THE EFFECT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PUPILS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SOME SELECTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN OBIO AKPOR LGA OF RIVERS

THE EFFECT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PUPILS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SOME SELECTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN OBIO AKPOR LGA OF RIVERS

TABLE CONTENTS

Title Page———i

Certification——–ii

Dedication———iii

Acknowledgement——-iv

Abstract ———vi

Table of Content——–vii

Chapter One

1.0 Introduction ——-1

1.1 Statement of Problem——4

1.2 Purpose of the Study——5

1.3 Significance of Study——8

1.4 Limitation——–9

1.5 Scope of Study——-11

Chapter Two

2.0 Review of Related Literature —-12

2.6 Summary of Literature Review—- 19

Chapter Three

3.0 Research Methodology and Procedure—22

3.1 Population ——–22

3.2 Sample and Sampling Technique—-22

3.3 Validation of the Instrument —-23

3.4 Reliability of the Instrument —–23

3.5 Data Analysis——-23

Chapter Four

4.0 Presentation and Discussion of Result—24

4.1 Analysis and interpretaion of Data—25

4.2 Discussion of Results——38

Chapter Five

5.0. Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendation  –40

5.1 Summary——–40

5.2 Conclusion——–41

5.3 Recommendation——42

References ———45

Appendix 1——–47

Appendix ———50

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The early years of a child‘s life are crucial to what he/she might turn out to be now and in the future. According to National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2010), learning experiences acquired during early years leave long lasting impression, and learning at this stage is often a shared responsibility of the home and school.  Mefor (2010) similarly stated that learning process and moulding of a child and its responsibility is internally regulated by parents who are at home and externally regulated by the teachers who teach them in school. However parents‘ rush for excessive wealth and women‘s participation in the labour market have denied children at this stage of life, the golden opportunity of education which should be acquired at home. The reason is that, most children during this stage are left at the mercy of Care givers, who know nothing about child- rearing and sometimes are themselves children who also need care. This has often resulted in disastrous incident where children are found to be dropouts in schools or exhibit aggressive behaviours like bullying, shouting or worst case of drug addiction or drug abuse are exhibited due to bad upbringing or interaction with peer groups (Peisner & Feinberg, 2004).

Early Childhood (EC) usually refers to the first eight years of a child‘s life. Explicitly it is the period before full-time schooling begins, for children aged 3 to 5. In essence Early Childhood Education (ECE) refers to education which includes the

―crèches,‖ the nursery and kindergarten, while the primary education refers to education given to children between 6-10 years and above. The period is seen as turning point in child development for building human capital in the form of the basic social, cognitive, and scholastic skills needed for educational achievement. ECE is also seen as a preventive measure to reduce the incidence of remedial classes, grade repetition, getting assigned to special-education classes, and later dropping out of school. As an equity issue, ECE is viewed as an equalizer between rich and poor, a way of providing children from disadvantaged backgrounds some of the human-capital builders experienced by children from more advantaged households (Hammond & Plesca, 2010).

Furthermore, early childhood development is the key to a full and productive life for a child and to the progress of a nation. Early Childhood is therefore, a critical stage of development that forms the foundations for children‘s future well-being and learning.

Research has shown that half of a person‘s intelligence potential is developed by age four and that Early Childhood interventions can have a lasting effect on intellectual capacity, personality and social behaviour. Integrated programmes whose focuses are children in their very early years are critical for their mental and psychosocial development as opined Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2000).

Education starts from cradle to grave, experts opined that catching children young with quality education remains a veritable tool for lifelong development. Similarly, education is an indispensable tool in nations building is a process of systematic training and instruction designed to transmit knowledge and acquisition of skills, potentials and abilities which will enable an individual to contribute efficiently to the growth and development of society and nation. It involves all round developments of an individual physically, socially, morally, intellectually, and mentally (Osakwe, 2009). Therefore, education is the right of every child and must not be denied for any reason.

Thus the assertion of world summit on the state of global children and it has led to the inclusion and expansion of early childhood care and education in the global Education for All Programme (Ajayi, 2008). This is yet to be a reality for every child, because some do not get the opportunity to start early; that is, having the early childhood school experience between the ages 3-5 years before embarking on primary education. In other words, comprehensive and quality ECE programme can meet the educational and developmental needs of disadvantaged children and can help to equalize opportunities early in life. If every child can benefit from an early introduction to education whether provided by parents or professionals either at home or in school environment respectively, it is likely that it would have an impact on the academic achievement, social and moral behaviour of the child. For children of parents with full-time jobs, early childhood education may be the only opportunity these youngsters have to develop crucial social learning skills. Hence today‘s increased demand for educational excellence combined with the economic needs to work longer hours by parent is an equation that highly favours early childhood education.

Furthermore Mefor (2010), maintained that working class women‘s leaving  children at ―day care centers‖ has contributed to labour force rates for mothers of young children which have risen over the past few decades, so is the use of child care, centers and family care at home. A substantial majority of young children now regularly experience child care prior to entry into school. The rate of care for pre-school age children is now, higher than for infants and toddlers. Given this high child care usage, both parents and professionals have sought to understand the influence of these experiences on children‘s cognitive, social and moral development, (Feisner & Feinberg, 2004).

Regulating pupil‘s behaviour according to Thornberg (2009) is an essential part of every day school life. In traditional as well as progressivist view rules in school are usually seen as an unproblematic means to organize and regulate pupils and their behaviour in school as well as teaching them to be good citizens or helping them to acquire moral and social skills. Furthermore rules serve to protect or safeguard values and function as instruments used in the pursuance of these values though the cognitive approach of Piaget opinion that the child develops his/her morality which will change from one sided to a morality of cooperation and mutual respect. Turiel (1980), cited in White (2001), opined that this level is found on the concept of like reciprocity and equality that is pupils should not be restricted but be told why such is such.