AN APPRAISAL OF THE MANAGEMENT OF EARLY CHILDCARE CENTRES IN SOUTH EAST ZONE OF NIGERIA

This study appraised the Management of Early Childcare Centres (ECC) in South East Zone of Nigeria. It was guided by six research questions and three null hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 5,572 subjects (167 desk officers and 5405 head teachers). Simple random sampling was used in selecting 418 respondents (321 head teachers and 96 state desk officers) used for the study. A questionnaire titled Appraisal of the Management of Early Childcare Centres Questionnaire (AMECCQ) was developed and used for data collection. The instrument contained 53 items which focused on the appraisal of the management of Early Childcare Centres. The instrument was dually validated by experts and the reliability coefficient was established using Crombach alpha. The six research questions were analyzed using means and Standard Deviation, while z-test statistics was used to test the three null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. An overview of the overall results showed that ECC are to a little extent established in compliance with the national minimum standard as prescribed by NERDC. Equally, staff is to a little extent recruited in compliance with the national minimum standard basic qualification as prescribed by NERDC. Likewise, ECC are to a very little extent supervised in compliance with the national minimum standard prescribed by NERDC.

Education of the child world over is the greatest concern of parents, teachers, community and the government. The survival of any nation or culture depends to a large extent on the sound and worthwhile education provided for its children. A child, according to Obinaju (2004), is a young person especially between infancy and youth. A child is a young human being between birth and puberty. He or she is somebody under a legally specified age who is considered not to be legally responsible for his or her actions. However, the concept of a child differs from one culture to another, but in this study; a child is conceived as a person from the age of zero to five years under the care of parents or caregivers, helpers and securities in Early Childcare Centres (ECC).

ECC is a place where all the activities and programmes are deliberately directed towards the general development of the child. Maduewesi (2005) sees Early Childcare centre as a place where education is given to children from zero to five years.