Why do early childhood education enrolment rates appear to remain stagnant in Saudi Arabia? (Published)
This report aims to analyze the importance of Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Saudi Arabia and why the enrolment rates of children at this age have not been growing and remain significantly low as opposed to other countries around the world. This report discusses why Saudi Arabia continues to struggle with and has not been able to recognize and encompass ECE as a vital stage to begin learning. I looked into Saudi Arabia’s ECE past and present enrolment rates and the current vision for ECE based on the Saudi Vision 2030. In addition, I compared Saudi Arabia’s governance and access to ECE and pre-service education and recruitment policies for ECE educators with the UK. Furthermore, I highlighted the implications of not taking advantage of ECE services on global assessments at later stages of learning based on secondary source data from these internationally recognized assessments – Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMMS), The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The evidence gathered in this report portrays that Saudi Arabia should modify their ECE policies and framework to achieve its Saudi Vision 2030 goals. It also reviews the UK’s ECE policies, which Saudi Arabia can consider using as a model to reform its policies and increase their enrolment rate at this stage.
Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Saudi Arabia, Teaching, Vision 2030, enrolment, preschool education
The Implementation of Educators’ Standards On Organizing Early Childhood Education in Kindergartens of Medan City (The Case Studies In Tk Hikmatul Fadillah, Tk Al-Warif, Tk Al-Ikhlas) (Published)
This research starts from the implementation of early childhood education implementation standards, there are still many who have not implemented it according to the standards imposed by the government. This study aims to find out: Educational qualifications for early childhood education Teachers in Medan city; and Competencies possessed by early childhood education teachers in the city of Medan. This type of research used a qualitative approach, qualitative research is an approach in conducting research oriented to natural phenomena or symptoms. The subject of this study was directed at finding data from principals, teachers, and other parties who were considered able to provide answers to research problems. Data search began with the principal in this case the principal acted as the key informant. The instrument for collecting data used consisted of: Observation; Interview; and documentation. The results showed that: Pedagogic competencies in early childhood education teachers are very important in learning activities both from formal education and non-formal education, but in reality there are still many early childhood education teachers who have pedagogical competence that is not good in students’ understanding, this can be seen as a bad category because the teacher does not understand students; planning and implementation of learning, this can be seen from the teacher does not always make the design of learning before the implementation of learning; in evaluating learning outcomes, this can be seen from teachers who are not discipline in evaluating learning outcomes; in the utilization of learning outcomes, this can be seen from the lack of students in skills because teachers who are less able to utilize the results of learning are not good (less use) because the teacher does not take advantage of learning outcomes by looking at the achievements of students. Teacher professional competency is relatively poor, where all teachers are undergraduate degrees but less relevant to their fields, have learning devices but only copy paste, apply learning with a fun learning model. Good teacher competency greatly influences the quality of learning and the quality of education.
Keywords: Competence, Early Childhood Education, standards for educators
Organization and Management of Early Childhood Education Program: An Evaluation on Subur Sejahtera Kindergarten, Kendari, Indonesia (Published)
The objective of this research is to describe the implementation of early childhood education program (ECEP) at Kindergarten of Subur Sejahtera Kendari, Indonesia. This research uses qualitative method, with Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) model evaluation design adopted from Daniel Stufflebeam (2003). The results of the study indicate that: (1) the context component covering the legal basis of the program has been fulfilled; (2) the input components that include human resources in the form of teachers and staff have been fulfilled, with appropriate academic qualifications, and adequate facilities and infrastructures; (3) the learning process implementation component has shown sufficient circumstances in accordance with those required in the national curriculum; and (4) product components covering output and outcomes are in good category. Thus, it can be concluded that the implementation of ECEP at Subur Sejahtera Kindergarten, Indonesia is in accordance with national standards of early childhood education. The suggestions that can be put forward are: (1) the competence of the kindergarten teachers still need to be improved; (2) the quality of teaching and learning process need to be improved; and (3) the teaching and learning process need to be managed more effectively by taking into account the developmental aspects required in accordance with national standards of education.
Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Management, Organization, Output, input.
Comparative Assessment of the Implementation of the Early Childhood Education Curriculum in Public and Private Schools in Rural Areas of Ogun State Nigeria (Published)
Early years are remarkable period of growth and development in the lives of children. Early Childhood Education (ECE) is therefore an important educational activity geared towards giving early positive experiences to children. In achieving this, Curriculum of Early Childhood Education becomes a key factor. It is however worrisome that the implementation of this curriculum in Nigerian pre-primary school is too low despite its importance. This study was therefore conducted to compare ECE curriculum implementation in private and public schools in the rural areas of Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select 240 educational instructors as the sample size for this study. Data were collected with the aid of questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and t-test. Result of the study showed that majority (66.6%) of the respondents was between 21 – 40 years and the mean age was 36.6 years. Most (91.2%) of the respondents were female, married (78.8%), and had National Certificate in Education (48.8%) and Bachelor of Education (16.7%). The mean year of teaching experience was 12.4years. Most schools in the study area has teacher-pupil ratio of 1:35. Old curriculum was available (94.2%) and always used (78.8%) for teaching. Also, English Language (79.6%) constituted major means of communication and teaching of the children. Results of chi-square showed that significant association existed between ECE availability and ECE curriculum implementation in public and private schools (χ2 = 13.86, df = 3, p = 0.03) at p < 0.05 level. t-test analysis revealed that significant difference existed in the ECE curriculum implementation in private and public primary schools (t = 15.2, p = 0.00). The study established that implementation of ECE curriculum was generally low as most schools especially public primary schools lack basic school facilities and instructional materials and had no current edition of ECE curriculum. The study recommends that instructional materials should be adequately provided by the government, school management, individual proprietors and other stakeholders in the education sector, and Ministry of Education should ensure that new curriculum is in circulation and encourage its utilization for teaching in the study area.
Keywords: Curriculum, Early Childhood Education, Implementation, Private Schools, public