ASSESSMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE EDUCATION PROVIDERS’ ADHERENCE TO THE PROVISIONS OF NATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARD ON EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is a process of developing an individual to help him improve himself and his/her society. The Federal Republic of Nigeria as stated in the National policy on education[Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2004], Education is defined as the process that helps to develop the whole being, physically, mentally, morally, politically, socially, economically and technologically. Education will enable the individual function in any environment in which they may find themselves. Education is the process through which a child or an adult acquires knowledge, experience, skills and sound attitude. It makes an individual civilized, refined, cultured and educated (Nwagwu, 2003). The value and importance of educating the child can never be over emphasized.

A child is a young human being between birth and puberty. According to Opera (2012), a child is a person known as a minor from birth to the legal age of maturity, for whose parents and caregivers, foster parents, public or private homes, institutional or agency is responsible. The child is somebody under a legally specified age who is considered not to be legally responsible for his or her actions. In this study a child is defined as a person from the age of zero to five years under the care of caregivers, helpers and securities in Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) Centres.