This edition of Early Childhood Matters seeks to focus attention on how quality early childhood programmes can lay the foundations for quality primary education. Among the articles there is an overview of the complex topic of ?quality? in early childhood education, an interview with a specialist in basic education for children that highlights the importance of respect for the right to education, and a look at Innocenti Research Centre?s Report Card 8, which suggests benchmarks for measuring the quality of early childhood education and care services in the OECD countries. Examples from ECD work come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peru, Tanzania, Brazil and India.