Regional IT Workshop - LAC 2006 THE IMPACT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT CENTRES ON PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN IN EARLY PRIMARY SCHOOL    by BYSON COLYNS SABOLA (10) Tips for a good coordination with ISPs

SUMMARY Aim of study: To assess the impact of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centres on children’s performance in early primary school. Study Population: Performance of ECD Centre graduates and non-ECD Centre graduates enrolled in Grade 1 was tracked, in terms of promotion rate, repetition rate and dropout rate. Results: ECD Centre graduates performed better than non- ECD Centre graduates in all the three areas.

SO WHAT Importance of study : Provided research evidence on the positive impact of ECD centres on children’s performance in early primary school. Such empirical evidence can be used for mobilising support for financing the establishment of more ECD Centres.

BACKGROUND In Malawi, Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres enrol children aged from 3 to 5 years Early Childhood Development Centres prepare children for enrolment in Grade 1 at primary school at age of 6. Community members claimed that children who graduated from Early Childhood Development centres performed better in early primary school than non- Early Childhood Development centre graduates. However, there was lack of empirical evidence to substantiate the claim

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY PURPOSE: To assess the impact of attending Early Childhood Development Centres on children’s performance in Grade 1 at early primary school. OBJECTIVE: To track the performance of Early Childhood Development Centre graduates in Grade 1 and comparing it with performance of non- Early Childhood Development centre graduates.

METHODOLOGY The study used a quantitative approach. Four primary schools which enrolled more ECD Centre graduates in Grade 1 were purposively sampled in Blantyre district. The four schools had a total of eight feeder ECD Centres from which ECD graduates came.

METHODOLOGY Names of all children who enrolled in Grade 1 in 2009 academic year were compiled for each of the four primary schools.  943 children enrolled in Grade 1 of which 159 were ECD Centre graduates and 784 were non-ECD Centre graduates.  End of 2009 school year assessment results were used to get numbers of children who were promoted to Grade 2, repeated in Grade 1 and dropped out of Grade 1.  Promotion rate, repetition rate and dropout rate were calculated and compared.

RESULTS

DISCUSSION ECD Centre graduates performed better than non- ECD Centre graduates in Grade 1 in all the three areas – Promotion rate for ECD Centre graduates was higher than for non- ECD Centre graduates Repetition rate for ECD Centre graduates was lower than non- ECD Centre graduates Drop out rate for ECD Centre graduates was lower than non- ECD Centre graduates These findings confirm what other studies revealed (Sylva & Wiltshire, 1993; Barnett, 1995; Ramey et al, 2000; Campbell et al., 2002; Nores & Barnett, 2010; Gardinal-Pizato, Marturano, & Fontaine, 2012; Rao et al., 2014)

CONCLUSION ECD Centres play a significant role in contributing towards children’s success in early primary school. ECD Centre graduates perform academically better in early primary school and are less likely to either repeat a grade level or drop out of school.

FUTURE STEPS Government and non-governmental organizations to support establishment of more ECD Centres to allow more children to access early childhood development education. Community leaders to make deliberate efforts to encourage parents and guardians to enrol their children for early childhood development education. Future studies to focus on assessing the impact of ECD Centers on children’s performance at middle and higher levels of primary school as well as assessing the quality of quality of ECD programs being offered in ECD Centres.

REFERENCES Barnett, W.S. (1995). Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Cognitive and School Outcomes. The Future of Children Long-Term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs, 5(3), 25-50. Campbell, F.A., Ramey, C.T., Pungello, E., Sparling, J., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2002). Early Childhood Education: Young Adult Outcomes from the Abecedarian Project. Applied Developmental Science, 6(1), 42–57. Gardinal-Pizato, E.C., Marturano, E.M. & Fontaine, A.M.(2012). Access to Early Childhood Education and Academic Achievement in Elementary School. Paidéia, 22(52), 187-196. Nores, M., & Barnett, W.S. (2010). Benefits of early childhood interventions across the world: (Under) Investing in the very young. Economics of Education Review, 29(2), 271-282. Ramey, C., Campbell, F., Burchinal, M., Skinner, M., Gardner, D., & Ramey, S. (2000). Persistent Effects of Early Childhood Education on High-Risk Children and Their Mothers. Applied Developmental Science, 4(1), 2–14. Rao, N., Sun, J., Wong, J.M.S., Weekes, B., Ip, P., Shaeffer, S., Young, M., Bray, M., Chen, E., & Lee, D (2014). Early childhood development and cognitive development in developing countries: A rigorous literature review. Department for International Development. Sylva, K. & Wiltshire, J. (1993). The impact of early learning on children’s later development: A review prepared for the RSA Inquiry “Start Right”. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal , 1(1), 17-40.

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