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University of Nigeria Research Publications OPARAJI, Benedette Nkiruka Author PG/M.ED/00/32185 Title Evaluation of the Influence of Pre-primary Education on the Academic Performance of Pupils in Junior Primary School in Owerri Faculty Education Department Sub-Department of Science Education Date August, 2005 Signature
Transcript of University of NigeriaBenedette... · 2015-09-01 · University of Nigeria Research Publications...
University of Nigeria Research Publications
OPARAJI, Benedette Nkiruka
Aut
hor
PG/M.ED/00/32185
Title
Evaluation of the Influence of Pre-primary Education on the Academic Performance of Pupils in Junior Primary
School in Owerri
Facu
lty
Education
Dep
artm
ent
Sub-Department of Science Education
Dat
e
August, 2005
Sign
atur
e
EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF PRE- PRIMARY EDUCATION ON THE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN JUNIOR PRIMARY SCHOOL IN OWERRI
OPARAJI, BENEDETTE NKIRUKA PG/MED/SD/O0/32185
SUB-DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
SUPERVISOR: DR. E. K. N. NWAGU
AUGUST, 2005
TITLE PAGE
EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN JUNIOR
PRIMARY SCHOOL IN OWERRI
OPARAJI, BENEDETTE NKIRUKA PGIMEDISD100132185
A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SUB-DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS
DEGREE IN EDUCATIONAL MEASURMENT AND EVALUATION
AUGUST, 2005
APPROVAL PAGE
THIS RESEARCH PROJECT HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR THE SUB- DEPARTI'IIENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, UNWERS1TY OF NIGERIA.
NSUKKA
PROJECT SUPERVISOR
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
Ed~~cat ion with the Esg st ratio^'^ Number PGjM. EOiSD100W 185 has sat isfacloril y
colnpkted the reqir~rernent for the course a n d research work for t h e degree of
Master of Education (M.EL7) in Educational Measurement and Evaluation. The
work embodied in this project is uriginal and h2s not See17 s~lbmillcrl in part or full
tor any o lhw diploma or de-gr~e of this or any other university.
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT I3R.E.K.N. NWAGU PROJECT SUPERVISOR
l.........
ROF. B.G. NWORGU DEAN, FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEDICATION
THIS ?/'bORK 15 DEDICATED TO ALMIGHTY GOD
I wish to appreciate God Almighty for His special faithfulness
Ihroughout the period of this programme. 1My sincere gratitude goes to my
husband. Mr. E.O. Oparaj i , a lover of education, for his encouragement,
guidance, support, care and love. Me has been sinlply wonderfi~l.
1 am eqrtally grateful to my project supervisor, Dr. E.K.
N. Nwagu Sol* his advice and spending his scare time to read tlu-ough this work
a n d make necessary corrections, .
M y indebtedness also goes to Dr. (h4rs) 1-3.0. Anukam, Dr. Emma Obasi,
h4r. Ilc Rlcude and 131.. Vick Achebe Ibs providing me with literature that aided
1111s ?vol.k.
I wish to tha111i my children for their support, rmdcrstanding and co-
operation througho~it the period of this programme.
My special h a n k s ecpally goes to Mrs. Chinyere Njoltu, Mrs. Cons Ezeh
and my special sisters-in-law Ms. Anthonia Oparaji and Mrs. B.N. Onuoha for
thcir immeasurable support. To the Head teachers of my sample scl~ools, I say
thank you for your cooperation, Finally, 1 am equally grateful to 1Vr. F.O. Elcel-e
for typing this work.
OPAIUJI, R.N.
T/jBLE OF CONTENTS
TAPLE OF CONTENT-- -- . - -. - - - - - --
CHAPTER ONE: ENTRODUC'73N-- - - -- -- --
Tileories 07 transfer of k a n i n g -- -- --
Historical c~,wviev.~ of pi-e-primary education -- -- --
Factors ini lu~ncing acadsrnlc performance -- -- -- 1.
inipoi-lance 07 pre-prim;-~~j education -- -- -- --
Strategies for ~ f f e c h e leaching and learning in pre-primary institutions -- -- -- - - - - --
Iinprsrtsnce 0; sound basic prirnary education ---- --
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND
LIST OF TABLES
'1 Mean scores and sl-lndard deviat~on of primary -I pupils' psrfmnance in English Languagi-a. ?,.lathernal{cs and Primary Science---- --4 8
2 hlean scores anc' standard dev~atior: cf prirnajy 2 pup~ls ' perforniance In E nqlisl? Language. Mat,9emat1cs and Pr-iniary Science---- -49
V i4Jezn scarss and st:;ndarcf deviation of primary 3 pupils' p~r for rna ixe In Engl~sh L a n g ~ m g ~ . Mattie~.~natics and Primary Science---- -50
4 The aggregate mean scores of all the p ~ t p ~ l s in the Uiree subjec!s f n m prirnsws 1 io 3-- -- -- -- - - --51
- 3 The mean scores in M2thematics, English L a n g ~ ~ a g e ano Primary
science of both pup~ls who benefi ted fr'm Nursery educahnn and t tw r c ~ ~ ~ i i t e i p ~ r t 111 primaries one to three-- -- - - --51
6. [-Lest table of difference between the m ~ a n scores in Mathematics, Englisn Language and primary science of prirnari~s 1 10 3 pupils ~ 4 t h regard ta NNEEP-- -- - - --53
ABSTRACT
The pre-primary school is an educational arrangement for children aged between
3 and 5plus. Its major concern is the intellectual growth of pupils in a
developmental setting where social, emotional and physical growths are also
promoted, lnspite of its gains, some parents and educationists are opposed to it,
There is, therefore, the need for a comparative study of the performance of
nursery school graduates in primaries. I , 2, and 3 in relation to non-graduates.
To facilitate the study, the mean performance of nursery school graduates in
mathematics, English language and primary science were compared with that of
their counterparts questions were formulated and one hypothesis stated to guide
the study, An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. Three
schools were selected through simple random sampling by balloting. Researcher
-made tests in English, Mathematics and primary science for primaries 7 , 2 and
3 were used for data collection. The instruments were given to classroom
teachers in these classes for face and content validations. Data collected were
quantified and analyzed using the mean and standard deviation. The null
hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using the t-test statistics. I t
was found that there is a relationship between education and higher academic
performance of primaries I ? 2, and 3 pupils in Mathematics, English and primary
science, It was also found that there is fading syndrome among nursery
graduates as they moved to higher grades. The implications of the study were
highlighted and recommendations also made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
There has been growing interest in the welfare of children especially in
their academic development both nationally and internationally. For instance,
in March 1990, there was a world conference on Education for All (EFA) in
Jomtien, Thailand (Bassey and Amang, 2001). The Jomtien declaration
recognized the organic unity of early childhood education through life-long
learning. Sequel to the Jomtien conference and another similar UN summit on
children in 1990, nine world most populous countries (of which Nigeria is one)
held a mini - world education summit in New - Delhi, India from lz th to 1 6 ~ ~
December, 1993. In its final declaration, the summit stated that we:
Reaffirm our commitment to pursue with at most
zeal and determination the goals set in 1990 by
the world conference on education for all and the
summit on children to meet the basic learning
needs of all our people by making primary
education universal and expanding learning
opportunities for children.. . (Bassey and Amang,
2001 : 4)
This specific interest is because children are seen as the future hope of
tomorrow to the larger society and their individual families in particular. Dewey
in Bassey and Amang (2001: 21) defined education as ''a fostering, matur~ng
and cultivating process." And Okoye (1998: 2) has rightly posited that
Both literate and illerate parents see the need for
providing educational facilities and opportunities
for their children as satisfying their wish to ensure
a better future for their children and also creating
opportunity for them to achieve what may be
referred to as 'transferred self actualization' as a
compensatory reaction to eluded life ambition for
their own self actualization.
Suffice it to say that the generally accepted purpose of education is to
train a child mentally, socially, physically and spiritually and so enable him to
be useful lo the society. Human psychology shows that for these objecttves to
be reafized, adequate foundation has to be laid right from the cradle.
Therebe, nothing can be better and long lasting to ensure the welfare of the
child than provairrg him with a good educational scheme and environment. It
is on the basis of this that pre-primary education is set.
Pfe-primary education, which is also referred to as pre-school
education comprises of all forms of organized instructions given to children
before they enroll for primary education. The concept goes with such terms as
Day - care centers, Kindergarten and Nursery schools. Some people use the
terms inter-changeling while to others, there are five differences. Sometimes
also, it is generally called nursery education. The word - nursery lexically
means any place in which something is bred, nourished or fostered. Nursery
school, according to Hanks as cited in Njoku (1995), means a place set apart
for educating young children.
Sirnilarly Bassey and Amang (2001 : 21 ) conceptualized early
childhood education as encompassing the care, development, and education
of children under the age of six years. They concluded that early childhood
education should be seen as the first phase in a life-long continuous learning.
Ebo (1 986: 65) also describes a nursery school as:
A school that serves the needs of two to five year
old children by offering them experiences that are
adapted to the growth needs of their age level and
promoting sound growth in a period when growth is
rapid and vital.
Mallinson as noted in Obasi (1998: 23) idenlifies three basic divisions
of pre-primary education. First, the Day - care centers which is of American
origin and take care of children of working mothers who may be as young as
six months. Second is the kindergarten, a German word meaning garden of
children trains children and coined by Fredrich Froebel. This trains children to
develop their manipulative, audio, linguistic and aesthetic abilities through
play and to become social beings by learning to interact with other children
Third is the Nursery school which prepares children for entry and effective
participation in primary education. He summaries that the kindergarten caters
for children aged 1 to 3years while the nursery school education stretches
from the age of 3year to 516 years.
In the Nigerian context as defined in the National Policy on Ebucatm
(FMF, 7998: 11). pre-primary education "is the education given if l an
educational institution la children aged 3 to 5 ,plus prior ta their entering the
primary school". Leaning on this premise, l t k nursery education is the
officially recognized aspect of pre-primary educakm in Ngeria.
The growing interest and awareness of parerits an fhe dividend of early
childhood education is not without basic. It is part of development and in time
with the purpose of pre-primary education as was put by the National Policy
on Education (FMF, 1998). According to the document, pre-primary education
shall exist to ensure:
-> A smnot!~ t r a n s ~ t m from !I78 home to the school:
!; Prepare the ch~ld fur I he primary level ~f educat ~ m ;
P r a w d ~ adoq~:a!e CWP wid S U ~ I Y J I S I O ~ for the
ch~lclrm .vhile Ine~r parents are at work (on !he farm,
in Ih2 market, d i l c ~ r s etc).
d Incc~ lca l~ social vmrms;
G; Inculmte rn the c1711d the sprit of mqulry and creat~viiy
through :he e x p ~ ~ r a \ ~ o n of nature, the env~ron~nant,
art, n s u ~ ~ c and ~Aaying with toys E\C,
I Developing a s m s e of co-operation and tcam spiril,
cl Lcarn good hahls, espec~all~v good health hZblk, and
I) Teach :he rc1cI1n7~nts of I ~ U ~ I - I ~ P ~ S , Ie t ter~, colours,
shapes, forms, slc through play
A lot ~i desirabk educational chjeclives are aptly assumed by
nursery ~chuo ls Some peopie therefore, are of the view !hal
children who alkndsb pre-primary schools crsually do well if not
better Lhan other children who d ~ d not attend
In rnost cases, a child'^ goad pwformance in school is attributed to
nursery ebucalim P~P-schml educat~on being the earliest form of educalion
that a ch~ld recelves 1s sad to affect ihe character of \he ch~ld and all 111s
future l i f ~ at any later P R I - I O ~ The early childhood years were believed io be
(he foundatm years in a ch~ld's up-br~nging Yet some educat~ons [Okoye,
1998) and parenis oppcse early childhood education in the nursery schools.
There is therefore, the need for a systematic study of the performance
of some primary one to three pupils who attended pre-primary schools in
comparison with a similar group who did not attend.
Statement of the Problem
The phenomenal growth in the rate of the establishment of pre-primary
institutions and their patronage from both literate and illiterate parents are
significant. New pre-primary institut~ons are springing up everyday in cities
and villages under the sponsorship of governments, private organizations and
individuals. The pertinent questions are: whether the beneficiaries of pre-
primary education performs better academically than their counterparts who
did not have the experience?
Secondly, whether the academic gains of nursery education are
sustained as the nursery graduates moved to higher grades7
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to ckter'rnlne the ~nftuence of pre-primary
education on the academic performance of pupils in junior schools in O w m .
The study specifically determined.
1. The mean measures of phnary one pup~ls in MaZtwmatics, Ergfish
language, an8 Prmary Science who benefited from nursery education
and the~r counterparts who did not pass through nursery schmls,
2 The influence of nursery education on the mean measures of
performance of pnmary Two pupils in Mathematics, English language
and Primary Science;
Sigiiificance of the S t u d y
r&my people believe !ha1 pre-primary educatim is Ihc b~drcck of
p-imary +?ducation. Thus, ali ~nvcst igat im of this n a t ~ ~ r e which is aitnecl at
finding ~f acrually prc-primary ducatinn inflwnces pupils performance 117
iunim primary coc~lb be OF interest to par-ents who may be desirocns ta discover
frnm !he findings uhelher \hl::.ir investnisnt in educat in~ these children 2t this
level is vmth while.
Findings h rn the stuc!y will eqwl ly encourage the government not only
to plav zdv~sory rdr- 3 5 slipulated in the National Policy on Education {NPE,
19%) but also lo be financially committed to this \eve1 of education. This
comm~trnent could be infclrm of ensuring that gowrnment schools
cornpulsu~ily run this instilc~lion and that adequate infraslruciure for ils
S ~ , I C C ~ S S are provided.
It will a l s ~ enable niernbers of the general public who are myopic
towards Ihis k v e l of e d ~ l c a t i ~ r l (Hilgard, 1932; Neill, t 960 and Sokan, 1983) to
give i t a second ttiouaht L. and shift grounds. This will in turn m a n more
patrnnaqe tn these schools
The findings will encourage teachers to ensure that effective and
purposeful learning take place in the learner in order to achieve adequate
transfer of learnt concepts, principles, skills, to new and similar circumstances
whenever the need arises.
Finally, the findings will also encourage the curriculum planners to
ensure that the curriculum of each educational level is built on that of the
preceeding class.
Scope of the Study
The study covered Government owned public schools in Owerri
municipal, which is the geographical area of the study.
Specifically, the study emphasized on the academic performance of
primaries one, two and three pupils in English languages, Mathematics and
Primary Science.
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to facilitate this
investigation:
1. To what extent is primary one pupil's present academic performance in
Mathematics, English language and Primary science influenced by
their previous nursery education?
2. To what extent is primary two pupils' present performance in English
Language Mathematics and Primary Science influenced by their
previous nursery education?
3. How have primary three pupils achievements in English language,
Mathematics and primary science been influenced by their previous
nursery?
Hypothesis
The follcwing hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level or significance:
Ti-II~F: is no significant difference (PC 0.05) in the mean academic
perfarinancs of \;.rirnary school pupils who attended nursery sclionls and their
counlei?ar~s who did not in Mathetnatics, English Iznguage and primary
science.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Relate literatures to the study are reviewed here. The review is divided
into two sections. One for theoretical studies and the other for empirical
studies.
The theoretical section contains:
Theories of learning, transfer of learning
Historical overview of pre - primary education.
The empirical section contains:
Factors influencing academic performance.
Importance of pre - primary Education
Strategies for effective teaching and learning in pre-primary institutions
Importance of sound basic primary education.
These are finally followed by summary of the literature Review.
Theoretical Framework
Theories of Transfer of Learning
Learning is inextricably liked to existence because without the capacity
to learn or to modify behaviour through learning, human beings woutd not be
able to survive.
Nwachukwu (1995:23) defined learning as "a relatively permanent change in
behaviour as a result of prior experience". He explained that this change may
be potential and so not evident until a situation arises in which the new
behaviour can occur. It is therefore, believed that learning gained in school
should be useful in helping the learner to progress further in school and be
able to solve real life problems.
1~rwrde the child will1 hasic Ic!uls far further educational aclvance~nent.
Many learninc theories have expla~ned how transfer of learning occurs
and how ~t can be promoted One of them is the theory of idmlical elements
v.ihich was developed by Thorndike and his followers, P,ccording to ihese
Iheorists. [ransfer of learnin$, occurs automatically between two learning
sihlalions if lhey hnth have ici~ntical elements INTI, 2002), these elemenis
can be smiilarily in facts, skill:. concept's. To prcmote the transfer OF learning,
thweiore., we siinply make cunneclions between identical facts! concepts, and
pr in~~ples. The teacher idenli!ied the icienlical elements thal exists b~ lween
S L I ~ I ~ C ~ S or I~~I-~IIICJ ~ i t u a t ~ m s and teaches them directly. Thus, use of
1nstruc31onA for I m - ; l ~ n g to be effective. Conscious nf th~s, the Federal
Ii1lin 1st;~ of Education says cniiwrntng primary d u c a t ~cln that teaching shaU
be hv practml, explrlratory and ~ x p e m s n t a l meEhods (FME, 1998:14)
There is also the them:, cf gerleralization prnpmncieci by Judd and his
follcwei-s. They insisted that orl? way of Tacilitating the transfer of learning is
by: t e x h i n ~ learners the genw-4 principles of things, that is proceeding from
general principles to spec~lic snlutjons to problems For the teacher to
pramote tramfer of learniny, he should organize his k a c h i q in such a way
:hat the learner wll conslantly be made to see broad relationships bebeen
facts, concepts, principles and theories (NTI, 2002; Nwachukwu, 1895; and
Okoro: 2002).
Another theory of transfer is theory of transposition. The proponent of
this theory is Max Wertheimer and is based on the view of Gestalists about
transfer. Gestalt Psychology believes that transfer of learning occurs when
conceptual similarities exist between situations. They also believe that
insights developed in one learning situation are useable in other situations.
According to Max wethei~ner transfer of learning is said to have taken place
when patterns of experience are trar~sposed from one situation to another or
when patterns of experience form patterns of configuration which have
meaning in other situations. According to Max, the learner responds to a
pattern, learns to recognize and significant elements in the pattern, and finally
transposes or transfers common element in his pattern of experience to
another situation. It involves reorganization and rediscovery of pattern of
experience (NTI, 2002, Nwachukwu, 1995; Okoro, 2002 and Onyehalu, 1988).
There is also the theory of mental Discipline. This theory is derived
from the theory of learning know as theory of formal disciplines. Here, the
mind was regarded as composed of several faculties in the same way the
body has muscles. Thus, by merely exercising the mind the same way the
muscles are exercised, these faculties of the mind would be strengthened. In
other words, the faculties were regarded as the muscles of the mind and by
providing difficult intellectual subjects like Mathematics, Science, History, the
mental faculties of the learners could be strengthened, activated or trained.
The thccry c f r;lental d;sciplirie is based on the assuinption that once
11-~e m i x i is dsciplmsd Il-iroc~qn exercise, then reasaning in any dher f idd
encovr~twer l Ihel-ealler ~voulri he facilitakd autoinaticall.y. (Onyehalu, 1988)
I - l a n ~ I= Halow alsi:~ developed Ihe lheory nf learning to leani.
Learning ho~v to karn or Ic.?ming to learn involves I.m-nina --. strategies nr
principles the1 can be profitattly xed in salving new problems. For instance, if
one solves algebraic problsn;~ will+ one particular for~nular for some time, one
i j e c a ~ m effic~ent in solving problems requiring an algebraic f~rrnular of that
partic~~lar type. 117 other ~hjords, one has learnt the strategies required to solve
s:~h pmblerns.
V:'e cart m l y transfer t.vhat me have lezrnt and retained, i.e., stored in
our menmry. Nv.:ac!?c~k\vcr ('!325:21) explained that "q , ; r i ~ cannot remember
wha: hzs riot been lem-ied a1-d stored ". When o tmtprial is well learnt, i t wili
118 remembered w51ly. By implication, anything Il-iot will make learning
permancnl will bc able !b irnljrrsvf: retention 2nd ther-efnrs rcm~mbering, ~lius,
Clnv~;iatu advised that the tlm3ier is to present materials in a way !ha\
wstairis Ihe learner's in twcst bemuse interest will ifispire readiness to
cmiinc~e !he learning task. tie f~xlher explainmi {hat the child can learn
rlifficult tasks if he finds the experience satisfying. The learner shoc~ld be
eiiccrarag~cl to participate ac',ively in the lezrning situation.
AS \,,,:as pu: by Disu (1 991 ) tila; \he teachers should strive to makc !he lesson
as interesting as possible by allowing the children to engage in a lot of
r~leu,?nl activities during les.;on to ensure effective learning. For unless the
school is r?bie to give its pupils !earning experiences that will help lhem in
A Historical overview of pru-primary Eclucation
The background of prl>-prirnary education is rooted in hisloriccll
m l e c e d ~ n l s in different parts of the world. According to A. C. ES (19831, in
ancienl Greece. there is eurdence of pre-school education. For ~xamp le , at
the eight day of the child. 11.2 was put in !he common nursery tn be l o o k ~ d
aftw by nurses who i".'ere e1n1301;.'ed by the stale. This practice made Ihe child
lo h a ~ e a serlse w r n m ~ ~ m t ~ y life in a corninon fold until [tie age of seven
!#:;hen he 5,vould he trzmferre~i to the barracks.
In Germany, Fredrich flugust Froebel ('1728-1852) 1s laken t~ be one of
Ihc e~ r l i es l conlril~utnrs to the cdmation of young children. As an observer of
the education of young children, he formulated a philosophy, which
e r n p l i ~ s i z ~ d the spontaneous and selLsustaining nature of children.
Rccorcllng 10 Macluewssi jl '.iC5), F r ~ e b e l liliened Lhe upbrii-qing children to
I-rnl,v the gardensr attends to hrs flowers for the best results - tends the planls
sy watering, we~d ino : -- pruning, etc. He insisted thal in like maliner? the
cI7ilbr~ri need allention.
Froebel sstablished Il;e kinbergart~n (Garden of Children), which was
one of [he forefi'lost pre-primary schc~ols established al this time. l ie
advocated t h ~ use of geometric blocks to teach numbers and concepls, the
use of physical activities like dmcing. Lazersm (1972) notes thal the g-ealest
innovat~on in \hese liinbwgarlen schools was play, which involved Ihe
challenging of spomaneous energies inlo orderly behaviour. He cmlinued thal
official areas where -;!.m!(ing lnclt hers could leave their small children, and in
of Froeljel They decided lo ndnpl the Froebel philosophy to the extent that a
decree v:as passed by t h ~ r M~nrstry of Education in lE72, recognizing
kinclergxtens as par: a? the rsnurctry's education system (Okmkvm, 1998).
hmtser {ype of pre-PI ir~iar), school that started those days *as the one
rnadcal d ~ c t o r atid becamr ~nteresteb in n-isntally ~elardcd children. She
!.ernedy for trxir alil-rieni. In I 'riX,, she started to work w ~ t h children loving in a
shim zrea in Ror~ie. She ni;:r_ie iiii tial success in her abucatinrsal work with
rnenlslly retarded children nn3 conwquently opened I,T 1907, a Casa de
Bzniblr ich~ldren's House) in the shim district of Rome. Commenting on this
The V i o u t e ~ ~ ~ r i dassrcorn emphasized persmzl hygiene and
good manners. Children learned 10 lreep thcms:~lves clean, set
arid s e w a table ;!rG use knildes and forks. 7-0 foster this,
Manl~ssori radically altered the learning environment. She
developed moveabli: clsild-sired furniture, desks and wash-
basins. She de~e lqx ; .~ her own tools for learning - 'didactic
apparatus' which pie.?~n!ed the child with problems to be
scliod h2d a proud claim !Pi?t was substantiated by records that aWr I l m e
The finest resl-~l!s of the open - air schools zre
~ i i ~ n t a l , not pli$is;cai.. , . They are found in the rapid
progress of ale:.! and awakened childi-en who Isam
in z Fsi~ weeks wha? under other cmd~l inns they
trig tit hzve spcnl years trying l c acquire.
The Froelsel kinberg?:-im and Moniessori nursery schonls had great
ini' l~~ance on both s~cies cf thc iUla~'ltic,, and a ! s ~ in the conti~iental countries of
!!'?lcst~rn Eumpe But In n-IDS! of the English - speaking w r l d , the less formal
principles of the FAzcmillian were predominant (Okonk??ic, 18%).
In U S . A pre-orirnary ccucation was primarily introduced as a remedial
schoollnp for you:;g chiloren from dopnved or unsatisfaclcry homes
!bilall~inson. 1975). I[ was ferlwslly funded and particularly provided in socially
and ec i l : -~cn~i r i~ l ly d q ~ r i v e r l r : lc~c l .~ . . rfihera the pre-primary scllnnls were used
as Iz;llvrzlrxies fgi the psyrholoy.jicaI studies and obspruati~l ls of children
i Mallinscn, '1 97F)).
!(I Ri.~!:sia~n ;PIP prs-; .rlmary shool ing system initially started in the
largcr c11:es v,:lw(s governm.: , ~ t catwed Tor the childrcn of the int elligenlsia
jklans.. I YET). Afte; !he B o l s h ~ v i k revnlutkm of 1917, thq prs - primary schml
syslem i r l Russia arc: other former Soviet socialist Republics (IJSSR) served
as vyJmk-tlrne custc,dial cenI-3:~ for children wilh m u t k r s who had lo work
outside their homes as wcll ;35 an institution for the S~uie i Civic ed~lcation u f
children !r~ Ensure !heir al l - iu~~nd development and edcrcation (Obasi, I WU).
Accordin~i to Ii3rors ( i979) : in Asiz will7 a-nphas~s or1 India, a National
Prsiicy for chiidren, approved [he parliament ady carw i r i 197.5. A Nationaf
c h ~ l b r ~ n ' s Board was establislied 2nd 111e function was to provide a focus for
cbc~cat ion and welizrs. of cl :ildren. Pre-primary edur.r>tion here mas based
iwinly 017 the :mbile crgche. Here every effort was made to dcvelop a child
pliysicallv, emnti~nally and slxially. He concluded that a c m s c i ~ u s effurl, was
also tilabe tr, conversc ihl? chilbren in ~ r i l e r to develop their vocsbulary.
T ~ d a \ j . Ihwe are :l;-mnv nclrswq schools in India aided by welfare deoarllnel-\I.
(:oming down 10 AFric;:. Anglophone and Francop'mne Alrica appeared
hat:? had a ~0mr170n apprl:.~xh to the issue nf pre-primary education based
on !(IF?. inherited coloci:4 rnod~ l7 . Iiere, our limit shall bc on Nigeria.
Pre-school institution..; have bekn in existmcc for qclile s~rnetime in
IJigcria I I dates back to colonla1 days when il was the specific reserve of the
of cnlvnial officials. \;Q!iih independence in 1960 and p a r s after. fW!
Pligerians started showing interest in the pre-school education. According lo
Oii~??:_.I-un 91 al. (1087:1 in IIY '1960's the number of me-schwol insiihf.inns
~ ~ i c ~ - ~ r ! s s b 3s ;I r e ~ u j t of 1;11111:1. of children from v;jriws Euromxm and
Arr l~~ ' i~a1-1 Cl t i zms :KDT CIII~~ in :I<ffersnt parts of :!le coun\ry. DJorenver: Nigerian
~. '~'oless~onak '6PW II IC~~EIS~!~! .~ :!ncl etnulating the European uifir,iais in sendlnq
11'1~if ~ ~ i i l b r e r l to tars - s c h o ~ l its tilutrons. Cut because of I he high fees c h a r g ~ d
I:? f he ms1i t t l t i o ~ ~ ~ . only lev, well-tl3-do parenis coc~ld afford lo send their
c.!ildrm le such, ~nstitu!ions. Cut i t should be noted that till the c ~ ~ t b r s a k of the
M i g w i ~ , w i l war in 1957, therl~: was no official recogniticm of the establishment
af prc-sr:liml cen!ers.
Burn in Maduewesi ('1986) wrote thai "there w s no obligation to
p r c v i d ~ ducati ion ior childrun before they enter primary school." Continuing,
she s i b "'he feliv estnblishzd oncs wme by private people ...." f-lowever.
fd'rowing the '1 969 c~rrricull..~n: conference, ~ ~ o r k s h ~ p ~ were held for guidelines
Ior various forms of ed~1catic~1.1 including pre-primary.
The industrialization ttlat came with the Nigerian ~ndependmce broughl
charge In both tasts and vnlue system of many Nigerians. Such Nigerians
cvha felt they had a charge in status also developed inierest, in sending their
ch~ldrcn to pre-schunl insti t~.hm as a stalws synlbol (Ol:nk~vo, 1898).
In the same vein, Illis pml itibependence period witnessed some
cha17rres w in the status o: rnaried vmmcn too. Idsally, cl~ildren from birth up Zo
the nqo 07 five years shoulr! be i a k r e d for in the home. hl in view of the
prevail~ng socia-~cnnomic climate in tho country, wives were cornpolled to join
their husbands in t?le work furcs outside the home to augment the family
i:lcome, relinquishin9 their rolss as primary care givers and educators l o
~~othc- r sub.r;t~tc~tss
necessnq! ccustod~al care in their absence but also some intr~dc~ction to
learn~liq aclivitics 2s a ~rsp;~r~tnrv ground ?fir entry inlo ihe primary school.
"Th~s is cne of the ~biectiw:: of pre-primary ?nst~tutions in Nigeria as was put
by the Na ticnal policy cn E d i m tion (1 998: ?I ) which says "provide adequale
care and supervision for the children w h i l ~ their par~nts are at work (on the
Farms, in the rnarkels, offices ~ t c j . "
Furthermore, the dwit:cile in the nalion's economy Isb to serious set
Imck and reductian in ~ w n r n r n ~ n t funding of educat im As a resull,
government (public.) primary schods witnessed serious deterioration and the
myment oi the~r szlaries T n ~ s led to a prcliferation of nursery schools by
,rlifate owners who r lso oil.ned primary schools. Obasi (1998) highlighted
lnal the ;~dms::~on d pup~ls Iri;n, !he private primary schools beginning From
prlmarrf m e wss based on h19hlj; competiVve selection tests \.~hich rely (In the
case of prlliiary oncj ijn pru-primary schocl academ~c skills and read~ne~s
a c n v i r d it7 nurse?( schools. :cle oancluci~b that:
T h s rdevanc~ of prs-prirnary school based
preparatiorl In Ihe admissinn into private
primary schm Is. Ihus helped l o also create the
necd 2nd delnand for places into pre-primary
schools k,y tl-lc; c l~tes to'pfepare their chilbrnn
101- adrnissioi I ~ n l ~ p r i v a t ~ primary schools,
which have I s ~ o x n e visas into q m d seccmbary
c-chouls.
prol~ferat~on of ncriserv schoc,ls in u r b ~ n anb rural, low as well as high-densily
arEas Ihraugt io~~t the federalm.
Inspite of this rapid g~ '~~.vth and awareness of pre-primary educatian in
Pl~gena, the govern~iien$ is not directly involved (i.e. financially cornrvitted) in
tl~e running cf this (eve1 of e~chcztion. I1 has been left in the hsnds of private
,-. . , ~ r .( - ~ e r s but p h y s actviscry icncl~un. According to the NPE (1 998: I -I), "the
;esponsib~i~iies of puemrneiit for pre-primary education shall be to promote
111e Iraimng of qualified pre-primary schm! teachers in adequak number,
mnlributn lo (he bevcloprnm cf suitable cc~rrici~lc~rn. supervise and con!rd
such institutions." Factors i n l ~ ~ ~ n c i n g Academic perfcm7ance in pre-primary
sc'hnals
Several factors influwce the academic pen'onnance of chi ldr~n
because performance is t he nroduct of what have been learnt Onp of !he
factors that affect acadernir- yrforlnance IS hereddy According to OImro
(2002: 35). "learnrnq 13ccurs x i t h ~ n the I~rnrk set 11y the l e m w ' s l~erebitary
pol~nt ials " Thls ~rnpl~es that Ihe q~ralrty of an individual's learning is
deteniiined hy thp auality of '11s brain I-lis ah~l i ty tn learn, therefore, depends
on the quality of putwtials :he indwidual has Inherited from his parent An
1n21v1dual vjho is ~ndov:ed with w r y hrgh potent~als for rntel\ectual
psychon-lotor dcvelc~pment rf tile children, i i is it~iportarit Ihat I h e nursery
sc.l-11~15 should prouidz a v..~de r m g e gf indoor and outdoor experiences.
them.
Anothw 1nipr3rknt far:lnr in Ihe envir'anment is the teacher. This is
I xca i~se Ihe a lm i lab !~ !nstructional materials in tt~,cnsselves can never
educztc. I t heccines nscessal-y that Ihc class teacher should be one who is
very much interested in the jot:, since teachers' attitudes have been sl?nwn to
!lave direcl inflwnce on the s!uclent's lemi ing at school. Ajaiti (1987) claiins
the ;sacher's interests. a!!itubes and values, 'lo a very great extent,
de t~ r rn~ne his teachii-,g efiec!.veness.
: j r ~ + . l c ? l $ : ~ ~ ~ l i i t ~ . : ~ ~ t ill 1.1r1~:b:r f a ~ , c ~ r a b I c c i rcurn~tmctx! Iparti 13~11~- itiar\ t l i ~
~ n d ~ v i i l i ~ a l ivhu is not so lib$ ~ l y endowed. Supporting this view, Onyehalcr
('1 9 W 'i 5) asserisd that " Iilxe4it.y can affect learning in a more direct manner
hesal-~sa the oTsp7-in? inherils I . Q. At birth from the 1. Q of bath pxen ts so
thal I x is to rn wilh zp?roprlW+Iy the l n c m i. a. 0: the parents."
Ecrl heredit)! d ~ s s no1 y!::r-2te in i s d a l i ~ n . This in.? because ils i ~ i l u e n c ~
can h e modified b y the envlr.onrnent. Or-~yeh.?lu ( I 988: 203 furlher explained
r t I - . .-, b q x ~ ~ c l l n g ur ihe I ,2v~ i oi stirnulatilzn, and fzcilitios in the wivironn~enl,
:?n irid~:/ldual c m l d rise above his parents, equal them. or be retarded be1v.v
1 hair i r ~ t ~ : l l i ~ ~ ~ n c ~ . ' ~ Conlin~iinq. 1-w sta Led Iliat studies have shown t?mt i f a child
lives in an impoverished enj:lrunment for ihs! first b u r years uf life, h e is likely
to Ins2 a5 ir,anv as 10'1. U points. Therefore, even (he experiences cf our
earlv life 3r.q c l -~~cia l in o l~ r fc~lc~re developmm~. Onwcrci-xlcvm (I sRT) citcs an
autl-~or who staled thaZ ?he li:pe of: h o m ~ a child comes from irsflul?rices his
lnental capacities arid ~mot ic lnd behavioclr. The a~Ahor f~rr'thcr c'lairned that an
indi):icll.lal's mental capacities and emotional behwiour x e necessary
ingrwii~t-ds fur school educ,!li!m Onwuch~kwa, thus, lamenled {he negahe
. . ~3Rect5 that b e p r i ~ 2 I 1 0 1 ~ in SOI lie Nigeri~r-i Iicmes has produced url learning.
U ~ i y ~ h a l u slill on the crfcct nf environment on learning advised that" as
far as pixsible, lhe child's environment shocrld be improved by allowing free
Supporting, Ois~ i (1 93'1 : 13) asser t~d that,:
The ohjeclives cf ieaching and learning at the
pl-e-schoo: level is not so rrluch a question n:
T t i ~ teacher shwM try lo intrcduce variety into the
ieacli ing. . so thal :hey (the pup~ls) do not hecome
bmed because a I!PI.~xI child is 2n inattentive child
and an ill attsnt~.!s child wo~dd not be r:hle to
acquire skills and :rno~~.vladge to be effectiv? in the
class
l i ~ conclusion, the cardinal aim of learning is to acquire infcm-nalion ur
The lrnportance of Pre-primary Education
Achebe (15%) in hi:. book, The Trouble with Niq~ria. - e n u m e r a t ~ d
so.ne s~cla l evils for whict-1 m r nation, Nigeria is known. T17~se ificJude
tribalism, false image of our~.el~~:es. leadership probleiri. pretended patriotism,
social injustice and ;he cult OI mediocrity, indiscipline and cornrption among
o t k r s . According to him, " txre is nothing wrong wit11 the Nigerian la176 or
elilnaie or water .zr air nr anji:ling else." i t is the h u m m elenients that have
I x e n mis-directed The ~nzjcr oroblenl facing the cocsnlry todalt is how to re-
educate these hurnsr~ elernel-I!:: who have imbibed the zforesaid social evils. It
i h e r e f ~ i ~ ? ?.I?CQIIIP necessary that while the c0un1ry is busy trying (n re-
eckml : lie ~ p o i l t human e:!c.wr1ts, efforts shuulcl h r made to nurture \he
o;ririwxni. ~ r n r n , ~ t u r e rninris ; t i a contrnlled environment; the nursery (pre-
qnliiary sct\ucd], slnce thw cannot yct sir1 bul will copy vib~-at~mi, the
I W ~ Z ~ I C I J T p a l i ~ r n of the ~ 0 I I 1 ~ t e r i society. Sclppnrti~ig [his view, Disu (1991:
7 1 ) in her a - t i ~ l ~ titled " Gc~idcl~ ties on Pre-primary Education," noted that " the
shape and drec t~on rsf fcll1.1re Nigerian society depends on the type of
H k l ~ 2 t l ~ n 2 l f~undai:l?i;-\ laid ;it the pre-primary school level.': This very ideal
was championed by E . U C ~ a rcriowned educator as Jean Jacq~rcs Rousseau
(1721-1778) in his h o l i Emmt!c which was the name of an imaginary boy. In
him \.villi ~ t s corruptinq i n f l u ~ w ~ s In this state OF n a t u r ~ , tne child, at ~nfant
and c.hildtsncd s tag~s , was allowed freednrn :o romp and plav at wifh
objects and Il-lings. TI-\~-ouqh Il'raL he acquired knowledge of virlcre and truth
tt-iro~~gh his CWII exceriencc, and developed habits, emotions, needs and
g - ' * m , # . Thp ~ d s a of p;c-primary educaiion has been In exidence globally as
advocates of this earlv childhood educatior, emphasized the need to catch the
chiltlrcn young and present to :heir ghoiogranhic minds gcod impressions that
wl l lalar form part ol their Ilia-style John Locke, w t h l-is theory o f " Tabula
Rasa" (clean slate) and the phrax " assbciatmn of idea " which he introduced
to educat~onal osychology is also one of the early advocates of early
nf the world As \.?!a? put by Eboh (1986: 56) frcm her investigations on prc-
C h ~ l d i ~ f i are ~:i;ildren and studies c~r ;duckd rn
differwst parts I J ~ the world, including Nigeria, show
that they sliarc a pmb deal of development31
neods. Tliercf~~lrr:, the promotion uf intelleclual
ccmpetcnce c?vd learning readiness in the early
years among bi ipr ian chilbrcn is the S L I ~ E way to
prodc~cing children who are inlel l~ck~al ly, 17hys1cally.
social!:; and enotionally ready Lo cope lvith the
cle~iiand:; of er3;: t ~ 2 i i ~ n and changing life conditions.
This will sure\? : d u c e wastage of talent and sk~l ls a l
[tie h i ~ h e r lewi; !sf edumtion in Nigeria.
educarinnal benefits of early ~ ~ i i l d \ ~ o o d education in a co17lrallsb environment
G w me a dozw healthy infants, well - formed and
rny c w n ~ ~ x c i f i l ?d world to briny Ihwn up in, and I' I 1
g~~sran tee to taie any one at random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might select - doctor,
artist, niercharli - rhief m d yes, even beggermgn and
thief, regardless of his lalents, penchant. tendencies,
abilities, uocatinns: and race of his ancestors.
1=17-:r?9asizinq on t h ~ n v d for prs-primary educatinn, I-leron <'\978: '16)
b!~.I!:?~)95 ;h2I 1 \78 experience ; of the earliest $)Ears are robab ably more critical
Icx sG~s~~L~Iu I -v ;36~d1 bevello::lnien t than t h w e in an importanl period for Iho
chid as fa: as lanlyage and subsequent ~n\ellec;~-~al devc-loprnent are
~or-~cw-~erj TYiis vi~*:;r, is SO :~uppof'led f ly Powler as \?,as c i t d in Okonkwo
(19Sbj ~ ! ~ 0 also believes in the early years af developrnentsl sequence for
txilding c.cncsptual /earning sets, interest and habit patterns, and that early
Imrn:t~ig ~ 2 1 1 racilitat;? tb~ : learnin2 t h t occurs at a later stage.
Oixk.anjr3 (19PD) quoling Oku~ml i fa seid that " the period from birth to ahalA
lh:? a m *.. of six is of vital ;~iipor\;rnce to the individual's future cognitive
d~velclprnent.~ l i e z r p ~ e d [I-)at for a11 'inbiviclval to devet~p cognjtively, he
~ x e d s lo be groorr~erj towards that based on a stalidard curriculum and in c?
xhool envii'onmenl.
Pre-pr~rnary e3ucatim not only accelerates t?x child's intellectual
r_fe~;~lr:,prn~nI, ! t zlso affects l l i ~ individuals wholistic bs%win~~r later in life.
A c c ~ r d l n ~ l to Lesper ?t al in Eireada [189G: 105), " what happens to a child's
persnnalit?) and his attitclde during the pre - x h o o l years are v c v ililpartanl lo
later dcvelnpme~it. '
N@ ~~~mncle r m e nf the o!bj?ctiues bf pre-primary educa~ im according to
Ihe NatimwI ~?olic'y' an Ed~,lxt ; i ;n (1998: 13) is to " prepare the child for the
~rimar-:: level of education." This is in sup~or t of the idea thal early learninn
fac i l~ ta ts h t ~ r learning and forms the foundation upon which subsequent
learning is based. Accordin2 L3 Riehler (1981: 379) while investigating on
I-leadstart programmes in America found !hat " psychologists who endorsed to
coqn!livci. crilic.al period hy;mthesis predicted that enriched pre - school
e x g e r i e r v sl-~ch 8 5 tiwse t c : be provided in Headdstart rmqramliies wui~lr i
l17;~i 7 0 :J~~~;IZI~CII; 5:aiils in II :~l.lle~tc~al fmctioning." TIi1cy arp d Ihe v iw tha:
c:ppsrlwii;t i c ~ missec zt Ihis :s!aGe, can seldom be rncla~rrwd.
Re-aswring 2nd p o p ~ i a r as !IT? gains nf early child'hmb educat~on
11.11qhl be, s m c htelvc eminml ps~chdclcgists who made up the cmsortium d
Develn~nwn tal conlrnili ty 3 r d :he €ducalinn cornmjssicn of the Unilecl Stales
of Ameril~cl 117 Okoye ('I 9981, after t%ir resea:-I& prepared a r ~ p s r t tlkled " The
Persistcncc o i Prm3-1m1 ETieck" revealed that " t ! 7 ~ _ l ~ is as of now nu
ind~cat~cn of a " n~apic age" ~4 !.vhich early intervsnlion 1s mas: eff~ctive". This
means that lhere is no period a l which development of intslligence is niost
erfecl~ve
I34 thr: question is, I T acii~ally " lhere is no 'ma(:~c. agc' at which m r l y
inlerveniion is 1101 effective," them what is all Lhe fuss about pr~v id ing pr-e -
prllnary or nirsery cCIuca[iori Tor our children, Again, !when we consider ihe
aroument cf such e.Jucati~r-~~sl a s Neill in Okoye (4995. 5) that "z child i?
yre-prrrnarv school at all, ~ s x c i a l l y , when we consider the high cost and in
on inter-:el3tionship l;lettJeen mahration and !earning declared that " older
diildrsn learn more rapidly" !?e have no cp l im but to contirsue to wonder
whether there is any ssnse in making such a Sig noise about nursery or pre -
prii-nar:f ed~lcation inter~entir,n programme for o t~r young children, This d o ~ ~ b t
is f u r t t m linhtsned by Gourl ?nough 's [indings still in Okoye that Ihe 1. Q
q l i n s 2 ~ P S L I ! ~ o i pi(? - prirn31~: education E X P ~ ~ P ~ C C W I ~ U \ ~ f ~ d e as the prc -
prlrnarv . graduates . mwed t h r~ugh the grzdes. This is also backed - 112 by the
I'lnd~nqs G: Swift ( ' 1 9 M ) ar?d Stmley ('1 972). S tan1c.v frmn llis ~-esaarc.i~
d ~ s c o v e r ~ d Illat childl-en whq parlicipakd in the pr'e - primary prograrnrno
performed belter than nnn-participanls immediately after {he programme.
S ~ c o n ~ i i y . !hat fo l lo~-c~p ~ . . ~ a l c ! d i ~ n s have indicaled that the ill~mediate
advantzges t w parlicipaied ckiildrcn generdly diminished by the end of [he firs[.
or second year.
Right here in Pligerla, Sokan ('1983) in her s t d i e s 011 cnnparative
study of Academic performar!ce in Eny lish language of pupils with wilt lout
pie-prin-~zry duca t rnn minc Nqerian children, IQCII'~~ that " thnse who hsrl
nursery cducaliun did not per f~rn i betkr than those who bid rmt have."
The question ye1 t9 b~ .mswered is do we slill have rea.r;arls to bother
~urse l~css abou[ cstablis hinq a i d exposing our clitdren to pre-prirnary
education progranirnes.
In rn;ll:ing I J ~ w r r n ~ i d s as to whether we will conlincre with pre-
primary educ-slim prqr~rmlii? GI- close them perpetually, we have to bear in
mind that i$ we accept the fazt that over the grades ch~ldren initially exposed
to nursery educa!nn mograrnrnes experience graduzl fading of 1. Q., points
to gains initially derivable from nursery or pre-primary education exposure. I
But dc we still have reasons to b ~ t h e r ourselves about establishing and
exposing our c l ~ i ! d r ~ n to nui:;r-ry or pre-primary education program~nes This
is bljhat tI)is i n v e ~ l i a ~ t l ~ n is cut to eslablish with specific emphasis to O\f:eiii.
lnio S M e
117 addi!im t~ the afore~-wnlioned roles of pre-pl-irnarv ~ducst ion, pre-
pri~nary !;c.h~wl.; shall z l s ~ w : s r to " provide adequale care and sryervision for
t l i ~ chil~3rer-1 while thcir par1:nts are 2 work (on the f2rni. in lhe ~narkels,
ofric~:;, etc)" (Na'ional Policy on Eduxdion. 1998: 71 ).
Nigeria tcday is not the SEIITI:? as Nigeria of t h e pre-c~lonial and colonial era
~vlwn vmlnen's zctiltities centred in the hon-IF and don lookino after children.
Today. the r n ~ ~ c t i emphasis cln !mmn liberation as well as other aspects of
i ~ ~ i ~ d e r n i z a t i m tends to rerlur:~ the material caye of the child, And so the need
fro early sc~pp\ewmtarj care of Ihe child becomes necessary in the pre -
schacd. Emobi (1 979) has ric,hlly pointed out that the nursery schools help in
1 7 0 small measure to sdve l?ie serious proble'm of acute shortage of maids
psed b\/ Ih52 L'nixmal Primary Education (U.P.E) prclgranme tn " mosl
parsnis \?,A?o now find i l difficl-~lt l o c13mbine Ihe good care of their chilrjren wilh
l,KHk.s'
Cm~nen l i ng rsn the m-ne i!:;suc, Akinferwa (1979: 1 4 j upheld ihe nursery
inst~tution 2 s a p o d and \r,,ol-thy substitut~ for house heipers as " i i provides
not o~:ly protsdion and care l ~ u t also academic work for the children." Yet,
R,litchell (1 958) has ar?usd that early childhood education at four years s h o ~ ~ l d
be mean! for disadvantaged children from less formatled homes. According to
her, it would reduce [he irnporI,mce of the family for the child who has a shbk
lovlnp home, wl~ich she regards as the best place to train individuals in virtues
11131 are lack^^:(! in our sccie~y, She described the home as a product of the
school and child hood training as a parents privilege and responsibility. She
conclude^ by strongly pointing out that " early childhood education outside the
h a m e 1s a disintegration of faml'ly lire.!'
C%tvi:;l~~s~v, it IF family cc.~nr~lcrnity and society a \ large /-rave sericl.js
:orlall;:~:i? ~ l ~ l l w f r e 111;~ the ;. 31ld at this period espccia
Butlress~ng the point that pie-primary schools aryclrnent the role of llie
v i t w l children are r e x e d ii 1 liorrics where lhei-e 1s Ixck of conversaljvnal
~nkrchangc. w i w c parenb c h not interact positively v!ith Ihcir childmn, and =
where lli?re is a lack of pk~y apportunities, the development of language,
~nlel!igsnr,e a n d schcilastlc st 1 1 % is likely to bo impaired '
B ~ i t Alike (-1987) is of the view that most of the educators who arc
concerned \wlh the upbringing of t i cliilbren agreed that due to
cil-curnstenccs of rapid socia! chaqes, that Ihe child will more likely be able tr:,
rcalize h ~ s dcvekprnental pc:kentlals in well organized ye-pl-imary institution
than v~ithoul i t According to Cass ('l975), the evolution of nursery schmts is a
rs~nedy for bad social c ~ n d i l i ~ n s prevailing in the early years of childreri. t le
noted 11-wt nursery education >,::as set up to provide tho children wit11 good
social and health services build crp socially, physically, emotionally and
acade~iiically so that t hey cail grow in!o healthy a i d inlelleciually alert
Strategies for Effcc tive Teaching arid Learning in Prc-Pri~nary
Institutions
Pre-primary school periad is seen as a period ot careful pl'eparat~on for L
a Iruitful social integration iW3 Ihs primary school. It secks to explore learning
experiences that wil; h r m sot.rnd basis for formal education.
There are vartcd appmachss through effcxtive learn~ny can take
place in pre-prirnary inst~tcitions. Emphasis is al;vays cm lhe active
pal-licipalion of the children in the teaching-learri~ng process. As Duiojaiye
(1977: 9) put it " formal instruction has little place" in pre-primary institution.
The twd-w is mainly Ihere lfi offer clseful suygest~om and <.?uidance to Ilhs
ciiilbre:-I pmvide them the opparlc~nity for cxplomtion by supplying than wilh
dif:ermt l ; ! : x ~ of ~i iskr ia ls a m facilities v~l5c.h will encourage expr+rirnsnla!im
,3nd discl;w?~y (On i !x .4~~n. 'I W5). In ES~FIWE, ctiildre~-~ SI - IOCI I~ 1x pivcn r1-112
q~portarii ly and encourage~n~mt lo do things by 11-1e1nse1vcs.
According to Apzie (1 5198), to achieve dfsctive teaching and learning,
Ihe pre-primary school teachers should zdopt the fnlloviing slrzkgies--
learning through experi~wntat iu~i and discovery, Isarnin:~ through play,
learning through rhymes and s o n p andl learning through c?rarnatic play.
Learning through exprrirnentation and discwvwy: According to Ayozie,
\he pre-school child firsl approaches learning !hroug!i exploratim,
experime~Vation and bjscove~.y. This is a nalural tendency in children and has
h e ~ n enhanced by an aspecl of {he Naiional Policy nn Edcrca!ion in its outline
on !he purpose of me-prirnar:, education in Nigeria which states, " to inculcale
in the shild the spirit of enquiry and creativily throur;h the exploratinn of
nature l i 7 ~ environment., . :.' Si~pporling this view, Durojaiye (I 997: 13)
~naintainecl. " Experiment and discovery are the means by which the young
child Iea:ns about his enwronment, what thi;i\;s are and what they do.''
Through this learning style, tile childron identify Ihirrgs zround and try io know
~ v l ~ z t Ihey are and what the::: do. AS was put by A y o z i ~ Illhe t.eacI-~er should
adopt an inrorrnal active app-oacl i which uses a varieiy of nwt~rials and he@
Ihe children to e x p l ~ r e evervthing xound t h m according to their inClivid~~A
interests." The children are ~ ; ~ i ~ e n the opportunity and encocrragernent to do
l.hirlqs by tFlernselve~. But i t S I - I O C I I ~ b e remembered that the available
ins\r~lctim;~l ~nateria'rs in Ihe~iiszlves can never educaie withnut the teachor's
q~.!ide. .-
G11lx~k~1r.1 et at. (1985 16j on the contrary advised that ' the children
d;nc~lrl 1x ollowbr:l f r w - r \ ~ s ~ l - . m t m n , free play, ime speech, frcc chn~ce of l r q s
and .:ilia1 io Iearii at a pzrtrccrlar monwd 0: lirne." They con!incrmi tila!
irl-~~l!:irr?n :lso:~ld n Y !:IF pinneii riown to the " t?ar,her-'s ro~.~tins time tjSle v.Aiict1
SI-ICZ!T~:GS nnl , y in tL~rnmp ihe children into regii1:ented robots." They
r.~nclc:be:l, " Reslric[ivo hmdling of ch~ldren at this pre-school stage of
r~evelopcwnt will only d f c x t Ihe growih c>f curiosity, inqc~isit~veness and
~nitiat{-,ic.
Nevertheless, while we have ' to allow Ihe children freedom Zu
experirnenl and discover things, this Treedm shculcl he guided freed0111 or
wlwt F-IcIL ('1975: '17) :-ightly .called " disciplined freedom." Okuye (199E) from
his pcrspect~ve talked of " r;ve~--stirnulation" which he explained may arise
from " over-doing ihings in our attempt b facilitate ch i lb r~n 's h~clristic and
co~r;i:ive enrichmcnt." Over-stirnulatinn, according to Btehler (1981: 292) "
m q h t take Ihe fmrn of too mc!.i? interaction,, trying to ~ n d ~ ~ c e b a k e s to respond
to something they a m no! ready to respond to, and pro l~nging or over-
I, I emphasizing a particular inier-action.
S~undtng a note r,f :;?:.zrnina for' over--stimulators, Bo~!ei in Olroyc (1 998) said
that over-stretching learning children or over-imposing things and
expel-ienccs on them will inslead of producing pos~tivc I w ~ . ~ r i s f i ~ effecls.
~~nw; t i i r?~ ly i:vill be throwing r I-IP learners so over-stimulated into interpretive
pm'n i~ms beyond their capa5il;:ies." Olroye warned that like over dosxle nf
medicine which dces morc harm to the sick person than good, over-
s!~r;-~ula:~on also ilne:; rncv r;i:rnl to !earners t h m ~ 3 0 ~ 1 , T i i u ~ , in vur
~!nt:w:;1;1'1:.[:1 t~ t.vrr; our ~ ~ F - S C ~ O O ~ children into ~rznnies om--niglrl. we
~ - ; I i ~ ~ u l d also resist the :empt$im 0 7 over stimulating them.
b lc~ i~ the lcss . C) I~CI-~I I I~- I - I~ :lob discover), learning approach helps on
coqniliva m r l larlgclage devl?4np1i~rnt. According to Bon~unjolm (1994: T G j ,
h i s wthocl Forms " the h 5 i 5 fw SCI~SSBC!IIP~~ learning of abstract concopl in
S C ~ ~ ~ C F : and m a ~ h e ~ i l z t ~ c ~ sclsh as the conce$s 0:' size, lextl.~re and volulw."
D u m g this pbr'im-1, tile t ~ x h i : r nqf identify areas of prchlem as she observes
and chats with each child. T:%s is what Igboahuche (A998: 46) described as
ch~lditond w3uca tion invdvi~ i<! " ~iiaking :hs outer, inner and the irtner. o c ~ t ~ r . " It
I'wans !5yt t h ~ c!-dd i!nfolbs FIIS nzture throug.9 acting un !he external [outer)
world of IIIW m b !hings, A s lhc child observes h is enviromnent, grasps
ob jec!~, plays wiin them 81 v,'i!l, 'through this ha expresses his nliner being.
1-1-IP science Ebucatim Programme for Africa (SEPA, 1970) explained
h t sclls!:ce is a r~iediurr~ tl:rwgh which a child nligt-I! develop his nat1_1r;71
cur~ositv, his nwwers or ol:wrvation, inqcri~j and c m i s i r ~ ~ c t i v ~ attitudes ID
~ r o b k r n sclv~ng and beci.sif ~ r i -making. Emphasizing on the usdu lmss of
early e:.::msclrf: to sclencf: rn;::tcrials in Ihe life of children Maduesvesi (1 982) 1
her research sludy on chiIc,wr7'~ interests and concein c a m nut vdh I ~ c
Cinrjing that u r b m childre:) sl-ruwed significantly more curiosily abo~ j l
1~3chnalmy and applied sci; :xe than the r~.:ral children. Her investigalion
reveal.d !ha[ this is as a rl:sult of their exposure to science materials
Childreg i i a e nahral interel-ll \;;I play with materials and when these science
~naterials, which are also ins:r~~ctional materials, are made available for t e ~ n
to play v,!ith, i t helps to turn thwn on to scimcs. Children should, therefore, be
pr8zv;clrl;:: -::!ili.l 2 st ifnillatin: el:.vlrotiment h a t is rich with s c i e n c ~ pIav n~&erinls
1b3i 1:.:1Il aliuw them lo pnrf:.:l-in mental operatinns since they help them
exercise tlieii- capacity to thil-il;. When this is done, a solid fo~~ndat ion is being
l a ~ d for cniidrw's primary sd ,on1 mreer.
P,nethcr strategy for effective teaching and learning according to
Ayuzie 1s learninp th-ough play. The Federal Governmmt lhrough the
IAaiiclnzI Policy nri Educalicn demonstrated its recognition of the intrinsic
m.lus r ~ f this slralegy in the li:: tzf children. The documsn t therefore, 111andakb
thai '- h e ~ n a i n r-rie!h~d of teachina <-< in Ll-repre-primary institution v d Ile through
play an< that the rc~rriculu~n 'f Teachers' Training Colleges is appropriatdy
oii5nte:J to achieve this." Children are nalurally playful and according lo
,%YQZ~P .' playful situation keeps the chiid alert, active and responsive". During
this p e r i d , chiIdren are very curious and active in mind and body and this
en.3h:ks tlsern to learn spontcnsously through play. Disu (?991 j observe that
fac!'.i!s.? Itleir c ~ q n i tiue 31.15 ;?v,chornrst~r b~veloprnsnt that ik is ilnportant
lhst 1 t - p n ~ , r ~ e r y sch~cl l slic~cild provide a wide ranae .-. of I x t h i~ibnor 2nd
-. outdoor experiences. i i ~ i s wiil help ;n creating an enabling environrnsnt that is
conduciw and st:rndal~ng for erkctive learning.
Ccmrnent i~q on the Pwris t i r , va lue or play and play - things, Biehler
(1987: 3973 pointeci out thz~ when children are allawsd to engage in self
selected play activities they have opportunities to discover ihings at their ow~l
pace a n d in their ow-i ivey," Learning, remembering, and forgetting are
i m m e n d v governed by whr:! !ve see, touch, handle and in what nature they
are. A c c ~ r d i l ' l ~ to Saunders I I !?xi: 35);
" Yal I ;ernw:&r 1 D'% :I,[ ~ . h , d m t you h%r.
Yuu I-~~nernber 50% of vhat yo~r hear and see.
Y c u I 1 ?lnani+r 93% 0: ~.:,:lia\ you hear, s w and do''
rJsi~-ig ti-1Ie; approach In a 111 z-pnmary inst itutim involves inmrporaling the
varliauc; learning aciiviliss or subject matter- into play. This is in 'lune with t l x
views of s m e early prcrpon~n! of play method in f h ~ earlier reviewed works
suct-I as Fredr'ic'x Fruebftl, am:] ii,ilaria Mon:sssori who recognized [hat the child
is naturally creative, rather ihan mere recept~ve. They also believe that self -
activity, play. freedom and ex?wience are pzrt of Ihe important w y s in wl-iich
tile chiid I m n s . Monkssori 311 her part saw the value f play in !wrninq and
dos.i?n.=-r! ' play things! to heljj feeble minds of children 151 learn. They learnt su
well [hat they actually did helm than nor,ml children in p~lblic examinalion
(Kpanyhnri m d Onv;wgb, . I !C2: 37).
Durojzi ye (1 977) and r3,qunjnko (1 W I ) discussed snme forms of play
f!-13t mi be I - I S B ~ in B pre-~:r:~iiary institution to ach iwe maxir~urn learnins.
These 21.e physical skills developmenl activity, which aims at developirig
gross rn~.!sr,~dar funclioris of children. They k k e [.he form of physiczl activi[ics
sucli '5s iunning, skipping. lhrowing, chasing, and climbing etc. 1-hes~
zctivities mliance Isge mi~vxix development and co-ordination. A part from
Ihs~e. :he activities constilutcd a vital part af learning at the p re -SC~QO~ s1a913.
Play acco:ding lo thpr,i can also take the form of fine skill devcloplnent
activity. Fine skills are those :!:ills needed in Iearning to write, drau!, or njeave,
loin objec!s or airance the17 in an orderly manner. These activities, illey
explained, rcq~~ired ;he develaprnent of fine motor skills. They enhance the
d~\!elopme!~t 01 c./sili?s senscry co-ordinalion.
arc biougtll out in most simple forms thrnugh rhymes and songs. ~ ~ ~ l l n j o k 0
( 1 991 - 75'1 pmnled out " t~achf;'r5 often reduce intricate concepts into songs or
rhyrnss :or ease of learning " Ahhabets and numbers are chanlecf in ??re -
Emphasizing cn the in.pr:ance of music in the I~ves of ycung children,
Leeper in N>re and Nye ('197U) said
acl~vit ES the ;11ilb experiences jsleasure, joy and
crsalrvz. expreswn develops listening skills arid
ac~cl~tory bisrr~i i ~~nat~cln, gains in physical clevelopnclnt
and use of h ~ s body; and increases the range and
f l~xk~11 :y of l11s voice. The child grows in h s
apprmztmn of music and can learn to be
d~sciim~nating II 1 h15 choices.
T171-15, 3 ~ ~ S O C I T C C ~ U I k a c l w r -n ip l~ys vzriaty of rhymes and songs in teaching.
He knows 1172 t y p ~ O r forms :I[ r h : y ~ 1 ~ 5 ~ songs or activities, which can lead to
$
h e dweloprnent of appropr~ale skills, language, or mental ability More still,
she sl+~ould knnw that the difrerent various of the rhyrn2s and songs help the
pre - sohnol children to abn new perceptions and infor-matian i~enis to their
Thc lrnportancc O F Sound Basic Primary Education
In all sxisties a i d C:U!ATI through the ages, Educalion 1735 had 31-1
altrl-115lic. fundim; i t has always provided basic skills for sotnething that society
cr se~rnenis of it ccnsidcr important. Accmding fa Cjisu (j931; 'IG), the
Federal G ~ , , ~ ~ i n n l q n i adopte:l sducation as an instrurnmt ' par excel l~nce [or
~sa:iunal u~velr>prnen?.
This is because ebc~catim helps to bripg about the scientific ar!vancements
and ~ x i c t w c s of l h ~ society (Aluede, 1992). Continuing, Aluded explained
.!ha\ Ch id Obafmii A~VOIOWU. as the leader of the Ac!i7nn Group Party in the
Accofcling to H m h y 1.1 I g b o l ~ ~ ~ e (q992: 94), the term ' priniary' implies
Ihe first in a series of events clr lhings to he dune. This will tiic.an 2 hier~rchy
nT eve~;ts or things to be dcne and an'increasirig complexity or difficc~lty as
one p-o,?ress alonq the series TO be ab l j to perform the activities of the next
higiier pairs! in the ScrIFs, on13 should I-lave reasonably niaslered 1 1 - 1 ~ r ~ch i t i es
of the i!~-~r~'~ebiately precedincl point. The ' primary' which forms the basis is,
Iherefme. important for subsr:qc~snt events in the hierarchy or series. Thus. an
?Tficier-~r y.i,r;l-wy odc:catinn s.;sien- is a pre - req~risite for e f f ~ c t i v e seconriary
;-?rlt-.! ;3c.st -- ~ ; ~ : s n ~ v l z ~ y sdcrcrltmon. This informs wliy the NPE says thal it " is the
lit:.! fo \ I le SIiCC?t;S GI- failure: nf r he whole educational system of 1 1 7 ~ counirv.
Oo~~tlm-~.nc;l, ! I I ~ dmr!mcnt ,:lunciateb :he follcwing as the obj~ctives of
pr 11; la: 1. ecluc:.3tion In '.!\gel I::?
The ~nculcat im oi p ~ r l m n c n t literacy and nctrnsracy and Ifie ability to
comrnun~cate ~ffect.i*,~cly;
' I l l - . laying o:' sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking;
r3 ~ l i ~ e n s hip ec!ulcat ~( . r i as ;1 basis for effective yarlicipation in and
c~nlriSution to !he of !he society;
Character and rnorzl tizining and development of- sound attitudes;
Dev~loping in the el-~ilrl ability ID his changing enviroliment;
Giving the child oppc-.rllmity for developing n~ariipulative skills that will
ena!>lf: hi111 to f1.1nctic.n effectively within Ihe limils ~f his capacity;
Prmviriinr, Lsa~.ic iooln; ;or lurther educatimml abuancernerit, incl~~dit iq
prepamti3n for t r x k s and crafts of the Iclcality.
-, I ;ie at~jeci~ves whon ; chrsved will fulfill the early days assumptifins of
:mna~-:: dur,ation v:lhich acmrding to Elroo (1992) had been s w n a s an
~risiu-ncnt f ~ r ecoimmic and mcial mobility. Hz explained that thc economic
ane socizl stalus of t!-~e early teachers and minor administrative personnels in
q~vei~-~nlen!, comrnwce and m~ssion agcncies had portaged edcrcation as the
1?171\/ m w n s ~f frelsdom frum labsur of the subsistence economy. bilany
paienls w1-m were skill eking their subsiktence from land, therefore, anxiously
sen\ thr:ir children to priman) schools with the hope that \hey would be belter
oif In more lucrative jobs t h a ~ those in which the parents engaged. Supparling
Summary
The learnmg tfieories are divided intc two farnil~es-the behaviourist
theorists where we have Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner among others are the
cogn~ t~ve theorists that are made up of Piaget, Brunner and the Gestalt
psychologists. Their different theories on the process of learning has
contributed a lot to the field of education In general, most of these tlieor~es
are in agreement that generalization of principles, transfer of learnt principles
ito novel but related situations, m e m q and previous experience are vital to
learning
The review also looked at the historical background of nursery
education which dates back lo ancient Greek period, reached 19"' century
Europe and spread to the thrd world countr~es because of its importance in
the development of children
Factors that influence academic performance of ch11drer-r were boked
at. These factors include hereditary, environment, the teacher and motivat'm.
The importance of nursery education in the fife of a chdd was atso
cons~de~ed. A pre-primary education which is the education that is given ta
children of3 to 5 years plus pmvides an invaluable rntroductjon to the more
regular and formal work of the primary school. It does this by ~ntroducing
young children to a w ~ d e range of activities and experiences in a way, which
gives them a sense of purpose and promotes their soc~o-emotional, physical
and intellectual development.
Strategies that promote effective learning in nursery school were also
discussed. These strategies are play method, rhymes and songs, simple
experimentationldiscovery and dramatization.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter describes the design, the study the area, the populati0r7 OY
the study, sample and sampling techmique. ~nstrument for data collectiol-1.
vahd~ty of the ~nstrument, methods of data collectim and analys~s
Research Design
The research design used in this study is an ex-post racto design. The
design as explained by Ah (1996) will be used in th~s study to establish the
relationship between preprimary educattm and academic performance of
pupils in junior primary.
Area of Study
The area of the study is Owerri in lrno State. Records in UBEB
(Universal Basic Education Board) Owem showed that lmol Stale goverrment
has twenty four (24) pubk priinap schmk in Owerri Urban. The list of all the
schools is attached in appendix
Population of the Study
The population consisted of all the pupils in prknaries one lo three of
the govmment owned prlrnary schools in Owerri Urban.
Sample and Sampling Techniques
Out of the twenty-f~ur s~krx~ls in Owerri Urban, Ihrce were selected
though simple random sampling by balotmg.
The three schools are:
1. Urban primary school 1
2. lkengbcr layout primary school
3. Mann street pri~iiary school 1
In each school selected, thirty (30) pupils were selected from each class level
for the study through stratified random sampling. These thirty pupils were
made up of fifteen (1 5) pupils with nursery exmrience and fifteen (15) without
nursery experience. In all, a total of NO hundred and seventy (270) pupils
were used for t he study
Instrument for Data Collection
Data for answering the research qc~est~ons and testing the hypothesis
guiding this study were MhlecteQ through wsearcher-n~ade tests that were in,
English Language, Mathematics and Primary Scierlce. They were based on
their c~~r rent syllabus and each class has ten quast~ons for each subject.
Validation of Instruments
The researcher-made test items in the three subject areas and for h
three classes were given to some teachers who were involved in teaching
these classes to ensure good content coverage. During the process, some
questions were either dropped, reframed or added for effective evaluation of
the s tuden ts .
Techniques for Data Collection
The researcher personally supervised the tests administration at
different tirnes in all the classes in the different schools. The scorlng of the
answer sheets were equally done by the researcher.
Method of Data Analysis
The different tests wsre scored and used for answering the research
questions and for testing t h ~ null hypothesis ~ta ted . The mean and standard
deviation were used in comparing the pupils' group performance in Ihe lhrce
subjjects, which were used for research quest~ons I to 5. A t-test comparison
of the group mean scores for the two different p u p s was used for the testing
of the hypothesis.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS OF DATA AND RESULT
In this chapter, data for t h s stud9 were analyzed and presented based
on the research questms and hypothesis that guided the study.
Research question I
To what extent is primary one pupil's present academic
performance in Mathematics, English Language arid
Primary Science influerlced by the~r previous pr-primary
education?
W~th respect to t h e above research question, the means ,md standard
deviation of the scores of the pupils in the three subjects w e e cornpuled
separately for pupils with Nursery school Experience and their cmr~terparts.
The results are represented in Table 1 below,
Table 7 : Mean Scores and standard deviation of primary 1 pupils' performance in English Language, Mathematics and Primary Science,
7 7-
1 I English Language LMathernat ics [primary sc ience --,- - -- - - - --
NEEP = Nursery Education Experienced Pc~pils
NNEEP = Non-Nursery Education Expired pupils
Table I shows that the mean score of the perTorrnance of ,prirn;rry 1
pupils who had acquired Nursery education in the three schools under
investigation were far more than that of others who did not have the
experience in the three subjects. The pup~ls with Nursery education had a
mean score of 76.6, 80.2 and 67.7 in Enljlish, Malhemaf~cs and Primary
Science as against 48.2,48.9 and 56.3 obtained by their counterparts.
Rescarcis Questiori 2
- - lo w1-d extent is primary 2 pupils' present perlortnancc in
matiii?rr;aiics. English Lanr_rl.:age and Primary Science inil~~encecl by their
pr-vtocls pra-prl~iiary educati:>nT
!;\!;th respec: to t l s ~ almve research question, ths ncans and standard
deviathlln of the scores of ti7e pupils in the three subjects were cornpuled
separately for pup115 with b lc~rsey school ex~erience and ttierr counterparts
Tne resu\ts > x r e p r e s ~ n t ~ d I r l Table 2 below
i ab lc 2: Mean scorcs and standard deviations of primary 2 pupils' performance in Mathematics, English Language and Primary Science.
-- - -- - -- i
. --1 I _ ,-- -- ! English ~ a n ~ - Mathematics - / ~ r & $ % m e ,
-,--- --,
' i i Table 2 above, there is still remarkable dlFference iri the mean
scores of t k :NO S ~ O U P S in i 3 , ~ lhree sulj~cts. The pupils that had Nursery
education erperlenc,e are I~;:ding with mean scores of 73.8, 67.6 and 63.6 in
English Language, Matherna~ics and Primary Science respectively
Research Qi~est ion 3
Hn*vv has mmary 3 pupih' achievement in Wlathemalics, English
Larigl- rag^ and Primary Science been influenced by their previous pre-
prirnzry education?
Tablr! 3: Mean Scores anrl stjndard deviation of primary 3 pupils in
Mathetnatics, Engl is l~ Language and primary Scie~icc.
I I . / English Language ( Matf~ematics ( Pritiiary ~c ienceA
. - - - -- . -.--
Table- 3 s.hws that rmre is remarkable jmprovement on the mean
Scores cxprience in 3/1 i b ~ 2 three subjects. This irnprove~iien( not wi!hm
standing, the Insan scores ci tnai; count~rparts is still higher. The pupils with
nursery crll-cation cxpwien i :~ 1-d mean S m - e s of 72.5, 68.4 a11d 70.4 irl
Engl~sh L m y a g c , F.4athetiiz.ir.s and Primary Science respeotively as against
61.3. 57.3 65 5 had by their cc~.rnierparts.
Rcsearch Question 4
'ra what extent does 11-19 general p -brmancs of p~~p i l s who attended
pre-prlinary schm! d~ffer from rhal of ojher who d ~ d no! pass Ihrougli the
experience?
In ansl,,ver to f h e abov.~? research quec,tion, the aggregate means of the
scurPs of the pup~ls in the three subj~cts were computed ior pup~ls with
nursery education e x p e r i s n c ~ ~ and !heir cwnterparts in the three classes arid
mnipzred The results were ~nresented in table 4 below.
- - 1 abl:! 4: The aggregate rne:ln scores of all the pupils in the three
subjects from prin:aries 1 to 3.
TaL~le 4 shows thzl ihere is clear margin between the general
perfarrnance of pupils with nurser,, education ar?d their counlcrparts who did
not p x s through the experiewc i t 7 all the classes
Research Cluestion 5
Tn what e x h t does fading syndrome rnanrfsst among pupils who
In answer ta the zimve resemt i question, the mean scores in
Matil~nlatics. Engilsi-: Language and Prjrnary Science for lmlh pupils who
t7~nei: led from nursery edcicatiun and their cocrnterparts ware cornpuled
s e p a ~ a t d y ~n the three classes and cornlmed. The r e s ~ ~ l t s were presented i r i
Table 5 : The Mean Scores in Mathematics, English Larrguage, and Primary scierlee sf both pupils who benefited from IJursery education and their. counterparts in primaries one to three.
Primary 3 1 Fn~llish ! ,
-- 1 I
70.4 I
PIbIEEP 1 413.2 1 4s.4 I 5~ 5 61.3 57.3 G 5 G
I L _ L _ _ I ~ --- - I
- I ;?hie 5 siisl:.?s tha! aiilough the pupils wi~l'r nursery mir~r;atil>rl
!zcpait:::-!~.e had biggcr nie;.ris in all the suhi~cts a:-d clzsses than Ilwir
countilrmfts, they experienced corttinuuus fading synciro~iie especially in
English Iang~~age, *;.s~i i i me21 :s of 76.9 (primary 1 ), 73.0 (primary 2 ) and 72 5
prima^-y 3) as aga~nst their socrn!erparts that maintai~ied a slow but steady
D ~ O Q ~ E S S in I~E three s~h jec t s and classes.
Also, in Mathe~natics Prirnsry Science, the pupils wilh ncrrsery
~ d u c a t i o ~ i exueri~ncc had ul:~ and down progress.
Flypotliesis
T k r e is no sip~iificant difference 'in the mean academic perforn~ance of
prmarlr school pupils who a!tendeb pro-primary schools and their
count~rparts who did not a1 O.Cl5 level of significance.
To answer the above ~ \ p t h e s i s a t-test was used in cornparing the
cliffel-sncas tetween tihe ~ n ! m - ~ scores of pupils wi!h nursery education
experi~nca 13 junior primary and their counterparts in English, Matl-tematics
and primary sciencc.
'Table 5 shmvs nine I r t " ' I d?c~slons talren, out of which mght (8) relected
the null hypotlios~s Secacrse \hair t-calculaled exceeded the 4-table value .at
O E I;T.\:CI of S I @ - I I ~ I C ~ C R .
I?3sd on t h ~ s e f~nd~r iqs , there IS thprdore a re la l~o~is l -up b e h e e n
pup~ ls h ~ g h e r academic p~rforrnance in jun~or primary and ti-ie~r nursery
5 a & ~ r c x m d
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
SUMMARY
In this chapter, the findings of the study are discussed. The discussions
carried on the research on the research questions and hypotheses addressed
in the study. The conclusions drawn on the findings, the limitations of the
study, suggestions for further research and the summary of the work are also
presented.
Discussion of Results
The influence of Nursery education on the Academic performance of
the pupils.
The results from the findings showed that there is a relationship
between nursery education and better academic performance of pupils in
junior primaries.
Table 1 shovxd that the mean scores of primary 1 pupils who attended
nursery schools are 76 9, 80.2 and 67.7 in English Language, Mathematics
and Primary Science respectrvcly. This is against that of their counterparts
that are 48.2, 48.9 and 56.3 for the same English, Mathematics and Primary
Science. A comparison of these means indicates that there is a big niargin
between the two groups. Th~s is because the pupils with nursery background
have been exposed to English Language as a medium of communication and
to each of these school subjects. They, therefore, have an added advantage
over their counterparts. This is in tune with one of the objectives of nursery
education as recorded in the National Policy on Education. According to the
doc.un'vwt, iNPE. 1981), Ihe nurswy education s h o u l c ~ prqxxe the child f l ~ r
the p:l:v.!ary I F V ~ I of nducaliarl.
Tam51e 2 r,on:inueb 1:; r i~nionslrate that even in pr-itnary 2 tiint a
hackarwrid c.lT nurser :: e d c w l ~ ~ n slill facilitates iligticr a c a c h i i ~ ~serfor~nancz
of !lie ~:~!pils. The big niaqll; between Itie rnean scorcs of primary 2 pupils
with r7UiSeT:/ backgro~rnd and their counterparts is maintained. The former
maintained Irsading position:; in English language, Mathematics and Primary
Sclwce wllh mean s c ~ m of 73.8, 67.6 and 63.6 respectively as againsl52.2,
49 5 and 46.2. in consman1 with this finding, Goldsworthy in Ayozie (1998)
observed thal children who clltcnded nursery schools work better in schools
and adjust bclter ic~ l i t 3 m c i school discipline.
Ogcke 1'1 990) and O k m i r u u (' '992) in their works, also applatlded thc e h t s
uf n m e q eciucatim as i t givl2s children sound educational bass.
The leading ga;? by the pc~pils with nursery edc~cation is still ~naintaineci
up ID primary 3 with 1nsa:i scorm of 72.5, 88.4 and 70.4 in English,
Mathematics and Primary S c e n c e resp~ctivsly versus 51.3, 57.3 and 65.6 Iby
their c c ~ m ' q x r i ~ .
Table 4 yielded data \!hat compared the general performance of the
pupils wlm attended rllJrSeiy schools with that of others who did not pass
thrwqi i fhe experience. Fro1 ;-I :he kb!e, there is no doubt that Ilie pl.,p~ls with
nursery experi~nce Imd higher mean scores in the three subjects of the thee
classes ~ ~ n d e r siudy than their counterparts. The relationship between nursery
er!uca!~on and beiter academic perfomlance of pupils in junior primary, there
fore, cannot be confcslerl. This fact hns been attested to by Okonkwo (19913)
who believes that early learning can facilitate the learning [hat occurs at a
I a t ~ r:zrr,:? SrLppoi!mg t+,is Ol:nye ('19995:9) asserted that inspite of I lw
,~JAI IOI-JY- .ZIC~I.III en1 Z;;::~:.~ISI 313 : ' ~ j r tt ~e cr i tml periwd lhy;xAliesi~, it i? t:lea~ tl
pre-solmrsl cl:lucation attaches significant advantages to pupils so sli~nulateci".
- l hi3 null hypoth~sis of no significant difference in the academic
lperforrnc?~~ce of junior prim21 .J s131ool pupils \:';t~o attended nursery educalion
and their comterparts who did 110t if: rnath~matics, English language and
Pr im l -y Science was rejeclmJ Thus, a good foundation of nursery education
gives its bensilciaries added zdvantage. This result differs from the findings of
Soka i~ 11903) in her stcrdies or1 comparative study of Academic perfur~nance
in Engjish languag~ ~f pupil with and witlmut pre-primary education where she
inurd :ha\ Ihnse who had nu;-sery educ&on did not perform better than those
wh~l did not have.
Hw~ever t ( 7 ~ finding agrees -.?;ith Okoya (1991) who in his studies concludes
thsl the early osycholngists such as Pavlov, Thorubike 2nd others, in arjdjlion
to mrsckr'n ones have made ;I abundantly clear Ihat children do benefit from
zaly learning and educalianal exposure. The findings have also been
suppoWd by the fact that the. numbers OF the nursery schools in our natian
and ~ t s ailendan1 population Imve contiticled to be on [he increase.
The fading syndrome
H m n a eslahl~shed the acadern~c gains der~vabls from nilrserv
educa;~m another ISFIE of w~tal ~~rIs idE?rat l~f l is whether these acade~nic
bene';~:~ are scr4ained throu~h nut a child's period of schooling 'Phc higher
mean scores of pupils witn nursery education in each of t h ~ subjects
wit hr,lanci~ng. Table S showd that fading S y n d r o m ~ man~feslcd in thew
per7ormai-c~ An x-ray of t h ~ s e pupils' performance from primaries 7 to 3
shows rl?;?i 2s soi>e of (he pc~pi!s ladder, their perfcmmance dropped. For
~n~tai~icr: E~igiisl-I Language .or Primary 'I has a mean score of 717.9. Primary
2-75 '3 aw l Primar,:: 3-72 51 T h ~ s is contrrjry lo their col-~riterlm-ts .t...!l-~v
r m ~ ! X z ~ ~ v x ! i :qwwd acaclc~~-vr= pwfcrrmance as they k c o m e nmie faii i l iar
with the school and its pri~gramrne. 'Still using English language as an
example, in primary 1, they had a mean score of 48.2, 52.2 (Primary 2 ) and
51 3 ir"r1111~rv 3 ) . This fadint:: Syndrome or p r d ~ l e m associated with nursery
s c h ~ o l g r a d ~ m t e ~ may be zltributecl to the pupils orland \he leaching
~iiethod(s) across the differell- classes. Concurring with this fading problem,
Olrc~y~! (1998) d a b r a t e d Illst as these children who initially started their
acabeniic exposure viith n u r w y school priqsamrnes more to ordiriary prii-riary
schnd setlings which are nx-stimulating, then the Itzarning and cognitive
advantages q a i w d in nursery setling wi'!l fade out.
Coml usion
From [he f~rcgolng, ails can safely concl~~cle that [I-~ete is a relalionstlip
b e l w ~ e n pupils' hich acade11i:c performance and nursery exp~r-ience. -['he
data cAlated sth~vs b a t the pupils who had nursery that the pupils who had
nursery background score0 higher than their counterparts in English,
Mathe!malics and Primary Sc~enwl in the junior Primary.
T k iindings also- der wnstrated, t h ~ t i ad~ng syndrome was exhibited
anon9 nurm-y schosl graduafm in j u ~ i o r primary. This is a glowing leslirnony
that ~ = . X P ~ C I E 70 17ursery cd:~caIion places its beneficia~ies on a more
advantageous position lhan their counterparts. It therefore reasons r.$'hy
nursery education in out count~.y, Nigeria, must be retained and maintained.
Implications of thc Findings
hocc~i ics a necsssarv s1a1-t for every child.
7 .- IAnn-benef~ciar~es of nursery education are lo be given special attention
by 1t-wr teachers in j:1111w pr~tna-y to help in bridging ths gap betwen
them 2nd their cwnis!.parts.
'I LJ Teachers in juniclr p r i n w y are to be more resourceful in their teaching
Based on the i~~idinss of this st~ldy the f~llotsriny r~tcotnmencfalio~is
have t e m proffered:
FI-se nursery ~ d ~ l ~ a t l m should be made c~rnpulsory lo all children
\:,I~'IIII the aae - bracke! of 3 and 5 ~ l v s through :hc eslabl~sh~-r;ant of well
~ r ~ m n ~ z e b and equipped nursery sections in all govenirnent owned
pr~niary sdiools 8
T k Mln~stry of education should moni:nr nursery school
cc~rr~r,ulurli/pro~ram~nes dfectively. Th~s w~l l m s l r s that WPII- prod~~cts
S?in the reqcllred scar-hn~c and social training
'P~;lchcrs should en?~avaur to give their pupils who are non-
z v e i ~ m r ~ ~ s of ilurser)l edumtlon niore attenlion in the cnurse of their
185~017~
9S~~:~rnrn~nt should s ~ T L I ~ ~ I ~ to provide adequate instructional
in? ter~als and stirnula t ~ i i g learning environment In our primary schools
( 4 )
t.~i erisclrs tl-1~11 :hs learnity and cognitive advantages gained through
nciserv edocztlon ~ W S 1101 fade away.
,- 3. There s h o ~ d be lliore eRective and efficient monitoring and
svpervlslon l c f Isssorls in prlmarg sctiods.
Limitations of the Study
In carrying O U ~ this stl'Jyl the researcher was faced wilh SLICR p10blerm
S~nce different teachers are involved in teaching these pupils in junior
primary., the birferenccs in lhs standard 2nd rnelhod of Leaching in each
s c h ~ o l determinerj the overall perbrmance of thcir' pupils.
Again, thc study was a cross sectional rather than a Iongitudinal
secl~nn of t k perfor~-n.:uice of pupils with nursery background tsecallse
of I k constrzint.
The mbi l i ty of some sc!moIsltez'chsrs to finish their scheme of work
also affected the pcrpiis' perfmma,nce.
As a result of :he limited time available to the researcher, orrly three
sckinols were sc!ected for the study.
Suggestions of Further Rescarch
'1 1-h~s studv cciclld be re:~a1ecl using other subject areas
2. I \ could be extmded t r ~ cover senior primary.
3. The influence of pre-prllnary education 01-1 the social and etimtional life
uf p- lp i !~ in J L I I - ~ I O ~ primary.
4. A verticd s:cldy ~f the influence of nursery cducaiion 017 the academic
p12rfclrrnancs nf pupils 11.1 junior primary.
Summary of thc Study
1 h!.; s : d y a~!iwcl at w~l~ .mt ing the influence of nursery education on
ihe ac:xlen%c pw-3-niance 0.: p c ~ ~ i l s in junior primary in Owerrri. 111 cordcrcticiq -. .
[he r ~ ~ e a r c h . [ i w ( 5 ) rs~~t3r r .h qu~3slion5 were fonncrlaid and one hypdhesis
slzieci
The Ex-post Fact0 research design was used. The inslrr~rnent for dala
colle,ztisn were resezrcher-made tests given to the pupils from primaries 1 to
3 ln English. Mathematics a:id Prmary Science. The researcher-r-nade lests
were set based on fbe curric;r/um Ten (1 0) test items were raised for eadl of
- the I h i ~ , e classes in ihe j~!nior primary. I he items were given to some
classrc~om Ieachers v!l-to face validated the instrurnerts. 1-he schools that
v.rere [!511d fur this ~ : u d y wm:. randnmly selected.
The mean scores and standard deviation of the pupils' performance I
t,?e t h r e ~ subjects and classed were deternslned and interpreted. The t-test
siatisll.::? 5.vas used in dsternilning the rwll hypothesis. The null hypothesis of
170 si~niTi~.aiV. diffe:ence in the mean academic perrormance uf junior primary
pc~pils who alienbed nursery educatiwn and their counterparts who did not in
~nalhern.?t!cs, f nglisl; Lanqume .. .- and Primary Science at 0.05 alpha level was
rqestcb Therefore. there ir.. a relalionship between a f i n ~ background of
I i lmery edclcaticn and beller academic performance of pupils in junior
primary. The pupils with a background of nursery education had higher mean
scores in b 7 r ~ 1 1 5 h , Mathe~nalics and Primary Science than their counterparts
who did not.
1-he researcher also discovered thst fading syndronw was observed
from the mrser-y graduaks in ihe three subjects as they the academic ladder.
!I 1s wirlersl hat r ? l - ~ r . ~ ~ y ec'ur-alior~ helps in the early veal-5 of our r;hilclrcl\,
Irnplicaticns of :he findinus, - r~cornmenciatinns, Ilmitations of the study
and su.:rrest~ons - 4 Tar further m e a r c h were also highlighled.
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QUESTIONNAIRE
LIST OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN O'VVERRI MUNICIPAL
Ser7tral schocl I
C ~ n r r a l s c h ~ u l l l
m l loqe of Education Lcmonslration school
Development Primary School I
D ~ v e l ~ p m s n t Prir-nzry .School II
Housing Eslate Primary School
Ikcnegbu Layout prililtiry ~chr301
[~Jann Street Primary Ychml I
fjlann Streat Primary 5r.17001 I 1
Rrlodel Primzry School New Owerri
hlodel Prirn~ry School
Njelnanze M~rnorlal School I
N;emanze Memorial School II
Shell Camp Primary SCI-IOOI
Tovmshl;, School I
Township School II
Clrban Sct~ool I
[!it3317 S c h m l II
Uri~ Layout Primary St b 0 d 1
UZII Layout Primary Schod II
Waterside Primary Sclxwl
!nlo~Id Bank Primary Schoal I
Vdorld Bank Primary S .~ l i od II
Urban Primary School II
PRIMARY I
MATHEMATICS
Cnunt and Write
SSS 4- SSS + S S S = E l
10. Match Ihe numbers with the objects
PRIMARY 2
MATHEMATICS
Wr~te these numbers in words
Write greater than (>) or less than (q) in the bcx
10. C l i ck the even numbers 2 , -1 5, 16, 8, 17. 19, 20
PRIMARY 3
VATHEMATICS
Answer all the questions
What 1s 1178 surii of 18 ,776 3 7
F m i t ! ~ e L C M of 5. 9 2nd 12.
W1r1 te one thousand five hundred and fifty - five in hgure
W r ~ t e 3075 In words
F~ll In the spaces \~vllh successive even numbers. 8. 111, _
, -16, , 22.
C~rcle the odd numbers 3. 41, 8 , 7 , 5. 2 'I, 5
4 6 5
+ 3 9
---
8 4 3
+ 2 5 0
----
3 8 1
- 4 9
PRIMARY 1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
U1.1derl :ls the correct answer
L . I"M 1: is a (Spoon, ccr p)
Fill In the correct al~habets
6 b,c .
- I My father I S a - (Man, girl)
9 C t:;m-~~a I J D C I C J ~ ~ book (a , sn)
The cup is t h~ chmr [QII 111)
PRIMARY 2
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Ans.ver 311 the quesl~ons
Find the plural clr these words
3 Man
Vdrite itie oppos~te of the followlng ~vords below:
Words I Opposrte
Make serilenr,es with these words
Words sentences
10 Mother
1 I Orarqe i
PRIMARY 3
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Comprehension Passage
Read rh~s passage carsfirlly and ans.ver fhe uuestrons lhai iollow
Tanqodo Tm;? -,-
Ton~ocio IS a small to.vn a! the boltom of a h ~ l l I t is a beautifcrl town
There are many tress and flowers in Tongabo. There are some houses on the
top of !I-~c h ~ l l and many buildings in the cei:re of the town. There IS also a
mal l l iosp~ial 111 Tongodo
QUESTIONS:
1 'tN51ch ;nwn IS thy passage talking about?
2 Is the town a beaut.!ful or ugly town?
3 '~fi!;iat can you see on top if the hill?
4. Name some of the thng found in the town.
5. Is the hospital Sig or sma\\?
Choose the correct word From the brecket to complete the foIlo~vi~'lg
- I :x children lootball ewrybav (nlayed, plsys, pla y l
Mv ci-~~ld who !S ihree years old 10 5chfiol (go, goes.
gone)
1-2s.t month we to Laqgs. (shall travel. traveled, have
:raveled).
Everything for the party ready (15, are, be!.
I lv:a 5 the classroom when my teacher called me (swept.
sweep, sweeping).
PRIMARY I
PRIMARY SCIENCE
U nderl~ne Ihe correct answer
H P V S and g ~ r l s are in t5e lass room (a) Yes (b) No
and are 11~1pm1at-d ~n Ihe classrooni, (a) Grass and
s t m e (b) Duster S chalk.
i Y e c m make nod el of cup w:ih mud jaj Yes (b) No
Our fan blows - lo us (a) Fire (b) Air
Living things move fro111 place to place (a) Yes (b) No
L ~ v ~ n q thrnqs e;lt f w d . (a) No [b) Ye5
tvear clothes to (a) be C ~ Q U ~ (b) covm oi~i-
nakedness
and are foimcl ~n the school ~otiip3i111d (a)
Dlrty ib) t ~ l l (C'I f~eld
draw our a t t e n t m ~n the school (a) Bell (b) Stlc!:
Are pants a n d stocks types of clothes (a) Not sure (b) No (c) YCS
PRiMARY 2
PRIMARY SCIENCE
Clnderhne the correct answer thsit will fill [he blank spaces.
V& have sense organs. [Three, Five, Four).
IS the sense organ of smelling. (Ear, Eye, Nose)
The sense organ of taste is . (Skin, tongue, teeth) ,
Any object that is contaming some heat is said to be -. (Cold,
fooltsh, warm).
Ch~ldren suck water in the water bottles with - . (Spoon,
fork, straw).
can dissolve in wa!er. (sugar, rice, stone).
cannot dissolve in water. (Stone, salt, sugar)
Two examples animals that live ~n water are and
-- .(cows and horses, casts and dogs, fish and crayfish).
and are animals that live in [he soil (Hawks
and eagles, Earthworm and millipede, snakes and vultures).
An anlrnal has .- legs. (Four, two, five)
PRIMARY SCIENCE FOR PRIMARY 3
INSTRUCTIONS - ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS I
Choose the correct answers from the brackets.
and are examples of plants. (maize, chair,
table, yam)..
Plants need , and to grow well. (salt, sugar air
sunlight, fertile soil).
R ~ c e grow on (Land, treebarks, water).
The three types of soil are , and (healthy
soil, loamy soil, clays soil, sandy soil, water soil).
-- has four legs and two horns (grasshopper, cow, fowl,
fish).
and are uses of water (washing, daricing,
cooking, fighting).
Mosquitoes human blood (chew, swallow, suck, lick).
SECTION B
8. List 2 wild animals
9. List 2 domestic animals
10. Write 2 things that can float or fly I the air
