EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE EDUCATION: EVALUATION ADHERENCE OF PROVIDERS TO THE NATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARDS ON EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Background of the Study: People and nations are what they are because of the nature and types of education they have been exposed to. Education is a process of developing knowledge ability in learners in such a way that they use it to improve their society. Following the Nigerian National Policy on Education (NPE), the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) (2004), defined education as that process that helps to develop the whole being, physically, mentally, morally, politically, socially, economically and technologically to enable individuals function in any environment in which they may find themselves. Education is a process of developing knowledge ability in learners towards the formation and modification of their behaviours for the benefit of the society. Consequently, most countries of the world have provided various educational programmes for their citizens because education is conceived as the greatest legacy that any nation can confer to its child. A child is a young human being between birth and puberty. According to Opera (2012), a child is a person known as a minor from birth to the legal age of maturity, for who parents and caregivers, foster parents, public or private homes, institutional or agency is responsible. He or she is somebody under a legally specified age who are considered not to be legally responsible for his or her actions. However, the concept of a child varies from one culture to another. But for this study a child is conceived as a person from the age of zero to five years under the care of parents or caregivers, helpers and securities in Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) Centres. ECCE is an education programme, intentionally designed towards the general development of the child. Maduewesi (2002) sees Early Childhood Care Education as education given to children from zero to five years. Similarly, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) defined Early Childhood Care Education as education provided by the early childhood care professionals to create an enabling
environment for a child to thrive and develop to the fullest potentials. In the context of this study, ECCE refers to education strictly designed by the early childhood care experts to create an enabling atmosphere for a child to thrive and develop to the fullest potentials. ECCE is a special field of education for development of children. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) recognizes the importance of ECCE and thereafter, began to explore ways of implementing the Early Childhood Care Education for general development of the child. The purposes of ECCE as
stipulated in the National Policy on Education by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004:5) include: to effect a smooth transition from home to the school, prepare the child for the primary level of education, provide adequate care and supervision for the children while their parents are at work, inculcate social norms in the children, inculcate in the children the spirit of enquiry and creativity through the exploration of nature, environment, art, music and playing, develop a sense of co-operation and team spirit, learn good habits, especially good health habits, and teach the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes and forms through play. These objectives must be implemented in the schools by ECCE proprietors and caregivers. Early Childhood Care Education proprietors are owners and managers of Early Childhood Care Education centres. Early Childhood Care Education proprietors include organizations, corporate bodies and religious organizations (churches) that are authorized by law and edict to establish the Early Childhood Care Education centre (Waheed, 2000). They provide instructional materials andrecruit staff such as helpers, securities and caregivers. A caregiver is a person who looks after somebody. Encarta (2010) defined caregiver as somebody who has the principal responsibility for caring for a child or dependent adult, especially in the home.

 1.2 Statement of the Problem

Effective adherence to the ECCDE curriculum requires various types of resources, which include physical facilities such as infrastructure, instructional and text materials, human resources and fund. However, it is a known fact that an appreciable number of the established pre-primary/nursery schools do not meet the conventional standards in terms of building, ventilation, sanitation, equipment, illumination and infrastructure. Other related problems areinadequacy of space, equipment and facilities that include classrooms, libraries, staff, laboratories and furniture. Most buildings in which some of the nursery schools are situated are far from ideal as some of them are not primarily meant for such institutions. Some of the schools are situated in dwelling houses or large halls and in some, face-to-face type of rooms are used as classrooms. Moreover, little consideration was given to site selection, accessibility, freedom from health and noise hazards and physical safety. Some classrooms even led directly to the main road or to wide gutters.

 Similarlya number of teachers in the pre-primary schools, apart from being inadequate, are not also qualified and majority of them have not received the special ECCDE teaching training programmes. In addition to the poor teaching methods are lack of materials such as toys, diagrams, charts, pictorials as part of instructional requirements. Other challenges include un-stimulating learning environments, preponderance of unqualified caregivers and high cost of education as well as exploitative and profiteering tendencies on the part of proprietors of ECCDE schools/centres.  

Other challenges are the issue of minimum standard and lack of standard curriculum; the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction in ECE; and funding as well as supervision of the programme in Nigeria.Additional challenges are the issue of monitoring and assessment as well as the establishment and management of ECCDE schools. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the curriculum adherence to early childhood care development and education in Imo educational zone in nigeriaand those resources that support and help its implementation in schools/centres of imo educational zone.  

 1.3 Objectives of the Study 

The objective of this study is to evaluate the adherence to the provision of the national minimum standards of early childhood education. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. Assess whether the provisions of the national minimum standards prepares children for primary education in Imo educational zone in Nigeria;

2. Examine whether the ECCDE centres environment meets the prescribed standards for teaching/caring and learning in Imo educational zone in Nigeria;

3. Find out the influence of ECCDE monitoring and supervision by the States‟ Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) on the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) in Imo educational zone in Nigeria.

4. Investigate the methods used by ECCDE teachers in implementing the ECCDE curriculum in Imo educational zone in Nigeria