Project Abstract

<p> This study assessed the attitudes of parents and teachers towards Early Childhood<br>Care and Education Programme in sokoto state. A total of 152 respondents,<br>comprising of parents and teachers who are officials of Parents-Teachers<br>Association in each of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state, were used as<br>sample and the selection of the sample was based on the Research Advisors (2006)<br>sampling procedure. The instrument used for data collection in the study was a<br>researcher constructed questionnaire titled Parents and Teachers Attitude<br>Assessment Scale (PTAAS). Descriptive survey method was used for the study.<br>The findings of the study revealed among other thing, that the attitude of both<br>parents and teachers towards early childhood education is not positive, and that<br>teachers handling public ECCE centers in the state are not well qualified.<br>Consequently, it is recommended that both parents and teachers should develop<br>positive attitude towards early childhood care of education; parents should take<br>keen interest in the ECCE programme and teachers to be more committed and<br>dedicated to their duties. Equally, teachers with the right qualification and proper<br>training in the field should be made to handle public ECCE centers in the state. <br></p>

Project Overview

<p> INTRODUCTION<br>1.8 Background to the Study<br>Early Childhood Care, Development and Education programme plays<br>significant role as it helps children in successful completion of Basic Education. It<br>provides the foundation for all-round development and enables the child to<br>understand various issues. Children at the early stage of learning need to be<br>encouraged to develop positive attitude through child to child interaction. The<br>early childhood education is designed carefully to provide wholesome growth and<br>development of children. Children that receive quality early childhood education<br>are more likely to succeed in school and in life (Harkness and Super, 1991). Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) is therefore an integral<br>part of child rearing experience provided by any agency for all children. Providers<br>of Early Childhood Care, Development and Education in Nigeria and Sokoto state<br>in particular include; day care centers, Nursery schools and kindergarten centers.<br>The Early Childhood Care, Development and Education programme is one of the<br>components of Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education (UBE) Scheme as enshrined<br>in the (FRN, 2000) (UBE Implmentation Guidelines, 1999).<br>Parents and teachers/caregivers play an important role in the Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education. Their involvement is linked to<br>children’s total learning. Parents believe that three to six is the right age for<br>11<br>children to receive early childhood education, as the child is able to understand<br>things well, thereby removing the child’s illiteracy (Corner, 1991).<br>Nigeria is among the E-9 countries; the nine countries in the world with<br>largest concentration of illiterate adults and which are committed to total<br>eradication of illiteracy within the shortest possible time and equally committed to<br>the development of care and education services for young children. To accomplish<br>this effort, the Federal Government of Nigeria in September, 1999 introduced the<br>Universal Basic Education Programme (UBEP) as a means to overcome problems<br>associated with the education system in the country, with much emphasis on basic<br>education. UBE Programme is a reform aimed at tackling inequality, opportunities<br>and improving quality in education at the basic level. It is said that the programme<br>was introduced by the Federal Government in order to remove distortion and<br>inconsistencies in basic education delivery and to reinforce the implementation of<br>the National Policy on Education as well as to ensure access, equity and quality of<br>basic education throughout the country (Tahir 2006).<br>Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE) education<br>can be said to be the education provided for children 0-3 years in Day care centers<br>and for children 3 years to less than 6 years in Nursery schools. It can also be said<br>to be a community based, low-cost project for the holistic development of the<br>child from 0-6 years. ECCDE also refers to a comprehensive approach to policies<br>and programmes for children from birth to six years of age which seek the full<br>involvement of parents and caregivers for the purpose of protecting children’s<br>12<br>rights to develop their full cognitive, emotional, social and physical potentials<br>(Universal Basic Education, 2005).<br>Careful observation however, reveals that at present, the attitude of parents<br>and teachers towards western education generally can be described as<br>encouraging. This is evident in the parent zeal to send their sons and daughters to<br>primary schools coupled with increase in the number of primary school teachers in<br>most states in Nigeria. However, there are some parents who are still not<br>comfortable with the primary education sector for lack of quality. Looking at the<br>problem surrounding primary education, specifically the issue of quality led to the<br>development and adoption of the National Integrated Early Childhood<br>Development (IECE) policy in 2007 to cater for children age 0 – 5 years. The goal<br>of this policy is to expand and integrate early childhood development.<br>The introduction of ECCDE was made with the hope that parents will<br>respond by sending their children to ECCDE centers for cognitive and<br>psychomotor development, as pre-requisite learning experience for acquiring<br>sound primary education. It is based on this ground therefore, that this study was<br>carried out to assess the attitude of parents and teachers towards Early Childhood<br>Care, Development and Education programme in Sokoto State.<br>1.9 Statement of the Problem<br>Early Childhood Care, Development and Education programme is a<br>component of the Universal Basic Education Scheme introduced in Nigeria in<br>1999 by the Federal Government with the sole aim of providing early literacy<br>13<br>skills, health and nutritional care for all round development of preschool children,<br>so that on getting to primary schools in the later years, such children will perform<br>optimally thereby enhancing the quality of primary education. In view of this, the<br>ECCDE programme seem to be a promising package which is expected by<br>Government to receive an overwhelming support from parents and be handle<br>effectively by teachers/caregiver. However, the situation in sokoto state is far from<br>this expectation. Most of the public Early Childhood Care, Development and<br>Education centers in rural towns are not having full patronage from parents.<br>Equally, children of preschool age that are yet to be enrolled into Early Childhood<br>Education could be seen in large numbers in many homes within rural and urban<br>communities in the state. The human right act states that everyone has the right to<br>education, similarly, the Universal Basic Education Act declares that every child<br>of school going age should be enrolled in schools or ECCDE centers. Therefore,<br>refusal by parents of pre-school children to enroll their children into ECCDE<br>centers signifies cultivation of negative attitude towards child learning and it also<br>means denial of children’s fundamental rights and a violation of both the human<br>rights and the UBE acts. This of course is a problem that requires urgent<br>investigation. This therefore, formed the basis for this study which was aimed at<br>assessing the attitude of parents and teachers towards Early Child Care and<br>Education in Sokoto state.<br>14<br>1.10 Objectives of the Study<br>This main objective of this study is to access the attitude of parents and<br>teachers towards Early Childhood Care, Development and Education (ECCDE)<br>programme in Sokoto State. However other specific objectives include:<br>1. To find out the attitude of parent towards Early Childhood Care,<br>Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state.<br>2. To find out the attitude of teachers toward Early Childhood Care,<br>Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state.<br>3. To determine the adequacy of parents and teachers’ support to Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state.<br>4. To find out the factors affecting parental and teachers support to Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state.<br>5. To determine the qualification and nature of teachers handling Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state.<br>1.11 Research Questions<br>In order to achieve the above stated objectives the study seek to answer the<br>following questions:<br>1. What is the attitude of parents towards Early Childhood Care, Development<br>and Education Programme in Sokoto state?<br>2. What is the attitude of teachers toward Early Child hood Care Development<br>and Education Programme in Sokoto state?<br>15<br>3. How adequate is the parents and teachers’ support to Early Childhood<br>Care, Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state?<br>4. What are the factors affecting parental and teachers support to Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state?<br>5. What are the qualifications of teachers handling Early Child hood Care<br>Development and Education Programme in Sokoto state?<br>1.12 Significance of the Study<br>This study assessed the attitude of parents and teachers towards Early<br>Childhood Care, Development and Education in sokoto state. The findings of the<br>study will be of significance to the Sokoto State Ministry of Education, State<br>Universal Basic Education Board, and all Local Government Education<br>Authorities in the state, who are makers and implementers of the Early Childhood<br>Care, Development and Education Acts, by providing relevant information<br>regarding the attitude of parents and teachers of Early Childhood Care,<br>Development and Education towards the development of Early Childhood Care,<br>Development and Education programme in the state.<br>The findings will equally, assist parents and teachers of Early Childhood<br>Care, Development and Education to understand the need for them to develop<br>positive attitude towards Early Childhood Care, Development and Education<br>programme in the state. The findings will also be valuable to students undertaking<br>future research in the area of Early Childhood Care, Development and Education.<br>16<br>1.13 Scope and Delimitation of the Study<br>The study covers the public Early Childhood Care, Development and<br>Education centers in the 23 Local Government areas in Sokoto state. Essentially,<br>one primary school that has an ECCDE center was selected from each LGA in the<br>state. The study did not cover private or commercial centers providing Early<br>Childhood Education in the state. The study is however, limited to assessing<br>parents and teachers attitude with regard to ECCDE programme in the state.<br>1.14 Operational Definition of Terms<br> Facilities: – Early Childhood Care and Development Education Facilities: –<br>Which refers to Day Care Centers or any Pre-Primary Educational<br>institution, be it a nursery or kindergarten.<br> CRC- Children’s Rights Convention: – this is a document on the rights of<br>the child, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United<br>Nation on November, 1989.<br> EFA- Education For All: – This is also a world declaration to provide<br>universal access to education opportunities designed to meet basic learning<br>needs of every person. The declaration was made at a world conference on<br>education for all in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990.<br> ESA- Education Sector Analysis: – A Unit set up at the Federal Ministry of<br>Education to carry out the instrumentation, data collecting and analysis of<br>the education sector in order to facilitate education sector planning in<br>Nigeria. <br></p>