Gone are the days when learners start schooling from age six as class one pupils. Today, babies as young as one month are left under the care of caregivers in early childhood schools that provide services for working mothers. Early childhood education denotes the period of learning that takes place from birth to 8 years old.
Today, there are several types of early education programs and schools, including those that are owned by the government and private education entrepreneurs.
Until 2019, there were no Preschools (Kindergartens) in public schools, however, private schools in Ghana had long tapped into the grey area providing excellent services to educate and care for young minds from birth to age 6 or so before the learner enters the mainstream basic school from class one.
Challenges abound within the early childhood education sub-sector in Ghana, but either they are not trumpeted enough, or little is known about them, leading to their persistence and negative impact.
This article takes a look at the challenges of early childhood education in Ghana, with emphasis on a world-class research paper by Ahmed Abdulai (Challenges Facing Early Childhood Education in Ghana. What do Stakeholders, Say?)
The paper which has become one of the few authorities in this area of research was first published on May 15, 2014, in the Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, Vol.1, No.3
The three questions the research answered were…
o What challenges exist in early childhood education in Winneba municipality?
o What factors contribute to the challenges of early childhood education in Winneba municipality?
o What recommendations could be adopted to address the challenges that exist in early childhood education in the Winneba municipality?
The study provides an overview of challenges confronting early childhood education in the Winneba municipality of the central region of Ghana. It looks at factors that might have contributed to such challenges and what measures can be put in place to address them.
According to the researcher, it cannot be denied that early childhood education has great benefits in the area of cognitive Development of the child in the long term. Again, adults with early childhood education background are at an advantage compared with those who do not
The sad reality is that there are individuals who do not see the need for early childhood education and its associated degree programs offered. But come to think of it, how can learners in early childhood schools get the best out of being taken to school at an early age without professionally trained educators to help them build their formative years the right way?
Questions such as what are you teaching preschoolers with all your qualification asked by the less informed on the need for early childhood education is rather unfortunate.
Unfortunately, there are colleague teachers and even parents who disrespect teachers who are trained in early childhood education. Some parents even disrespect such teachers because they teach in preschool and not in say JHS or SHS. Such mentalities do not motivate teachers and the youth to want to study at the highest level to help impact knowledge to infant minds.
Without an early childhood teacher, how can a learner acquire the needed early life education and foundation upon which his or her education and career will be built on?
The research further discovered that class sizes in pre-schools were also part of the challenge. This is a common issue in public preschools or KGs. Class sizes have become a thorny issue in public schools at all levels.
Findings revealed that among the challenges associated with early childhood education in the Winneba municipality include; public prejudice about the relevance of early childhood education programs to the child’s education and development, lack of parental involvement and commitment to early childhood education, lack of teaching staff and infrastructure, and institutional barriers.
Reasons identified for such challenges included the lack of education on the part of the public about the place and relevance of early childhood education in the total educational setup.
Recommendations
Recommendations manifesting in sensitization and education, partnership, and commitment by the public were among the many suggestions provided by participants in addressing most of the identified challenges.
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We encourage preschool teachers, head teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to read the full research paper for a detailed understanding of the issues.
Download the full research paper here: DOWNLOAD