Countries mainly monitor to inform policy making and improve the level of quality. Jurisdictions do not always find it easy to ensure that monitoring practices support ECEC settings in stimulating child development, designing and implementing a unified monitoring system in decentralised countries, and ensuring appropriate training to those who conduct monitoring. To be valid and meaningful, evaluations of the quality of ECEC settings and programmes should be based on in-depth understanding of what contributes to quality and what quality is.