% in 2009 (UIS 2009). However, despite these relatively high rates, the coverage across the country is uneven, with the highest rates found in the main cities and the lowest in BayaUlgii (Kazakh) province. Herders, who account for roughly 30% of the total population (World Bank 2010) count for only 15% of the total pre-school population. Such disparities cause unequal development opportunities for young children and have consequential impact on basic educational attainment at later stages (UNESCO 2008). 

Organization and duration of alternative forms of pre-primary education delivery varies. There is neither a standardized methodology nor a standard curriculum. There have been a number of pilots and trials to develop an education strategy for ECCE, including a multi-grade teaching methodology and alternative forms of pre-school education via parents and other communities (UNESCO 2008).

One of the main areas of concern regards the children of nomadic families.  In cases when these children do have access to alternative ECCE, the quality of such programmes is poor and the duration is short. For instance, in the visiting teacher programme, a teacher visits a nomadic family approximately once a month during certain times of the year, and the mobile kindergartens typically operate only in summer months. Therefore, nomadic children do not experience a sustained exposure to ECCE programmes. Furthermore, there is a lack of teacher certification, curriculum and service standards in the provision of alternative ECCE, as well as no official guidelines regarding how, by whom, for what duration and for what age group alternative ECCE should be organized. Performance indicators for alternative ECCE have not been developed and systematic training of teachers in alternative ECCE has been weak (IBE 2011).

The 3 ministry branches in charge of ECCE are the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (MESC), the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour (MSWL). Additionally, local governments at aimag, soum and bagh levels (provincial, district and sub- district levels), NGOs, parents’ associations and some private organizations are also involved in the management of ECCE (IBE 2011). 

The Education Law prescribes preschool education to be included in the general educational structure. In accordance with the Education Law, the nursery school is an organization designed to provide daycare for children less than 3 years of age. Accordingly, nursery is viewed as a non-educational organization generally designed to provide child daycare and is under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. The implementation of the government policies on children and the child rights protection legislation is the function of the National Authority for Children (NAC) (IBE 2011). 

The National Policy on Integrated Early Childhood Development has been adopted since 2005 (UNICEF 2005). This policy aims to improve and strengthen the inter-sectoral collabouration and coordination in early childhood development. The policy encourages a comprehensive and coordinated approach and efforts in developing quality service provisions, developing alternative forms of service delivery with greater participation of private sector and other stakeholders with specific focus on disadvantaged groups; remote rural children and children with disabilities (UNESCO 2008). The Mongolia Education Master Plan for 2006-15 looks to increase access throughout the country by targeting a 99% gross enrolment rate in pre-primary education by 2015. It also addresses the issue of quality with a number of initiatives including plans to combat the deterioration of facilities and teacher quality by building new schools and adequately training teachers (Government of Mongolia 2005). The Law on Preschool Education enacted in 2008 provides for alternative forms of provision of preschool education services and requires every child to be enrolled in early childhood education activities.