ABSTRACT
The study investigated the influence of early childhood education on primary school pupils’ Achievement in Mathematics. Three researcher questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted ex-post facto research design and was carried out in Nsukka Local Government Education Authorities in Nsukka Education Zone in Enugu State. The population of this study was 7,634 primary 1 pupils in 90 Government Primary Schools in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. Simple Random sampling technique was adopted in selecting 315 primary 1 pupils from 4 primary schools in Nsukka Urban and 5 primary schools in Nsukka Rural Area who constituted that respondents for the study. The instrument for data collection was 20 structured item questions achievement test titled Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). The instrument was face validated by three experts. To ascertain the reliability of the instrument, Kudar Richardson K-R 20 reliability method was used and K-R 20 reliability coefficients of 0.93 was obtained for the instrument. Data for the study were collected with the help of research assistants who were the primary 1 class teachers in schools. The data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation for answering the research questions while t-test statistics was used for testing the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data analyzed, the study found out that Early Childhood Education of the pupils has positive influence on their achievement in the Mathematics achievement test, that gender of the pupils does not have influence on their achievement in the Mathematics achievement test while school location of the pupils was found to have influence on their achievement in the Mathematics achievement test. Based on this finding, the study recommended that the disparities that exist between the performances of pupils from rural and urban pre-schools should be addressed by the government through provision of facilities, teachers and promotion of pre-school education among parents in the rural areas and among others.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The present challenging world of fast growth in science and technology has made education a priority sector in every society. For an individual to cope and compete effectively therefore, a sound education is imperative. That is why Osakwe (2009) refers to education as a phenomenon which involves all-round development of an individual which encompasses physical, moral, social and mental development. In the same vein, Eze and Ugwuanyi (2013) opined that, education is a process of systematic training designed to transmit knowledge and skills which enables an individual to contribute effectively to the growth and development of his/her society.
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Therefore the belief is that, education is a means to an end through which an individual can grow. Because of this, parents send their children as early as possible to school, so as to make them acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that will enable them live as responsible members of the society. Thus, early childhood education plays a crucial role in this context. Hence, Early Childhood Education (ECE) is based on the idea that learning which begins at birth, caring for children and educating them should be inseparable. Early Childhood Education is an evolving field of study, research and practice which concerns itself with all aspect of early life experiences (Heckman, 2012). Ibiam and Ugwu (2009) viewed Early Childhood Education as education that is designed to develop the habits, attitudes and skills needed for primary education. According to Federal Government of Nigeria (FRN, 2004), Early Childhood Education is the education provided in an educational institution to children prior to their entering the primary school. Early Childhood Education includes the crèche, the nursery and kindergarten.
This call for Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 to cite Early Childhood Education (ECE) as an integral part of the Universal Basic Education (UBE). In this study, Early Childhood Education is conceived to be a very fruitful laboratory for the observation of spontaneous behaviours of the child and a place for moulding the behaviour of the child into a desired form. Early Childhood Education is also seen as the foundation for life long learning which requires varieties of experience. On that note, Benard (2001) contended that, the child who fails to acquire early education may suffer emotionally, socially, intellectually and even physically if he is trusted into primary school.
It is in the light of the obvious importance of early childhood education that Osakwe (2009) concluded that, pupils who had early childhood education perform better in their cognitive, motor and social skills than pupils who do not attend early childhood education. Researches have shown that early exposure of children to school have been found to have enormous positive and social impact lasting well into adulthood (Schieveinhat, 2007; Sparling & Ramey 2007). Due to the experiences acquired in early childhood education, Dubois (2007) maintained that, early childhood education increases the school readiness for primary school and it has been shown that school readiness is an important predictor of early school achievement.
The above has clearly shown the need for early childhood education due to its multiplier effect on the child’s growth and development. Early years experience exposes the child to all fields which make the child more apt to learn in primary level. This can also help the child to have confidences in his learning capacities which the child acquires from nursery school are lifted to the primary school.
Although early childhood education as observed by the researcher plays an important role in child’s life, but its influence on pupils’ achievement in mathematics is not yet known. Therefore the researcher seeks to find out the influence of early childhood education on primary school pupils’ achievement in mathematics of those that were exposed to early child hood education and those who were not exposed.
For the purpose of clarity, some concepts and goals of primary education, mathematics and achievement in this research work were made explicit. Primary education is the key to success or failure of education system as a whole since the rest of education system is built upon it. Primary education according to Federal Government of Nigeria (2004) is the education given in an institution for children aged 6 to 11 years plus. Equally, primary education is at the heart of the concept of basic education which is the dominant ideal behind the concept of universal education. The goals of primary education as stipulated in National Policy on Education (2004) includes: Provide the child with basic tools for further educational advancement including preparation for trade craft for locality; to inculcate permanent literacy, numeracy and ability to communicate effectively, among others. To achieve these goals, subject like languages example:- English, Mathematics are taught. In Mathematics, numbers, counting, additions, multiplication, division and subtraction are taught.
Mathematics has been identified as a very important subject in Nigeria educational system. Ozoji, Dashe and Edozie (2010), refers to mathematics as a form of science of numbers and shapes or process of calculating using numbers. According to Adelagbu (2007), mathematics is a way of thinking and organizing logical proof. The author further stated that, mathematics does not only promote the habit of accuracy, logical, systematic arrangement of fact in the learner, but also encourages the habit of self reliance and enable learners think and solve problem themselves. In this study, mathematics is the study of measurement, properties and relationship of quantities and set using numbers and symbols.
