High-quality pre-school and pre-primary education has a positive impact on children's development and, especially for children from disadvantaged socio-economic and cultural (SEC) backgrounds, helps to develop social-emotional competences and cognitive skills (Drukker, Kaplan, Feron, van OsJ, 2003). The participation of children from disadvantaged SEC backgrounds in pre-school programmes increases the likelihood that they will avoid school failure and related problems in the future, which is why many European Union countries are focusing on the development of pre-school education services (European Commission / EACEA / Eurydice, 2025). International studies such as PISA (The Program for International Student Assessment) show that children who have participated in pre-school education for at least one year before starting school have better mathematics and reading skills than children who have not participated in institutional education (OECD, 2016). Hence, quality pre-primary education is one of the factors that determine a child's success in later stages of education. According to the European Parliament's Research Service, in 2019, around 20 million children - almost a quarter of the population aged 0-17 - are at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU. It is striking that the proportion of children in poverty is higher than for any other age group in the EU population as a whole (European Court of Auditors, 2020). Currently, according to the statistics provided in Lithuania, there are about 4 000 pre-school children living in a disadvantaged social, economic and cultural environment who are eligible for compulsory pre-school education.

The meta-analysis (Schmutz, 2024) suggests that universal pre-school education is an effective policy strategy to redress the situation. Investments in early childhood education and parenting programmes for disadvantaged families have been shown to generate economic returns that are well worth the cost (Bartik, 2014, Puma et al., 2010, Dietrichson et al., 2020, etc.).Various studies (Archambault et al., 2019, Rossin-Slater and Wüst, 2019, Melhuish, 2014) have shown that disadvantaged children benefit from ECEC services throughout their lives. It is important for children to start this education before the age of three and these children benrfit more in the socio-emotional than the cognitive domain.

This study therefore aims to investigate the achievement of pre-school children from disadvantaged socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

A questionnaire survey of pre-school teachers who teach children from disadvantaged backgrounds was carried out. The questionnaire was designed by the author of the study and its thematic areas were related to general information about the child, the child's achievements, the child's educational process, the educational support provided and the cooperation with parents. 54 teachers (from Kaunas, Vilnius, Elektrėnai, Kaišiadorys, Varėna, Prienai municipalities) took part in the survey, describing 80 children from unfavourable SEC environment. Participation in the study is based on the principle of voluntary participation. The survey questionnaire was sent by e-mail using the Apklausa.lt platform. The survey was carried out in accordance with the general principles of personal data protection and research ethics.

The results of the survey revealed, that many disadvantaged children are actively involved in early childhood education, and many of them follow the mainstream pre-school curriculum. Teachers assess that children from SEC backgrounds are least developed in the areas of spoken and written language, self-awareness and self-esteem, problem-solving and learning to learn, but that other areas are also moderately developed. There is a tendency for children in compulsory education to have higher levels of achievement. It is therefore necessary to analyse the survey data in more depth through case studies. The results of the study suggest that cooperation with parents is often regular (weekly) in terms of daily issues and the child's educational achievement, but one third of parents/guardians of compulsory pre-school children were found to be non-cooperative with the teacher or to have infrequent and unsystematic cooperation. The study revealed that more than half of the children in the SEC environment do not receive educational support (e.g. speech therapist), but this study did not analyse the reasons for the provision/non-provision of educational support, and therefore further research is needed. It should also be noted that an initial analysis of the results of the study suggests that there is a need for a highly individualised approach to each child, moving away from the stereotype that children receiving compulsory education are of lower ability. The more favourable attitudes of teachers towards non-compulsory education children that have been identified also encourage further research into the teachers'.

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