Influence of Pre-school Education Quality on Children's Socio-emotional Developmental Skill in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State, Nigeria
[Thesis]
Abdullah, Abubakar
Olabisi, Adedigba
Kwara State University (Nigeria)
2019
132 p.
M.Sc.
Kwara State University (Nigeria)
2019
Children's socio-emotional developmental skill is increasingly recognised as one of the most significant areas of early learning and development. The holistic development of children generally is knotted to the kind of care and education made available to them in their early years. Also, the issue of quality on which pre-school education relies is greatly dictated by the learning environment and teachers' characteristics. Hence, this study investigated the influence of pre-school education quality on children's socio-emotional developmental skill in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area, Katsina State Nigeria. The design employed for the study is descriptive survey research design. The population comprised all pre-schoolers and pre-school teachers in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area, Katsina State, Nigeria. The sample size consisted of 250 pre-school children and 50 preschool teachers who were selected through simple random sampling technique from 25 pre-primary and primary schools in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area, Katsina State Nigeria A 40 item instrument titled 'Pre-School Education Quality Rating Scale' (PEQRS) and Children's Socio-Emotional Developmental Skill Rating Scale (CSDSRS) with 25 items were designed by the researcher. The reliability of PEQRS and CSDSRS was confirmed through test-re-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). PEQRS and CSDSRS yielded reliability coefficients of 0.74 and 0.77 respectively. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Research questions were answered using mean and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The formulated research hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics of linear regression, Analysis of Variance and independent samples t-test. The result of the findings revealed that pre-school education quality in relation to observed environment, teachers' area of specialization and working experience was low while their qualification was high. The children's socio-emotional developmental skill was on the average in Dutsin-Ma Local government Area. The result also indicated significant influence of teachers' area of specialization(F (3, 246) = 53.354; P < 0.05), working experience(F (2, 247) = 7.597; P < 0.05), qualification(F (2, 247) = 101.783; P < 0.05), school type(t = 8.373; df = 248; P < 0.05) and observed pre-school education environment(F (1,248) = 93.926, P < 0.05) on socio-emotional developmental skill of the children. However, there was no significant difference in children's socio-emotional developmental skill on the basis of gender (t = .294; df = 248; P > 0.05). On the basis of these findings, the study concluded that it can be established that pre-school environments and teachers characteristics were critical to development of children particularly, their socio-emotional developmental skill. The study therefore, recommends that government and school proprietors should ensure that observed pre-school environment is equipped with all the necessary learning materials/facilities in a child-friendly environment. Government and school proprietors should employ the services of professional early childhood education teachers to manage and control the education of pre-school children in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area and Katsina State at large. Teachers should create an enabling environment that supports pre-school children to acquire socio-emotional developmental skill at the grass root level.