Access to Early Childhood Education and School Readiness in Rural Communities in Nasarawa State

This study investigates the relationship between access to early childhood education and school readiness among children entering primary one in rural communities in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria. Early childhood education provides foundational cognitive, social, and motor skill development that prepares children for formal schooling. In rural Nasarawa, access to registered pre-primary education remains limited, and the majority of children enter primary school without prior formal preparation. A descriptive survey design was employed, with data collected from 300 Primary One pupils and their parents or guardians across 20 rural primary schools in Lafia, Akwanga, and Doma local government areas. ECE access was determined by pre-primary attendance history obtained from parents. School readiness was assessed using a localised school readiness checklist covering language ability, basic numeracy, social skills, and self-regulation administered by trained research assistants. Independent samples t-test and chi-square analysis were applied. Results indicate that children with prior ECE experience demonstrated significantly higher school readiness scores across all assessed domains compared to those without pre-primary education. The gap was most pronounced in language ability and self-regulation. The study concludes that access to quality early childhood education is a significant predictor of school readiness in rural Nasarawa communities. It recommends that the Nasarawa State Government expand the community-based ECE programme and attach pre-primary classes to all existing rural primary schools as a cost-effective strategy for improving school readiness universally.

Keywords: early childhood education, school readiness, rural communities, Nasarawa State, pre-primary.