EVALUATING THE RESPONSIVENESS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTRES TO SPICE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the children level of developmental appropriateness which covers the Social, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional (SPICE) developments of children in early childhood centres in Southwestern Nigeria. This was with the ultimate view to determining the responsiveness of early childhood education programme to children developmental needs in Southwestern Nigeria. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The population consisted of children between ages 3 and 5, their parents as well as pre-school teachers in Southwestern Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting 1,080 pupils, 1,080 parents and 108 pre-school teachers as the sample size for the study. One instrument was used for this study, named Child SPICE Observation Inventory (C-SPICE-01)- DAP. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test analysis. Results showed that the assessment of the level of overall SPICE development was appropriate (68%). The study concluded that assessment of the level of SPICE developments are vital variables in developmental appropriateness of children in pre-primary schools in Southwestern Nigeria.