Title: Evaluating the quality of public early childhood education and Vision 20: 2020: the role of government

Authors: Teinye Briggs; Nwachukwu Prince Ololube; Peter James Kpolovie; Samuel Amaele; Rose Ngozi Amanchukwu

Addresses: Department of Teacher Education, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, P.O. Box 9 (Siltavuorenpenger 5), FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland. ' Department of Educational Foundations and Management, Faculty of Education, University of Education, P.M.B. 5047, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ' Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ' Department of Educational Foundations and Management, Faculty of Education, University of Education, P.M.B. 5047, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. ' Department of Educational Foundations and Management, Faculty of Education, University of Education, P.M.B. 5047, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract: This study was aimed at producing a systematic analysis and rich theoretical and empirical description of the quality of early childhood education (ECE) and the role of government in the actualisation of Vision 20: 2020. Vision 20: 2020 seeks to position Nigeria among the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020. The theoretical element of this study is comprised of a comprehensive literature review that focuses on research pertinent to the topic of this inquiry. To this end, it offers an opportunity to define terms systematically and to view problems as always interrelated with other components of society. The empirical part of this study (N = 222) involved using the statistical package of the social sciences (SPSS) version 18 to evaluate and interpret the quality of ECE objectives that can be achieved when governments play an active role in establishing access and equity, standards and quality assurance, teacher training and funding, and the elimination of resource wastage. We explored the perception of respondents as expressed while completing the questionnaire for this study. We recognised the respondents as agents who were able to appreciate discourses to build a perspective that has a continuous and constant renegotiated quality.

Keywords: quality assurance; academic achievement; Vision 20: 2020; government role; early childhood education; sustainable development; sustainability; Nigeria; access; equity; standards; teacher training; funding; waste elimination.

DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2012.049289

African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, 2012 Vol.1 No.3, pp.243 - 264

Published online: 31 Jul 2014 *

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