In fact, early childhood education has been found to be one of the strongest determinants of a child's readiness for school, in both high-income and low-income countries. Participation in organized learning one year before the official entry age for primary school has risen steadily over the past years. At the global level, the participation rate in early childhood education was 69 per cent in 2017, up from 63 per cent in 2010. However, considerable disparities were found among countries, with rates ranging from 7 per cent to nearly 100 per cent.