STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

Abstract

Early childhood education has emerged as one area of the educational reforms for

sustainable development in many nations of the world. Its effectiveness, however

depends on management of resources. This study investigated the strategies for

improving early childhood education programme in university of lagos . Four research

questions guided the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 200

early childhood education students. A checklist was used to observe the centres and

collect data which was analysed using frequencies and percentages. Findings indicate

that inadequate human, infrastructure and learning resources prevail in the centres.

These inadequacies were high in both government and private owned centres. This

has the implication of inhibiting creativity in early childhood education. Some

recommendations on improving resource management were made.

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her

life to influence learning (ED.gov, 2010); and this becomes a challenge and

commitments to the parents, teachers, community and government, to ensure that

these young children receive appropriate training in their early stages of life. Early

childhood education programmes are highly recognized and promoted in developed

societies to give children the opportunity to learn phenomenal amount of experiences

at home and surrounding environments. Heward (2009) explained in this scenario that

children grow and develop in orderly ways, learning to move about their world,

communicate, and play. As their ability to manipulate their environment increases, so

does their level of independence.

Nigeria is currently facing a challenging time in providing g her young citizens’

quality education. Some important issues facing Nigeria’s policy makers include

ineffective planning and implementation of programmes, accountability, and

management of scarce resources, shortage of highly qualified early childhood

teachers, undefined curriculum and inclusion. In agreement with the above, Mindes

(2007) added that early childhood educators’ challenges are enormous and they

include parent partnership, respect for cultural diversity, appropriate early

intervention assessment, and linking curriculum and assessment practices

appropriately. In the World Summit in 2001, the Secretary General of the United

Nations reaffirmed the world’s commitment to ensuring that every child has a right to

the best possible start in life. He identified good quality education, opportunities to

develop his or her full potential, and an enabling environment to make positive
contribution to the society in meaningful ways as the thematic areas.

On the contrary, the recently released results of the Senior Secondary School

Examinations in Nigeria would continue if stakeholders do not tackle the challenges

facing the sector. Ademilola in TELL (2010) reported that the performance of

students in West African Examination Council (WAEC) and NECO examinations has

not been impressive in recent times. In the last 2009 NECO/GCE, only 1.8 percent of

the 236, 613 that sat for the examinations across 1,708 centers in the country had five

credit passes, Mathematics and English inclusive. Whilst out of the 1,373,009

candidates that took the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, 25.99 percent of

them had five credit passes in five subjects, Mathematics, and English inclusive. This

dismal performance was also observed in May/June 2009 NECO results.

Ademilola stated emphatically that at the fore of these challenges facing the

educational sector in Nigeria is the poor quality of teachers. In his own right, Peter

Okebukola, former executive secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC),

in a report by the Daily Sun newspaper said many teachers are exceedingly weak in

the subjects they teach. Besides, he further argued that very little is done to train and

retrain teachers in the country and this takes its toll on the performances of teachers.

This training gap creates vicious cycles that negate the necessary early childhood

educational foundations, and inevitably later education.

The importance of teachers and the roles they play in any educational system cannot

be over-emphasized. Teachers are usually linked to issues related to teaching-learning

goals, learning achievement, organization of programmes, and the performance of the

educational system which involves an analysis of the role of teachers their behaviours,

performance, remuneration, incentives, skills and how they are used by the system

(Federal Ministry of Education and Youth Development, 1994). The National Policy
on Education (1981), in recognition of the importance of teacher quality, states, “No

education system can rise above the quality of its teacher”. It is a shared view that the

quality of any education system depends largely on the competence, commitment and

motivation of the teachers (Mbanefoh, 2002). In the same vein, the 1993 summit of

the Nine High Population Developing Countries held in New Delhi, India was

emphatic about the relevance of qualitative teacher production in the success of

Universal Basic Education. In line with the aforementioned, Ede (2003) opined that

the success of any system of education depends to a large extent on the number of

teachers and their quality, their devotion to duty and their effectiveness on the job. In

sum, talking also on the role of teachers in the development of Africa, Fafunwa (in

Ede, 2003) noted that of all the educational problems that beset the African countries

today, none is as persistent or as compelling as the one relating to the training of the

competent teacher… indeed the overall problem of preparing the future citizens of

Africa cannot be effectively accomplished without aid of competent teachers.

In this regard, the responsibility of government on pre-primary education according to

the National Policy on Education (2004) shall be to promote the training of qualified

pre-primary schoolteachers in adequate number, contribute to the development of

suitable curriculum, among others. However, Maduewesi (2003) observed that teacher

preparation which was promised in the National Policy on Education is not being

implemented thus nursery school curriculum is not actually being planned by

qualified teachers that are adequately trained for that level (early childhood/pre-

primary education).

To ensure adequacy of resources in early childhood education, the Federal Ministry of

Education prepared guidelines on pre-primary education in 1987, to serve as a yard

stick to use in evaluating the standards of early childhood education centres. Among
these criteria contained in Maduewesi (2005; 76) include:

1)objectives of pre-primary education (as stated in the National policy on education)

2)Government attitude towards pre-primary education (no direct participation thus

advocating active participation of by private sector)

3)Requirements regarding types of establishment, equipment, teaching learning

facilities, equipment, ( for example prohibition of residential nursery except for those

serving the handicapped,)

4)Specification on play ground, furniture, fees, teachers and staff qualifications.

5)Teacher pupil ratio (1:25)

6)Language of instruction (mother tongue)

7)Books locally appropriate recordkeeping (administration and academic)

8)Inspections (by officers of the State Ministry of Education).

9)The Early Child Care Development Curriculum by the NERDC.

10)The use of resources from the local environment.

1.2 statement of the problem

Early childhood education programme according to the National Policy on Education

document is the education provided in an educational institution to children prior to

their entering the primary school. It includes the crèche, the nursery, and the

kindergarten (NPE, 2004). Ibiam and Ugwu (2009) defined it as the education

designed to develop the habits, altitudes and skills needed for primary education.

Maduewesi (2005) believes it encompasses the care, development, and education of

children below the age of six years. The earliest years of a child’s life are very critical.

They influence how the rest of childhood and adolescence unfold. Yet, in most

developing countries, including Nigeria, the policies, programmes and budget of the

nations have not reflected the seriousness with which the matter ought to be

addressed.

Research reports have confirmed that children from conception to six years of age

undergo radical mental and physical development. In addition, those children, if given

good care during early childhood, are more likely to benefit from later education and

other social services, and become more productive, healthy, and law abiding citizens

(UNICEF in Ibiam & Ugwu, 2009). Research has also shown that the last three

months of prenatal life and the first two years after birth are the most critical periods

of brain growth because more than half of the adult brain weight is added at this time

(FGN/UNICEF, 2001). As such, children need more stimulation and learning

opportunities beyond the scope of their parents and ordinary teachers. To achieve

these ideals, training in integrative and innovative thinking strategies needs to be

introduced in early childhood teaching practices to enhance quality teaching and

teacher production.

Quality in education embraces all function and activities of teaching and academic
programmes, research and scholarship, staff, students, facilities, equipment services to

the community and academic environment (UNESCO, 1998). The National Research

Council’s 2001 synthesis of research on preschool education (in Sacks and Ruzzi,

2005) concludes that teachers with strong intellects, education, and training are

effective preschool teachers. Specifically, teachers with at least a bachelor’s degree

are correlated with programmes leading to higher quality programmes. The Cost

Quality and Child Outcomes study (in Sacks and Ruzzi, 2005) showed a clear impact

of the quality of the preschool on children’s performance through second grade.

Children attending higher quality preschools had better language, Math and social

skills than those attending a lower quality one. Those at risk of school failure

benefited the most from attending a higher quality preschool and were most

negatively affected by attending a lower quality one. The study also showed the

closeness of the relationships between children and preschool teachers to have a

significant and lasting impact on academic and social abilities.

There is now a strong consensus on the many benefits of preschool. Sacks and Ruzzi

stated that studies have shown that attending a high quality preschool programme not

only increases children’s readiness for kindergarten, but also causes positive long-

term improvements in participants’ school performance and social outcomes. Among

the documented results of preschool education are lower rates of grade retention,

increased rates of high school graduation and less likelihood of being convicted of a

crime for both juveniles and adults. Preschools have the greatest impact on children

living in poverty and those who do not speak English at home. (Perry Preschool

Study, in Sacks and Ruzzi, 2005). It therefore remains a puzzle as to why preschool

programmes in Nigeria are not receiving adequate attention.

Sacks and Ruzzi reported on two popular innovative model approaches applicable to
preschool education. The first is the Montessori philosophy built on the belief that

children are highly capable learners who need minimal teacher input to learn from

their environments. Key elements of the Montessori Method are mixed age

classrooms (integrated), student autonomy in choosing learning tasks and experiential

learning. The second innovation is strong parent involvement to further the goals of

promoting critical thinking and collaboration among young children. This one is

popularly known as Reggio Emilia approach. It is focused on strong home- school

relationships, long-term projects, the recognition that children possess multiple

symbolic languages, and the role of the child’s environment as teacher (Sacks and

Ruzzi, 2005).

Teachers are expected to be continually engaged in the process of learning about

young children, both through ongoing professional development and through careful

observation of the children in their classes. The teachers then reflect together on what

they have learned and use such experience as a basis for future activities intended to

expand on initiatives of the child. In this way, the Reggio Emilia approach bases its

success not on formal curricula, but on an approach to educating children that give the

children themselves a significant role in determining classroom activities. Marcon

(2002) research further shows that children who attend preschool programmes that

emphasize child-directed activities do significantly better academically in later

schooling than children whose preschool experience is more academic and teacher-

directed. Integration is another concept that applies to the general planning of the pre-

primary educational programme in order to create harmony between goals and

objectives; as well as programmes and outputs there from (Adaralegbe, 1992). It is

used with a view to synchronizing the needs of the individual citizens and learners, as

well as the society at large in relation to the environment and the harsh reality of the
socio-economic realities of the modern worlds within the limit of available resources

to the education sector. The question is: can Nigeria be said to have achieved this?

A good number of nursery schools in Nigeria are still run by private individuals

despite the government lip service of getting involved. The programmes are still faced

with the challenges of providing quality training and recruitment for teachers on a

continual basis, provision of learning materials that are age appropriate and a

nationally accepted curriculum for teaching the children. In a survey of nursery

schools in Nigeria, Ejeh (2006) noted that nursery schools in Nigeria currently

operated on university campuses, schools premises, premises of industrial and

business organizations, church premises, town halls, and residential buildings must be

assessed for quality assurance in all sectors of the curricula, including aesthetics. The

facilities and equipment are considered generally poor and ineffective; yet, only

wealthy individuals can afford to send their young ones to the institutions. In another

survey on nursery school and caregivers, Ezirim (2004) noted that of the 1,429

teachers in nursery schools surveyed in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, below 20%

of the observed centers have teachers who with Nigeria Certificates of Education

(NCE), much less university degrees. Many were high school graduates who were

waiting to complete the requirement for university education. These high school

graduates were using the nursery school as a temporal workplace (stopover); as a

result, the school proprietors and proprietresses pay them low wages. Furthermore,

these often inexperienced, under- motivated teachers have too much workload,

therefore, resulting in the children receiving ineffective education and inadequate

care, which is bound to affect their eventual growth and intellectual development. The

issues, therefore, lies on whether there are integrative and innovative practices in

Nigerian early childhood education programme in University of Lagos; as well as the

views of preschool teachers concerning such practices.

1.3 Objective of the study

The main objective of this study is to examine the strategies for improving early

childhood education programme in university of Lagos. Specifically the study aims

to:

1. determine the percentage of childhood education department in UniLag have the

physical resources (buildings, playgrounds, and furniture) as stipulated by NERDC

2. determine the percentage of early childhood education department in UniLag have

human resources (teaching and non-teaching) that meets with the criteria stipulated by

NERDC

3. determine the percentage of early childhood education department in UniLag have

learning resources (toys, print, technology, local) that meets with the criteria

stipulated by NERDC

1.4 Research Questions

The study sought answers to the following four research questions:

1. What percentage of childhood education department in UniLag have the physical

resources (buildings, playgrounds, and furniture) as stipulated by NERDC?

2. What percentage of early childhood education department in UniLag have human

resources (teaching and non-teaching) that meets with the criteria stipulated by

NERDC?

3. What percentage of early childhood education department in UniLag have learning

resources (toys, print, technology, local) that meets with the criteria stipulated by

NERDC?
1.5 Significance of the Study

Early Childhood Education programme are path ways that link a child‘s early

experience to later learning and development socially, emotionally, morally and

cognitively. It is a transitional stage to primary and elementary school. It thus

determines

sound education which is laid on solid foundation that enhances subsequent learning

in later years. Significantly, ECE will give a boost to academic achievement and

behaviour of pupils that will enhance subsequent school system. It is highly beneficial

to the pupils‘ cognitive and educational development as well as the well being of

young children in terms of their individual needs and characteristics.

The finding of study would provide, pupils with systematic framework academically

that would enhance subsequent learning, earlier completion, improve school

achievement and higher levels of social, moral and emotional functioning, success in

lifelong development. Similarly pupils who engaged in ECE schools – based, exhibit

accepted social, moral and emotional attitudes and would attained higher grades

scores than their peers who did not engage in ECE learning. Period of early childhood

education has a strong and positive impact on further development and pupils learning

in later years. Importantly the ECE pupils would perform better academically and also

have competent positives social values and moral behaviour and are less likely to be

engaged in drug use, violence and drop out of school.

1.6 Scope/limitation of the study

The research work was carried out in university of lagos, consisting the entire

education faculty.

The scope was further delimited to students in early childhood department

irrespective of sex and age who were the immediate beneficiaries of early childhood
education.
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Concept of Early Childhood Education

Education is one of the vital factors that help in the development of a human being.

The fundamental right of every child is to learn and develop to his or her full

potentials through equal access to quality education regardless of their age, gender,

origin ethnicity and social background. However, ECE provides the foundation of

education in the pre-school education which forms an integral part of a child‘s early

education, given formally or informally, in an educational institution to children ages

two- five years prior to entering the primary school (Nakopia, 2011).

Early Childhood is the most critical period in human development, thus

comprehensive and quality early childhood education can make a significant

contribution to the physical, psychomotor, cognitive, social and emotional

development of the child; including the acquisition of languages and early literacy.

Children are active learners from birth, and the early years are vital to their success in

school and later in life. Early childhood education might be considered to be

education which takes place before compulsory education. The term refers to

education in its broadest sense, including childcare and development. This includes

early childhood services provided in kindergartens, nurseries, pre-school classes,

child-care centers and other similar institutions. It goes beyond what some refer to as

pre-school education, as it is education in its own right, having not only the purpose

of preparing children for school, but for life in the same way as all other parts of

education systems contribute to this process (Hayes, 2010).

In addition, ECE has an important role in securing all children, good education, thus

Childhood years are important in themselves and ECE can contribute to many positive
and valuable experiences which form a solid basis for future life and learning. This is

supported by the 2007 edition of the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring

Report (GMR), which provides evidence that children‘s experiences in the first years

create a solid foundation for subsequent learning. In addition, the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development starting strong II (OECD, 2006) asserted

that ECE addresses issues of child poverty and educational disadvantage, as well as

promoting women‘s labour market participation. In recent studies, OECD (2006),

looked at the long- term impact of ECE, and its findings reveal that 15-year-olds who

had attended pre- school were, on average, a year ahead of those who had no reading

literacy. ―Education internationally‖, thus insists that no child should be denied the

benefits of good quality early childhood education. At present various opportunities

are provided and several avenues are opened that help in imparting knowledge to

children all over the world (Bradford, Aguda, Bingham, Bower, Broomby & Coltman,

1996). Globally, individuals and governments invest heavily to ensure high quality

and accessible early childhood education at early stage of life. The importance of the

early years, in a child‘s physical, social, emotional, linguistic and cognitive

developments cannot be over emphasized. That, future capabilities and successful

educational practices are notably linked up with both knowledge and good reasoning

ability acquired in the early years of life.

Research studies on capabilities of young children‘s stages, styles of learning, social,

emotional, moral developments and successful educational practices have established

that children who lack knowledge and experience may not have good reasoning

ability (Branford et al, 1996). Hence education provided at early childhood

specifically at nursery and primary education level, will enhance children‘s

future/later reasoning and educational needs within the formal school system which
will promote their educational success and ability.

Early childhood education is an activity that takes place before formal school, in this

case, preschool is a part of early childhood, and the aim is the versatile development

of child‘s personality and also helping the child to be ready and mature for a smooth

transition to school (Ajala, 1978). In other words, early childhood programme

encompasses both qualitative education and care, which should not be separated but

provided in a complementary fashion. Quality early childhood education will earn

children a position or state of readiness to learn in a formal and non-formal setting.

Disposition to learn refers to development of social skills and behaviour in formal

educational environment, while readiness to learn is related to the fact that children

will start schooling on a solid (footing) foundation to develop their potentials.

Emphatically, early childhood education is seen as an evolving field of study, research

and practice, which concerns itself with all aspect of early life experience, from

separation of anxiety to early literacy development. Early childhood education

sometimes called early childhood care and education or early childhood care

Development Education refers to the education that children obtain during early

stages of life. Learning is known to be greatly influenced by extraneous factors like

the nature of educational environment: instruction material conducive environment

provision facilities to which the child is exposed during the first 6 years of life,

(Bowan, Donovan & Burn 2001).

Early gains in school readiness due to early childhood education have been shown to

have enormous positive economic and social impacts, lasting well into adulthood

ranging from higher educational attainment and less chance of involvement in

criminal activity, to higher status employment and higher earnings. Hence, Early

childhood education is crucial in life in terms of a child‘s physical, intellectual,

emotional, moral and social development; growth of mental and physical abilities

progresses at an astonished rate and a very high proportion of learning takes place at

this stage (Birth to age six). It is a time when children need high quality personal care

and learning experience. That is, for any meaningful learning or acquisition of skills

and knowledge to take place, the environment should be provided with adequate

instructional materials in addition to quality educators; (Schweinhart, Sparling,

Ramey & Ramey, 2009).

Children who received quality early childhood education from qualified teachers are

more likely to succeed in school and in life. Such children with richer literacy

environment demonstrate higher level of reading, knowledge and skills at primary

school level: Good early childhood education increases cognitive abilities, school

achievement and improves classroom behaviour. Hence, there is the need for careful

planning and effective implementation of early childhood education programme

which will have positive impact on effective completion of school for the child;

(Smith & Barnett, 2004).

To buttress this, Mills (2007) specified that early childhood education produces

benefits that persist into early adulthood which means that children who participated

in early childhood education are likely to perform better in subsequent educational,

moral, and social milestone than a similar group who attended another pre-school

programme. The "former" group who participated in Early Childhood Education for

one or two years will benefit in several ways viz:- Less grade repetition, lower

dropout rates, improved parent-child relationship, higher intelligence scores, higher

school completion rate, improved social and emotional behaviour, increased female

labour force participation, lower rates of juvenile crimes and have a lower chance to

committing violent crimes. These will not only benefit the child but the society as
well. For effective and efficient development of a child‘s latent abilities and forms of

behaviour of positive values in the society in which the child lives, early childhood

education becomes imminent, not only to the educational development but also social

interaction and good moral behaviour inclusive, (Osakwe, 2009).

No serious government takes the education of its citizens at the stage of ECE with

levity. As such, the National Policy on Education revised, (2007) in line with other

nations of the world specified that early childhood education should be given in an

educational institution to children aged three to five plus prior to their entering the

primary school." The first five years of a child‘s life are very crucial and important in

his/her life, as whatever he/she is exposed to during this period has a serious and

lasting effect on him/her in future. In France, the central government shares the

largest responsibility of the total cost of educating the children while the local

authority provides the remainder. While in England, Wales and West Germany it is

the local authorities that control and administer the pre-school education through

nationally prepared guidelines.

However, in Nigeria ECE is controlled by both private sector and partly by the

government prior to the recent introduction of ECE classes in public primary schools.

As precious as the early childhood education is, it is sad to note that it received an

unappreciable attention from the Nigerian government and citizens for a long time.

But in recent time, with the introduction of UBE, most public schools have ECE

classes which are likely to make its products different from previous year‘s graduates

to primary school.

The National Curriculum Conference held in Lagos in September 1969, as historic as

it was, failed to address any issue related to early childhood education. Rather, it

focused much on primary, secondary and tertiary education, teacher education,

science and technical education as well as women's education. The 6-3-3-4 system of

education is silent about early childhood education as well. It was not until recently

that the Federal Government of Nigeria broke its silence on it and realized the need to

have a say in the conduct of nursery education and thus clearly stated the purpose and

objectives of Early Childhood Education in Nigeria, in the National Policy on

Education (NPE) published in 1977 and revised in 1981, 1998, 2004 and 2007. This

policy stipulates that the first ladder of education would be handled and manned by

private individuals and public schools but monitored by the government.

Consequently, the Nigerian Educational Research Development Council (NERDC,

2012) and National Teachers Institute (NTI) started to organize series of seminars,

workshops and lectures to educate proprietors of nursery schools on how the goals of

nursery education could be achieved, (NERDC, 2012), so also the state government

organized such for teachers.

Importantly, early childhood education is an educational programme and strategy,

focused on children from birth to the age of 5 years. This period of time is widely

considered the most vulnerable and crucial stage of a person‘s life. Early childhood

education is geared towards guiding children to learn through play, and it is

sometimes referred to as ―pre-school‖ or ―infant‖ or ―child‖ care programme

(Lewis, 2011). Similarly, Early Childhood Education is viewed as the organized

practice of educating those who are in their early years. Notably, early childhood

education is the key to building a great foundation for a child‘s educational success,

and learning habits to form patterns of life that are not easily changed in later years.

Thus parents and Early childhood educators should endeavour to establish good habits

and productive patterns of behaviour for children in their custody, to enable them

achieve greater educational success, (UNICEF 2007). Besides, Early Childhood

Education is viewed as being able to cater for the present circumstances where parents

are unable to give sufficient time to their children due to high demand for labour

force. This further necessitates the need for early childhood education programme.

Significantly, early intervention is crucial because skills developed in Early

Childhood form the basis for future learning and labour market success, making Early

Childhood a critical time for human capital accumulation, (Naudeau, Jamison,

Breman, Measham, Kataoka, & Valerio, 2011). However, in cognitive and overall

development, before a child enters primary school often have long lasting

consequences on children, their families, and society at large, and they are more

costly to remedy. Conversely, evidence from many countries shows that quality ECE

can narrow the ‗opportunity divide‘ and reduce poverty, ethnic and linguistic

disadvantages (UNESCO 2010). The role of early childhood education in the life of a

child represents the transitional ground that prepares the child mentally and

psychologically for the expectation and sustainability into model primary education in

nearest future.

Despite the overwhelming case for building strong foundation, early ECE remains a

peripheral concern within education system virtually everywhere, characterized by

insufficient resource and fragmented planning (UNESCO 2011). Evidence strongly

suggests that those who need ECE the most receive it the least. The majority of poor

children in low and middle income countries do not have access to high quality ECE

(Naudeau et al., 2011). Household poverty and low levels of parental education are

two of the most critical barriers to early childhood programme (UNESCO 2010). In

spite of these barriers, accessibility and quality of programme need attention. Thus,

the call for the implementation of Education For All (EFA) as stipulated by

(UNESCO 2011). Irrespective of locality, town or country the implementation of EFA

will be a contributing factor to breaking poverty cycles and enhance quality

foundation for subsequent education. This present study will no doubt be a pointer to

the influence ECE has on academic, social and moral behaviour of pupils and its

benefits to the society at large.

2.2.1Emergence and Philosophical Views of Early Childhood Education in Nigeria

Early childhood education in Nigeria can be traced back to the colonial days, when it

was the preserve of the children of colonial officials and the elites. The number of

such institutions thus increased as a result of influx of children of various European

and American citizens working in different parts of the country (Onibokun, 1985).

Professionals were on the increase, fast emulating the European officials in sending

their children to pre-school institutions.

The Federal Government of Nigeria launched the Universal Primary Education (UPE)

in 1976. Though the National Policy on Education did not recognized the significance

of early childhood education, the provision was to be ensured by private efforts

invariably denying the children of the ―poor‖ in the public schools access to it.

This anomaly was however corrected by Universal Basic Education scheme (UBE

1999)

which made it possible for every child to go to school prior to primary to junior

secondary school without bothering about the school fees. This also highlights the

need for Early Childhood Education, for Nigerian children irrespective of family

background.

The establishment of Universal Basic Education (UBE) and its implementation has

been a serious effort in the provision of Early Childhood Education programme in

Nigeria with specific reference to Kano state. The UBE scheme provides for every

child between ages 3-8 years the opportunity to acquire quality education, despite

differences in their socio – economic status, gender, environment, moral behaviour,

social status and intelligent quotient. In ensuring ECE implementation, the Kano State

government, in line with the Federal Republic of Nigeria‘s (FRN) National Policy on

Education (NPE) section 14a; established ECE section in existing Public Primary

Schools within the 44 local government area in the Kano state. Teachers are mandated

to be retrained at workshops and seminars during vacation and also to acquire

knowledge beyond grade II teacher qualification or SSCE. That is a minimum of NCE

qualification to ensure that quality teachers are employed for good knowledge

delivery, good moral and positive role model at this level and provide a monitoring

team who will supervise these schools.

Pre-primary Education Objectives

1.Effect a smooth transition from the home to the school.

2.Teach co-operation, team spirit, and social interaction.

3.Prepare the child for primary level of education.

4.Provide adequate care and supervision for children while parents are at work (farm,

market, offices school etc).

5.Inculcate in the child spirit of enquiry and creativity through exploration of nature,

environment, art, music and playing with toys.

6.Teach rudiment of numbers, letters, shapes, colours etc through play.

7.Learn good habits especially good health habit and good moral values e.g greeting

(NERDC 2012).

Primary Education Objectives

i.Inculcate permanent literacy, numeracy and ability to communicate effectively.

ii.Lay a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking.

iii.Give citizenship education as a basis for effective participation in and contribution

to the life of the society.

iv.Mould character and develop sound attitude and morals in the child.

v.Give the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills that will enable him

to function effectively in the society within the limits of his capacity.

vi.Develop in the child the ability to adapt to changing environment.

vii.Provide the child with basic tools for further educational advancement, including

preparation for trades and crafts of the locality (NERDC 2012).

In addition, the National Policy on Education, (NPE 2007) specifies strategies for

implementation of the above objectives as follows:

1.Ensure private and public efforts in the provision of pre-primary and primary

education.

2.Make provision in teacher education programme for specialisation in early

childhood education.
3.Ensure that medium of instruction is principally, mother language but unfortunatel y

conventional schools use English. In line with this Adebayo (2005), stated that

standard of nursery schools is measured by the level of pupils mastery of the language

(English) which is at the disadvantage of mother tongue presented by UBE (2009).

This will definitely create a gap between the theory and practice of education in the

country. According to Fafunwa as quoted by Adebayo (2005),instruction through

mother tongue at early stage of education helps to develop curiosity, manipulative

ability, moral dexterity, mechanical comprehension on hard - eye co-ordination.

4.Qualitative production of textbooks in core subjects and others.

5.Ensure that main method of teaching is through ‗play way method‘

6. Regulate and control the operation of pre-primary education, which can only be

achieved through effective monitoring and supervision team of both Federal/State

Ministries of Education.

Though the philosophy of Early Childhood Education is generally tied to the concept

of ―Good life‖ or the best life which every society wants for its citizen, the

conception of ―good life‖ may differ from one individual to another. ―Good-life‖

means helping children to appreciate and strive towards that which brings joy, that is

more profound and lasting than happiness‖. Good life also means tolerance, love,

service and the ability to give and take. It means a delight in creating an honest

craftsmanship and recognition of the beauty inherent in the rightness of things for

their purpose (Evans, 1995).

Therefore, the philosophy of early childhood means much more than just teaching

certain skills and facts. It strives for total development of the child which entails

physical, mental and spiritual growth, feeling, attitudes, and relationship with others,

his/her character and personality. It is also concerned with the child, as an individual
possessing certain innate tendencies or activity (NTI 2007).

In essence, the implication is that the early years determine the future physical, social,

emotional and intellectual capabilities of the child. Scheweinhart and Weikart, (1980),

observe that an enriched early childhood experience permanently enhances childhood

competence to meet social expectation, advance appropriately in school, avoid trouble

and have high aspiration for children. Educators should therefore ensure that the

learning environment is well equipped with instructional materials, conducive

environment for learning and use of play way method in teaching that will enhance

perception of future learning and developments.

2.2.2Pre-requisite (Domain) of Early Childhood Development

Development describes the growth of human throughout the lifespan, from conception

to death. The scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain

how and why people change throughout life. This includes all aspects of human

growth including physical, social, emotional, cognitive (perception) and personality

development which enhance exhibition of potential skills that enable individual excel

in all aspect of development (Cherry, 2005). The scientific study of development is

important not only to psychology but also to sociology, education and health care.

Development does not just involve the biological and physical aspects of growth but

also the cognitive and social aspects associated with development throughout life

(Cherry, 2005). Importantly, practical applications of studying human developments,

is understanding how and why people change and grow, this knowledge is required in

knowing how ECE pupils develop to ensure their full potentials as specified below.

a)Physical Development
Physical development is the progress of a child‘s control over his body. This includes

control over muscles, physical co-ordination, ability to sit and stand. These are the

initial developments in a child‘s growth and development. With age, there are many

more developments that take place. Physical development is characterized by how

individuals grow throughout their lifespan. This type of development includes the

physical changes occurring from birth through adolescence to adulthood. Physical

development varies, but is guided by milestone achieved during certain age ranges.

Between ages three to five (the preschool period), physical development is being

further coordinated. Skill-building in other domains such as cognitive, emotional and

social developments allows preschoolers to demonstrate a greater degree of control in

larger motor movements, as well as refinements in small or refined motor capabilities.

For instance preschoolers stand on one foot, jump, begin to walk downstairs with

alternating feet and possibly make skipping leg movements. Additionally, a child of

this age has developed the physical ability and coordination to use eating utensils,

such as spoon or fork, draw shapes with a writing tool, cut with children‘s safety

scissors, and get dressed with minimal adult assistance.

The last years of the Early Childhood developmental period are between ages five to

eight. At this time, children will have typically begun kindergarten and moved into

the elementary years. Physically, children of this age are taller and stronger than their

younger preschool -aged peers. Motor coordination is much more refined., and young

grade-school-aged children can write letters and words with pencils, cut well with

scissors, draw pictures of people and objects, and dress themselves with no adult

assistance. Large motor physical abilities progress significantly throughout this period

and they include walking well down stairs with alternating feet, running at a fast

speed, throwing and catching ball with accuracy, hitting a ball with a bat and jumping.
At this point in physical development children are generally ready to begin team such

as T-Ball, soccer and basketball (Papalla et al., 2007). Therefore, a child who has

obtained these developments is said to be physically developed but in rare cases

individuality and disability which need to be corrected either medically or through

modifications hinder or slow down certain development.

b)Cognitive Development

Cognitive theorists and behavioural theorists play a role in determining who the child

is, in terms of abilities and skills acquired. Piaget, a cognitive theorist, also referred to

as an epistemologist did conceptualize cognitive development theory to adopting and

organizing the environment around. Adaptation occurs anytime there is new

information or experiences. An individual must adapt the new information into

psychological structure. That is when anything new presents itself, the existing mental

development placed through the complementary process of assimilation and

accommodation (Wadsorth, 1984).

Young children are not only growing physically during early childhood, but they are

also growing mentally. Children of this age 0-6/8 years continue to advance in their

skills and interaction with the world around them. These pupils also make tremendous

leaps on how they process, store and use information. Quantifying cognitive change is

a bit tricky, because of the number of new neurons or measure of connections. There

are reliable theories, on cognitive development such as Piaget‘s stages of cognitive

development, Erikson‘s psychosocial stages, and Bron Fenbrenners‘s ecological

model to give away to best in understanding and to measure children‘s mental and

social development and progression. According to Piaget, children in the pre-

operational stage of development build on skills learned and mastered during the

sensory-motor stage. During this stage, young children‘s play becomes increasingly
imaginary and filled with fantasies. As children develop cognitively, their play will

move from simple make belief to plot involving more characters and scenario games

with sophisticated rules etc. Piaget also stresses that play isn‘t fun but an important

part of brain development, (Oswalt, 2008).

However, high acquisition of vocabulary is better attained with increase in age,

quality education and cognitive ability of the individual child.

Each child is unique and grows at his or her own pace and time. The intellectual

achievements of early childhood are remarkable, although many abilities remain

limited or are partially developed. In the area of memory pre-schoolers reveal

accurate memories by asking (adults) questions about specific parts of an experience

and helping them reconstruct the events. One reason why children sometimes seem to

have poor memories is that, they often remember only the feature of an experience

that captures their attention rather than aspects adults consider relevant. For instance,

the child will only remember eating groundnut and not who won the game. Which

shows that children are better at remembering the general sequence of familiar events;

like going to the departmental stores and getting a shopping cart, selecting items,

paying to the cashier and loading items in the car (Encarta, 2009).

Similarly children adapt to solving practical problems e.g. moving a stool in front of

the sink to reach the shelf. These children lack the logical reasoning skills that support

formal or abstract problem solving. However, they show remarkable solution to

informal challenges when the child finds out how birds nest is constructed with an

adult‘s guidance. At age three, most children have difficulty following basic rules,

they may count objects more than once and may count in the wrong order. At age five

or above most children have mastered these basic principles of counting; as children

mature, they begin to group mental processes of work. Thus at age two, children have
simple awareness that guides people's action. At age three, they can appreciate how

beliefs and desires are subjective, and how they promote mental experience that

differs between people. Thoughts may not accurately reflect reality because people

can make mistakes. As children develop "theory of mind" they can better understand

others and themselves and become more skilled social partners (Encarta, 2009).

Essentially, early childhood is a time of amazing stride in language development. At

about 3-5 years, children are already putting words together into simple sentences,

mastering grammar and undergoing a ―vocabulary explosions‖ between 6 – 8 years

that will result in a vocabulary of more than 10,000 words. Preschoolers acquire new

words at a rate of five –six new words daily as they empty intuitive rules for

understanding the words meaning at their first exposure to them (Encarta, 2009).

Husek (2005) ascertains that intelligence (academic achievements) has two closely

inter-related parts and it develops in a series of stages respectively. Assimilation and

accommodation, often in conflict but provide impetus for intellectual ability

development, constant balance of the two triggers intellectual development.

Importantly intelligence develops in series of stages leading from one to the other

because without the accomplishment of the first stage, the individual can‘t move on.

Notably here, the individual child moves gradually from one stage of intellect to the

other, which is from kindergarten or pre-primary before the formal level of education.

However, Piaget‘s in his theory, did not put into consideration individual differences,

(genes) and environment which play a vital role in the comprehension of what is

taught. Emphasis was more on stages than genes and environment which influence,

intellectual ability of an individual.

Piaget's central claim is that increase in reasoning skill over time were punctuated by
shifts in perspective, which could only be called qualitative change from one stage (or

"type,") of thinking to another. This is a thoroughly cognitive theory; for Piaget,

children start out as concrete and egocentric thinkers (infants even have to learn

objects that persist when they are out of sight). As they gain more cognitive ability

with age, they begin to be able to "decentre" and see things from another perspective.

But they are still concrete in their approach to things. More experience and some

cognitive reorganization eventually allow most people to become abstract thinkers.

 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

The ex-post-facto survey design was used in this study. Akuezuilo and Agu

(2003) stated that an ex-post-facto design enables a researcher to carry out empirical

inquiry even when he/she does not have direct control of the independent variables

because their manifestations had already occurred. In this case, resource already

existed in the Early childhood Education Centres so the researcher could not

manipulate them.

3.2 Sample and Sampling Technique

Two stage sampling technique was used. (i) 10 lecturers were randomly selected

from the 21 (2). The Early Childhood centres were clustered into faculty and

departmental and ten of each type was randomly selected from each making 200 in

all.

3.3 Instrument for Data Collection

A checklist was used to collect data. The checklist contained 27 items separated

into 3 sections. Each of the sections has items on physical, human and learning

resources respectively. Items on the checklist were checked as either available or not

available in quantities stipulated by the NERDC, as observed in the centres.

Validation and Reliability of Instrument

The instrument was validated by two experts in early childhood and Primary

education and an expert in measurement and evaluation, all in Nnamdi Azikiwe

University, Awka.

The test-re-test method with an interval of two weeks was used. This involved

using the checklist to observe 5 early childhood education centers in Anambra state
that were excluded in the sample. Two observations were carried out in a two-week

interval. The responses were collated and analysed using Pearson Product Moment

Correlation method. A co-efficient alpha of 0.71 was obtained considered were high

enough for the instrument to be considered appropriate for the study.

Method of Data Collection

Ten research assistants helped the researchers to collect data from the centres.

They used the checklist, observed the centres and noted the availability or non-

availability of the resources. All the 200 centres sampled were covered and relevant

data completed in the checklist.

Method of Data Analysis

The research questions were answered using frequencies and percentages. The

number of centres having the resources that meets the criteria spelt out by the NERDC

in terms of adequate physical and learning resources, teacher-pupil ratio, and number

of qualified teachers per class size, was documented and their percentages were

calculated. Only items that scored up to above 50 were considered as generally

available and meeting the standards spelt out by the NERDC, while those below 50

were considered slightly available.

 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS

The results are presented in Tables 1-3.

Table 1: Percentages of Physical Resource Availability in The department.

physical resources Faculty Department
100 100 (percent)
(percent)
1. Buildings 28% 43%
2. Furniture (desks, chairs) 31% 48%
3. Materials for Nap/rest (beddings, mats, cushion) 18% 36%
4. Play field 32% 24%
5. Play facilities (swing, merry- go- round etc) 12% 22%
6. Classrooms 18% 31%
7. Toilet facilities 10% 18%
8. Water facilities (bore holes, taps, reservoirs) 12% 7%
9. Room arrangement for play 5% 13%
In Table 1, none of the items scored up to 50 percent. Therefore the physical facilities

were slightly available in both faculty and departmental early childhood education

centres in University of Lagos.

Table 2a: Percentages of Human Resource Availability in the unilag for ECE.
Human Resources Faculty departmental
Total Centres Total Centres
100 (percent) 100 (percent)
Teacher assistants 13% 21%
Cleaners 4% 31%
Security 100% 100%
Teacher pupil ratio (Not above 1:25) 13% 29%
All the centers have security men, but teacher assistants, teacher pupil ratio and
cleaners were grossly inadequate.
It was considered necessary to look at the qualifications and experiences of the
teaching staff in these centres. Data collected in those respects are presented in tables
2b and 2c respectively.

Table 2b: Percentages for lectureres Years of Teaching Experience as Early Childhood
educators.
Years of Government Private
Experience Total teachers Total Teachers
248 (percent) 277 (percent)
0-5 93 (37.5) 106 (38.26)
6-10 47 (18.95) 48 (17.32)
11-15 4 (1.61) 11 (3.97)
16-20 9 (3.62) 7 (2.52)
21-25 18 (7.25) 13 (4.69)
26-30 6 (2.41) 2 (0.72)
31-35 71 (28.62) 70 (25.27)

Table demonstrates that 37.5% of teachers in Government centres and 38.26% of teachers in private
centres respectively, are in the early phase of their teaching career (0-5 years). Those above lat career
stages (31-35) constituted 28.62% of teachers Government centres and 25.27% of teachers in private
centres respectively.
Table 2c: Percentages for Teachers’ Qualifications
Qualification Government Private
Total teachers Total Teachers
248 (percent) 277 (percent)
1. Specialisation in early childhood education 5 (2.016) 2 (0.72)
2. Degree 22 (8.87) 18 (6.49)
3. National Certificate in Education (NCE) 146 (58.87) 103 (37.18)
4. Teachers’ Grade II Certificate (TCII) 73 (29.43) 74 (26.71)
5. WAEC/SSCE/GCE 2 (0.86) 80 (28.88)
6. Attended seminar on early childhood education 3 (1.20) 5 (1.80)
within the last 2 years
A majority of teachers in Government (58.87%) and private early childhood education (37.18)
possess NCE. Quite a few has any specialiasation in early childhood education and attended seminar
on early childhood within the last two years. Many teachers (28.88%) in private centres has
WAEC/SSCE/GCE against 0.86% obtained in government centres.

Table 3: Percentages for Availability of learning Resources

Learning resources Government Private
Centres Centres
100 100 (percent)
(percent)
1. Toys (at least 5 sets) 7% 37%
2. Children made materials (drawings, paintings,etc) 18% 26%
3. Books (foreign) 37% 49%
4. Books (local) 63% 53%
5. Television sets 6% 22%
6. Computers - 21%
7. Posters, charts 14% 33%
8. Local resources (snail shells, sand, cans, etc) 16% 8%
9. Early Child Care Curriculum 57% 27%
10. National Policy on Education 56% 26%

In Table 3, local books scored highest in government (63%) and private centres
(53%). While 57% and 56% of the government cetres have Early child hood care
curriculum and National Policy on Education, only 27% and 56% have these
document. Other learning resources were slightly available.
Discussion of Findings

The findings revealed that physical, human, and learning facilities were grossly

inadequate in government and private early childhood education centres in Anambra

State. There were insufficient classroom spaces for play, furniture (desks, chairs),

materials for Nap/rest (beddings, mats, cushion), play field, play facilities (swing,

merry- go- round etc), classrooms, toilet facilities, water facilities (bore holes, taps,

reservoirs) and Storage shelves or cupboards. These physical facilities are inadequate

to foster the well-being of children and their creativity.

Regarding human resources, the quantity of teachers, assistants and cleaners were

inadequate in government and private centres. None of the centres meets the

stipulated teacher: pupil ratio. Morover, the majority of early childhood educators in

the sample have not have more than 5 years of practice as early childhood teachers. At

the extreme, many have reached their last stages of their careers. This is in line with

Nwufo (2004) who found that in most cases, retired primary or secondary school

teachers are the ones that teach in early childhood centres. If the educators are highly

inexperienced or retired and weak, there is a limit to which they can foster creativity

in children. Early childhood education requires plays and physical activities, and by

implication much energy. Retirees may not be able to provide these adequately.

Although most of the teachers possess NCE certificates, only very few of the

teachers across the centers have qualifications in early childhood education. It is also

glaring to observe that many teachers in private centres were had a maximum of

NCE/GCE/SSCE. Besides, only 8 of the entire teachers participated in seminars

related to early childhood education in the last 5 years. One can therefore say that the
availability of teachers in quantity, training and experience are grossly inadequate.

Perhaps, there is lack of awareness of opportunities for teachers to develop

professionally in early childhood education in the State. Background and Professional

development (specialization in early childhood or regular seminar participation) is

necessary for teachers to acquire knowledge and skills in early childhood. Maduewesi

(2005) stated that without these knowledge and skills, they may initiate adequate

interactions needed for developing creativity in the children.

Availability of learning resources was also poor. Only books were available across

the centres. Many Government centres had early child hood education curriculum

curriculum and National policy on Education than private centres. However,

interaction with the teachers indicated that most of the teachers in this centres in were

unfamiliar with some of the curriculum documents. Several teachers in private centres

indicated that they follow specific commercially produced resources as opposed to the

national curriculum.

Without knowledge of the stipulations of the curriculum, and armed with books

as the main available learning resource, the teachers will be handicapped in keeping

with the stipulations of the curriculum. This explains the finding by Obire (2009:1)

that “teachers in early childhood centres teach higher concepts children rather than

encourage children to learn the rudiments expected at their state”. This is against the

provisions of the ECCDE curriculum and National Policy on Education. This finding

is in line with Nwufo (2004) found that all over Nigeria, physical facilities for early

childhood education are below specified standards. Also, Maduewsi (2005) found that

resources are grossly inadequate and not only that they are few in number, but most of

those installed are out of date and need replacement. Without the provision of

adequate resources in early childhood education centres, the centres cannot be as

“child-friendly” as required, to encourage children to explore nature, play and interact

with others, listen to imaginative stories and act imaginative plays. Hence, it might be

quite impossible to achieve the objectives of early childhood education.

This finding is more worrisome when one considers the fact that different kinds

of affordable instructional technology are arriving in the world: computers, films,

video, electronic toys and Internet. These tools have become symbols of modern

technological society as well as essential educational tools (Nwakibie, 2009). The

present study found that these materials are highly lacking in government centres

compared with private centres. This situation may further create a gap in the equality

of learning experiences and opportunities among preschoolers. Some preschool

children from rich families who are also enrolled in resource-based private centres,

have play field in their home environment with play facilities. Some also have ICT

facilities – computers, video games, mobile phones, satellite dishes and many others.

Even local resources were not available indicting lack of innovativeness and

resourcefulness on the part of the teachers. Where the resources and facilities lack in

many private and government centres, what then is going to happen to thousands of

preschool children in these centres who are not privileged to have access to ICT and

other instructional materials? Where will they be in tomorrow’s world? The point has

been made that early childhood education prepares children fro further schooling and

emphasis is on rudimentary learning and social skill acquisition.

 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

Conclusion

Quality teachers and resource environments have been shown to encourage

greater improvements in creativity in early childhood education. Availability of a vast

array of learning resources at the early childhood level is especially important, leading

to school readiness as students enter primary school and to later gains in academic

achievement. There is a need to provide adequate resources- physical, human and

learning to early childhood education in university of lagos. These resources will help

childhood educators in these centres organize learning activities to prompte creativity

among children.

Recommendations

In the light of the findings, the following recommendations are made;

1) Government and proprietors of early childhood education centres should provide

their centres with adequate materials as specified by the NERDC.

2. Every early childhood education should have a copy of ECCDE curriculum,

National policy on Education and Conventions on the Rights of the Child.

3) Inspectors should regularly monitor early childhood centers to ensure that training

in early childhood education is not based a one-way transmission of knowledge from

teacher to pupil using books.

4) Teachers in early childhood education centres should be sponsored to seminars on

early childhood education at least once a year to promote their professional growth in

the creative education of children.

REFERENCES

Adoralegbe, A. (1992). Integration and Innovation in Nigerian Education. Nigeria

Academy of Education. NERDC Press.

Brede Kamp, S. and Copple, C. (2002). Develop mentally appropriate practice in

Early Childhood Programmes (3rd). Washington D.C.: Natural Association for

the education of young Children

Ede, F. (2003). The role of teacher education in national development. Eha-Amufu

School of Education Journal,3,1.

ED.gov (2010). Prepare my child for school: Early childhood education. Retrieved

June 20, 2010, from

http://www2.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/resources.html#eci.

Ezirim, M. (2004). A survey of nursery schools caregivers in the South Eastern States

of Nigeria.

UNICEF Zone A office.

Federal Ministry of Education and Youth Development. (1994). In Mbanefoh, N.

(2002). The Universal Basic Education: a Prospective view of Teacher

Production. Philosophy and Education. Onitsha: Africana –FEP Publisher Ltd.

FGN. (1981). National Policy on Education. (3rd edition). Lagos: NERDC. FGN.

(2004).

National Policy on Education. (4th edition). Lagos: NERDC

Heward, W.L. (2009). Exceptional children: An introduction to special education.

Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Ibiam, J. & Ugwu, G. C. (2009). Government Quality Control Measures in Pre-

primary Education: Problems of Implementation and the way forward. Review of

 Education: Institute of Education Journal. University of Nigeria, Vol. 20, No 1.

Maduewesi, E. J. (2003). Curriculum & Practice in Early Childhood Education.

Owerri: Cape Publishers Int’l Ltd.

Maduewesi, E. J. (2005). Benchmarks and Global Trends in Education in Education.

Benin City: Zekol Graphics.

Marcon, R. A. (2002). Moving up the Grades: Relationship between preschool model

and later school success. In Sacks, L. & Ruzzi, B. B. (2006). Early Childhood

Education: Lessons from the states and Abroad: 2005. Paper prepared for the new

commission on the skills of the American Workforce July 2005. National Center

on Education and the Economy, 2006.

Mbanefoh, N. (2002). The universal basic education: a Prospective view of Teacher

Production.

Philosophy and Education. Onitsha: Africana –FEP Publisher Ltd.

Mindes, Gayle. (2007). Assessing young children. (3rd Ed.). Ohio: Merrill Prentice

Hall.

Perry Preschool Study. (2004). In Sacks, L. & Ruzzi, B. B. (2006). Early Childhood

Education: Lessons from the states and Abroad: 2005. Paper prepared for the new

commission on the skills of the American Workforce July 2005. National Center

on Education and the Economy, 2006.

Sacks, L. & Ruzzi, B. B. (2006). Early Childhood Education: Lessons from the states

and Abroad: 2005. Paper prepared for the new commission on the skills of the

American Workforce July 2005. National Center on Education and the Economy,

2006.

TELL. (2010). Why Students Fail, Page 44-45 May 17.

UNESCO. (1998). Higher Education in the 21st Century: Vision and Mission. World
 Declaration on Higher Education for the 21st Century and framework for priority

Action. Paris: UNESMO.

UNICEF.(2001). The state of the world’s children 2001. UNICEF.