ABSTRACT
Over-schooling at the pre-primary
school is a serious violation of the provisions of National Policy on
Education. It is seen as over burdening, over tasking and over-tutoring of the
pre-primary school children. The study was carried out to ascertain the
perception of parents on over-schooling of these young children using Onitsha
educational zone as the area of study. Five research questions and two null
hypotheses were formulated while a descriptive survey design was employed. The
population of the study was made up of 2,440 parents of young children who attend
private pre-primary schools in the Onitsha educational zone. Parents’
Perception on Over-schooling of Children Questionnaire (PPOCQ) was used for
data collection. The questionnaire was validated by three experts while the
trial testing was done outside the area of study. Cronbach alpha method was
used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument. Data collected
were analysed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and
t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses formulated to guide this
study. The findings of the research showed that there was over -schooling at
this level of education, but unfortunately the parents were ignorant of its
negative influences on the young children. The study recommended among other
things that parents should be part of the decision making body of the
pre-primary schools, that is, being part of the Parent-Teacher Association of
the schools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The
concept of a child differs from one culture to another. Some cultures regard
one as a child if one is not married, no matter one’s age. According to Opara
(2012), a child is a young person, especially between infancy and youth. In the
Nigerian Legal system, a child is one that is below the age of 18 years. This
is because the person cannot vote or be voted for. He/she is not also qualified
to drive. This is in line with article 1 of the Convention on the Right of the
Child by United Nations. Furthermore, Umobi and Igu (2010) define a child as a
boy or a girl at any age between infancy and adolescence, a new infant, or a
person of any age in relation to his parents.
The
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) in her National Policy on Education posits
that the pre-primary school child falls within the age bracket of 0-6 years
while Maduewesi (1999) views pre-primary school children as young children
between 2-5 years engaged in specially designed academic programmes before the
age of formal schooling. It is necessary that all who are involved in the
education of the child understand and get acquinted with the pre-primary school
child.
The
pre-primary school children possess certain characteristics which are peculiar
to them. According to Abidoye and Agusiobo (2000), these pre-school children
are egocentric. That is, they view the world from their own perspectives. They
are curious in nature. Their world is filled with excitement. The curiosity
varies according to the center of interest at any given time. The children love
exploration and in fact, they are investigators. Their love for exploration is demonstrated in their spoiling of
new toys and trying to put them together again. Abidoye and Agusiobi(2000) see
the children as being energetic and because of this, they cannot sit still for
long periods of time. They prefer to do things than listen. Even while
listening, they move their bodies restlessly. These pre-school children like to
achieve their objectives. They often spend unusual length of time and efforts
to solve problems that interest them. Problem solved gives them a feeling of
satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Hence, they are persistent.
More
interestingly, children are valuable assets from God. They are fragile and the
future of any society. That is why they must be well protected and nurtured.
They must be well taught both at home and at school. This is because this stage
is a critical and delicate period of human life when children are easily
influenced and the consequences of such influence greatly affect their
adulthood. As observed by Anon (2013a), under the age of six, children absorb
information without effort, and this stage of development provides critical
foundation for the children’s character, learning and growth. Therefore, in the
view of Ibiam (2012), it is necessary for parents, guardians, care-givers and
adults to teach children values and social lessons and also provide them with
good academic guide while in school.
Parents
are caretakers of their children. Hornby (2006) defines parents as a person’s
father and mother. Parents, especially mothers, are responsible for the overall
care given to the child such as feeding, hygiene and medical care. Therefore,
the child needs care and balanced diet for proper early development. This is
because proper nutrition is necessary for the development of the brain which in
turn is important for intellectual, cognitive and psychomotor development in
the child (Ngwoke and Eze, 2010). The efficiency of parents in taking up this
responsibility depends on their level of education and exposure.
Parents
can be educated or un-educated, some are civil servants while some could be in
business. The educated parents are parents with higher education
qualifications. They get involved in their children’s education early enough
unlike the non-educated ones. They get involved in their children’s education
by reading to the children at home, teaching songs or nursery rhymes and
assisting in homework. Parental education influences expectations of children.
Therefore, having higher parental education is significantly related to higher
expectations of children’s achievement (Gratz, 2006).
The
un-educated parents are parents who do not have formal education and usually
have lower income. Gratz (2006) observes that these parents often have to work
longer hours to earn their small salaries. This leaves less time for them to
assist their children in reading and even getting involved in their learning
process. Gratz (2006) further observes that low income parents may not be
neglectful parents but it is easy for them to slip into the stereotype under
extreme pressure. Hence, most of them may not adequately provide appropriate
educational guide to their children due to lack of appropriate knowledge and
time.
Parents
who are civil servants are those under the employment of the government, either
at the Federal, State or Local government level. According to Kwaghga (2010),
civil servants are a body of men and women employed in a civil capacity and non
political career basis by the Federal and State government primarily to render
services in form of advice, formulation and implementation of policies of the
government. They are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open
competition. They are expected to carry out their roles with dedication and
commitment to civil service and its core values which are integrity, honesty,
objectivity and impartiality (Civil Service Code, 2010).They offer services
within the working hours determined by the general or specific provisions
in effect. In the event of extraordinary and urgent official needs, civil
servants also offer their services beyond the working hours or during non
working days (Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and
Decentralization,1999).
Business
parents may be involved in micro, small or medium scale business. According to
Luetkenhorst, Geiger, Ozsoy and Fidan (2004), micro, small and medium scale
businesses make important contributions to economic and social development. In
economics, they constitute the vast majority of business establishments. They
are usually responsible for the majority of jobs creation. They account for
one- third to two- third of the turnover of private sector. In developing
countries, they are seen as a major “self help” instrument for poverty
eradication. Constant (2008) observes that while big companies create jobs and
stimulate innovation, self employment contribute to job creation and economic
growth, alleviating welfare burden and leading many to economic and social advancement.
Discussing about business women, Constant (2008) said that the reason why women
choose self employment was that they could easily combine work and family
responsibilities. They could even conduct business from home while
simultaneously satisfying domestic responsibilities.
Therefore,
irrespective of parents’ status in life, they benefit from pre-primary
education programme which provides adequate care and supervision of their
children while they are away for the day’s business. Therefore, perceptions and
involvement in the proper education of the children, which begin from the home,
may vary from parent to parent.
The
home is very important in the education of children. The home background plays
a significant role in a child’s orientation about literacy and education. In
his view, Smetana (1990) posited that the most effective parenting style for
facilitating children’s success as well as their.....
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