Experiences of Community Youth Leaders in a Youth-Led Early Childhood Education Program in Rural Pakistan

Youth-led early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs offer a promising model for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goal targets. The program "Youth Leaders for Early Childhood Assuring Children are Prepared for School" (LEAPS) was developed to address the educational needs of children and female youth in rural Sindh, Pakistan. In LEAPS, community youth leaders (CYLs), aged 18-24 years, implement an ECCE program after receiving targeted, practical training and engaging in continuous mentoring and communities of practice. This paper focuses on the experience of LEAPS participation for ten CYLs. Using random intercept generalized linear latent and mixed models, significant improvements were observed in ECCE and professional skills. Quantitative analyses were triangulated with results from a qualitative analysis of two CYL exit focus group discussions. Findings suggest that, in some contexts, youth-led ECCE models can feasibly address ECCE workforce gaps while offering leadership and professional development opportunities for youth.