Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) is provided for in which law?

• A. RA 6972
• B. RA 11650
• C. RA 8980
• D. DepEd Order no. 12 s. 2020

Answer: (C)

The concept being tested is which law creates and governs early childhood care and development. The correct source is the Early Childhood Care and Development Act, formally Republic Act No. 8980. This law establishes a nationwide framework for ECCD, recognizing that the earliest years shape future learning and well‑being. It sets up the ECCD program, standards, and delivery modes for services to young children (from birth up to about four years old) and defines how national and local governments—especially the Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare and Development—organize, fund, and supervise ECCD through a coordinated system. It also creates national and local ECCD councils to plan, monitor, and support ECCD services, including both center-based and home-based care, and links to health, nutrition, and child protection. The other options refer to different laws or department directives that do not establish ECCD in the same statutory way, so they do not provide the basis for ECCD.