ASSESSMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES IN OBIO AKPOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Early childhood education is a pedestal upon which other levels of education are built. In Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, people from all walks of life majority of whom were not trained in the discipline own and manage early childhood education centres. Therefore, quality of early childhood education in the local government area may be at stake. It is on this basis that the present researchers were motivated to embark on this evaluative study to investigate the implementation of early childhood education objectives and policies in nursery schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. A sample of 652 respondents comprising 236 teachers and 416 pupils in nursery schools drawn from 183 registered nursery schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State through purposive sampling technique participated in the study. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were designed to guide the study. The instruments for data collection are Early Childhood Education Policies Implementation Questionnaire and Pupils Structured Interview validated through the assistance of lecturers in Early Childhood Education and Measurement and Evaluation. The overall reliability indices for Early Childhood Education Policies Implementation Questionnaire and Pupils Structured Interview were established through Cronbach alpha and Kuder–Richardson (21) techniques respectively and were found to be 0.68 and 0.74 respectively. It was found among others that (1) Nursery schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area do not provide adequate care and supervision to children and there is a significant difference in the provision of adequate care and supervision for children between urban and rural schools. (2) Nursery schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area inculcate social norms in children and there is no significant difference in the inculcation of social norms in children between urban and rural schools. It was therefore recommended that appropriate legislation should be put in place to ensure that only people who have relevant qualifications in early childhood education are allowed to own and manage nursery schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. Standards and guidelines regarding the operation of early childhood education in Rivers State should be produced and made available to qualified people wishing to operate early childhood education in rural areas and urban centres of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. Keywords: Assessment, policy, objectives, early childhood education, child development, didactic materials, social norms, good health habits.