psychosocial stimulation at home were again shown to be one of the strongest correlates with school readiness levels, and enrollment in school was the strongest correlate of school readiness. The school readiness measure spanned content knowledge of literacy and math but also included age-appropriate social-emotional skills. To our knowledge, very little has been studied relative to young children’s social-emotional skills in Pakistan until now. An exception is the recent ITA (2021) study in Punjab, which found that caregivers reported high levels of social-emotional skills among their young children, for example, getting along with other children (94 percent) and adjusting easily to transitions (79 percent). This domain, which includes the ability to share, follow directions, and cooperate, is known to be a key determinant of children’s concurrent and long-term wellbeing and achievement (Taylor et al., 2017).

To better understand caregiver beliefs about enrollment, parents were asked at what age they believe their child should begin school. We found that 42 percent of parents believe their child should begin school at age 5, followed by 34 percent believing their child should begin school at age 4. This range aligns with current education policy in Pakistan, which states that compulsory education begins at age 5, and children should have at least one year of preprimary education. Given that well over half (58 percent) of children aged 5 are, in fact, not enrolled in school (Tomlinson et al., forthcoming), the current finding underscores the need to better understand supply- and demand-side barriers and to expand access to preschool opportunities across Pakistan. The ITA (2021) study findings from Punjab underscore this need, given that only onefifth (21 percent) of heads of school reported high levels of regular attendance in school between January and March 2021, once schools reopened after COVID closures.

Results also showed a strong association between the age parents believe their child should begin school and actual enrollment, with younger-age beliefs correlating with actual enrollment. For example, parents who believe their child should begin school at age 3 have the highest rates of enrollment (regardless of child age); whereas parents who believe a child should enroll at age 6 are less likely than other parents to have a child enrolled in school (regardless of child age). Beliefs about school entry also differ by parental educational status. Uneducated mothers and fathers— that is, those who did not complete primary school—believe their child should start school at an older age than educated caregivers. The same pattern is seen with psychosocial stimulation; uneducated caregivers provide far less psychosocial stimulation than educated caregivers, who are more likely to talk with their young child, tell them stories, read to them, or take them on outings. This is true for mothers and fathers, but higher education levels—completion of secondary school or higher—correlates with higher stimulation for mothers than for fathers. This suggests both that supporting girls and women to go further in their education is especially important for improving ECD levels, and that intentionally teaching male caregivers about the importance of early stimulation could boost ECD outcomes.

# Parents need support to manage distress and mental health concerns

29