PRACTICES, CHALLENGES And OPPORTUNITIES Of GOVERNMENTAL And

NON-GOVERNMENTAL PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM:

In CASE Of SOUTH GONDAR ZONE TOWN ADMINISTRATIONS

Melese Negash Tesema (PhD), -0918780565

melesenegash2008@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The study was aimed at crosschecking whether teaching method, assessment, classroom
organization ,and instructional resource provision practices in preschools are in line with
Amhara National Regional State Education Bureau’s (ANRSEB) early childhood care and
education strategy and standards or not, whether there is a statistical significant difference
between government and nongovernment preschools regarding these four practices or not, and
identifying the major challenges and opportunities exist in carrying out pre-schooling program
in the five town administrations. To achieve these objectives qualitative and quantitative data
were collected from 38 preschool teachers, 5 directors, and 6 Early Childhood Care
&Education (ECCE) focal persons. Questionnaire, interview, and observation were used to
gather data. To analyze the quantitative data descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation,
percentage etc) and inferential statistics (independent sample t-test) were used, whereas to
analyze the qualitative data theme classification, narration and quotation were employed. The
results revealed that teaching method, assessment methods, classroom organization, and
instructional resource provisions practices of both governmental and nongovernmental
preschools did not meet the regional ECCE strategy and standard. No significant statistical
difference observed between governmental and nongovernmental preschools in their practices of
teaching method, assessment, and classroom organization, but significant statistical difference
was found in their instructional resource provision practices. Thematically, the challenges
investigated in carrying out preschool program were related to resources, leadership,
professional competence, learners, and family. The results of the study also disclosed that there
are many different potential opportunities in carrying out ECCE program.
Key concepts:- Practice, Challenges, and Opportunities

INTRODUCTION
Pre-schooling is an educational program which helps children to be physically ,socially,
psychologically and cognitively ready for primary schooling. Therefore, its goal is helping
children to develop their emotional, cognitive, ethical, physical and social domains; encouraging
their ability and enthusiasm continue to learn in both formal and informal environment and to
develop their social and educational skills Ministry of Education (MOE, 2010). So it is an
educational program where the future life foundation of a given nation is laid down (ANRSEB,
2011). Cognizant of this fact, it was one of the six major Education For All (EFA) goals
Consequently, many developed countries have been investing a lot in this educational program
while its investment in developing nation is minimal.

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In developing countries like Ethiopia, the program seems to be left for the private sectors and
different non-governmental organizations in all regions, including Amhara National Regional
State (ANRS) (ANRSEB, 2011; Education International, 2010; Woodhead, 2009). Ethiopian
education and training policy and its national curriculum framework (KG-Grade 12) documents
have recommended to give due attention for the program. Being aware of these
recommendations, MOE designed a national policy and a standard for preschool program. Based
on the national policy and standard ANRSEB has also designed its own ECCE strategy and
standard.

Quality of ECCE is affected by many factors like teaching methods, assessment methods,
learning environment organization and instructional resources provision Organization for
Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD, 2010). The other factors which affect its quality
are the challenges encountered and the way they are overcome and opportunities available and
the efforts made to exploit them. UESCO (2007) reported that the challenges which are facing
preschool program in many countries including Africa are management problem, lack of
attention, shortage of trained man power, teacher burn out, absence of responsible body, lack of
budget and lack of official curriculum. On the other hand, Animaw et al. (2015) reported that
availability of readymade national and regional documents, availability of necessities and
stakeholders’ commitment are the potential opportunities in running ECCE program in Ethiopia.

Barresi (2013) pointed out that preschool classrooms should have different learning centres like
literacy, mathematics, science, sensory, block, dramatic, music and movement, wood work and
art. As reported by Çakırer and Garcia (2010), Spain public preschools were found better than
private preschools in organizing play corners pedagogically. According to ANRS’s ECCE
standard, all preschool classrooms in the region are expected to have learning corners such as
family, medical, shop, science, social science, language, mathematics, music and art
(ANRSEB,2011).

Md-Yunus (2013) reported that in Malaysian public schools the availability of learning materials
is more limited than the private preschools. Similarly, Omayio (2013) asserted that in Kenya, the
use of instructional resources in public schools was minimal as compared to private pre-schools.
Moreover, in their study, Animaw et al. (2015) reported that majority of the sample
governmental preschools of Amhara region lacked play and educational materials.

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Regarding the employment of teaching methods in private and public preschools different
scholars reported different findings. For instance, Md-Yunus(2013) found out that in Malaysia
public preschools, it is teacher-centred methods which are more frequently used ,whereas in
private schools, it is child-centred methods which are overemphasized. A study conducted in
Ethiopia revealed that lesson-based academic instruction is dominant in private preschools
(Orkin, Workneh and Woodhead, 2012). However, in ANRS ECCE standard active learning
methods like storytelling, oral reporting, field visit, puzzle, role playing, singing and
demonstration are highly recommended to be employed in preschools (ANRSEB, 2010).

Concerning the mode of assessment, ANRS preschool standard declared that its purpose should
not be for promotion but for continuous support to cultivate children’s potentials and it should be
in line with their level of development (ANRSEB, 2010). This implies that assessment practices
in preschools should be for learning rather than of learning. Similarly, National Association for
Education (NAE) (2003) recommends that assessment methods of preschool should include
observation, documentation of children’s work, standardized testing, interview, checklists and
rating scales, and portfolios, as well as norm-referenced tests.

 Teaching Method
 Assessment
 Classroom Organization Quality of ECCE in governmental and
 Instructional Resources nongovernmental Preschools
 Challenges
 Opportunities
 Strategy and Standards

Fig. 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Ethiopia has shown its commitment by designing an ECCE national policy which frames the
why, how, where, whom and who of preschool educational program in the country (MOE,
MOH& MOWA,2010).This national political commitment is also reflected in ANRS. Its
political commitment is clearly reflected in designing ECCE strategy and standard. This regional
strategy and standard put direction about the types of teaching and assessment methods to be
employed; the way how preschool classrooms should be organized and the types of instructional
resources to be available .The strategy and standard are declared to be a common guide line for
both governmental and nongovernmental preschools found in the region.

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ANRSEB has officially announced that every government primary school should start pre-
schooling program. However, the launching of the program was done ambitiously without
adequate preparation (Animaw et al., 2015). Consequently, shortage of qualified ECCE teachers
in the country in general (Orkin et al., 2012) and in the region in particular become a critical
problem (Animaw et al., 2015). Nevertheless, OECD (2012) noted that the quality of ECCE
program rises and falls with the competence of the people who manage the centre and work with
the child. Because teaching methods, assessment modes, learning environment organization,
accessibility of instructional resources practices, overcoming of the challenges and utilization of
the existing opportunities which all affect the quality of ECCE are on the hands of preschool
teachers. This implies that practices, challenges and opportunities in every preschool have
quality implication for ECCE program.

Therefore assessing whether the current practices of teaching, assessment, classroom

organization and instructional resource provision are as per the regional ECCE strategy and
standard or not and investigating basic challenges encountered and opportunities exist in carrying
out ECCE program in both governmental and nongovernmental preschools and taking an
intervention is a vital and timely measure to improve the quality of the program in the region.

A research was conducted in the west Amhara sub region regarding issues like access, equity,
relevance, efficiency, opportunities and challenges of ECCE only in governmental preschools.
However, this research didn’t address whether classroom organization, instructional resource
provision, teaching method and assessment practices are in line with the regional ECCE strategy
and standard, whether governmental and nongovernmental preschools differ in their practices
regarding these four issues; and whether the challenges they encounter and opportunities they
have in running preschool program are similar or not . More specifically as the researcher’s
experience is concerned ,these issues are not well treated via research in south Gondar zone town
administration governmental and nongovernmental preschools. Cognizant of this reality, this
study was designed to fill the identified gap by formulating the following research leading
questions.
1. Are the practices of classroom organization, instructional resource provision, teaching
method and assessment of governmental and nongovernmental preschools in line with
ANRS’s ECCE strategy and standard?

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 2. Is there statistical significant difference between governmental and nongovernmental
preschools concerning classroom organization, instructional resource provision, teaching
method and assessment practices?
3. What are the major challenges and opportunities in carrying out pre-schooling program in
South Gondar zone town administrations?

Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study include:

 Crosschecking whether teaching method, assessment, classroom organization and

instructional resource provision practices are as per ANRS’s ECCE strategy and
standards or not
 Crosschecking whether there is a statistical significant difference between government
and nongovernment preschools regarding classroom organization, instructional resource
provision, teaching method and assessment practices or not
 Investigating the major challenges encountered and opportunities exist in carrying out
pre-schooling program in the five city administrations.

Significances of the study

The results of this study have the following significances.

 Reminding the regional education bureau , zone education department and woreda
education office to devise some strategies that could enable classroom organization ,
instructional resource provision, teaching method employment and assessment practices
to be in accordance with the regional ECCE strategy and standard
 Integrating ECCE trainings at universities and teacher education colleges and pre-
schooling program in South Gondar zone in particular and in the region in general for
the betterment of the three programs
 Informing the five city administration preschools to give due attention for teaching
method, assessment, classroom organization and instructional resource provision issues
in carrying out the program
 Helping preschool leaders, focal persons and teachers to be aware about basic challenges
and potential opportunities in delivering ECCE service

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Scope of the study

Geographically the study was delimited to governmental and nongovernmental preschools found
in South Gondar zone five town administrations because of their accessibility. Regarding the
variables the study was delimited at surveying classroom organization, provision of instructional
resources, teaching method and assessment practices and challenges encountered and
opportunities exist in carrying out pre-schooling program across the two school types.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Since the study followed mixed approach both qualitative and quantitative data analysis
techniques were employed. The study was carried out at preschools namely Nefasmewucha,
Woreta, Adiszemene, Mekaneyesuse and Debretabor. Its population were governmental and
nongovernmental pre schools found in these five town administrations.

Preschool teachers, directors, physical learning environment and zone education department and
city administration education office ECCE focal person were sources of data. Pre-school teachers
were served as source of data to get information regarding practice of teaching method,
assessment, classroom organization and instructional resource provision, challenges related to
these four dependent variables and potential opportunities in carrying out the program ,whereas
physical learning environment of preschools was used as a data source for classroom
organization and instructional resource availability related issues. Preschool vice directors , city
administration education office and zone education department ECCE focal person were used as
sources of data concerning challenges related with four dependent variables and potential
opportunities in running out the program..

In South Gondar administrative zone, there are five city administration towns. In these towns,
there are 20 governmental and 18 nongovernmental pre- schools having a total of 35 and 46
teachers ,respectively. Stratified areal sampling was used to choose governmental and
nongovernmental preschools from each city administration town. From each town
administrations fifty percent of the preschools were taken as samples. Consequently, two, two,
two, two and one government preschools were selected randomly from Debretabor,
Nefasmewucha, Adiszemen, Makane Eysus and Woreta city administration respectively,
whereas three, one, one, one and two nongovernmental preschools were selected from these town
administrations respectively. From each selected schools, all preschool teachers (16 from

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governmental and 22 from nongovernmental preschools) were taken as samples using
comprehensive sampling. By using purposeful sampling five town administration and one zone
ECCE focal persons and nine governmental and eight private preschool directors were used as
data sources.

Data were collected mainly by using questionnaire, observation, and interview. The
questionnaire was developed by the researcher himself. It was used to gather data from preschool
teachers about teaching method ,assessment, classroom organization and instructional resource
provision practices. It was a five point Likert scale- strongly disagree(1), disagree(2),
undecided(3), agree(4) and strongly agree(5). It consists of 13, 12, 11 and 12 items related to
teaching method, assessment, classroom organization and instructional resources, respectively.
To reduce response set effect, negatively and positively stated items were randomly distributed.
In addition, the questionnaire consists of some close ended items having three options–most
frequently used, sometimes used and not used at all to assess the frequency of different teaching
methods and assessment mechanisms practices. To identify the challenges and opportunities in
running preschool programs, some open ended items were included in the questionnaire.

First, the questionnaire was prepared in English but to make it easily understood by the
respondents, it was translated into Amharic by an instructor who is specialized in Amharic
language. To increase its face and content validity, the questionnaire was reviewed by different
professionals. Moreover, to assess the clarity and reliability of the questionnaire items pilot
testing was conducted at two government and two nongovernmental preschools and its reliability
using Cronbach’s alpha was found to be 0.72 which lies in the range 0.70 to 0.90 of high
reliability as reported by (Hinton, et al., 2004). Finally, by incorporating all the important
feedbacks obtained from translators, professional commenter and pilot testing the questionnaire
was amended and finalized.

Observation was used to get data regarding classroom organization and availability of
instructional resources. Inside and outside the classroom, naturalistic observation was carried
out being supported by video camera. The observation was guided by checklist adapted from
Barresi (2013) which was pilot tested. The checklist developed to guide observation of classroom
organization consists of 6 items ,whereas the checklist developed to guide the observation of
instructional resources availability consists of 11 items. All the items were rated as very good

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(3), good (2) and poor (1). Very good qualifies the instructional resource availability status is as
per the regional ECCE standard, good not as per the standard but in a better status and poor
signifies totally against the standard.

Semi-structured interview was used to get data about the challenges encountered in relation to
teaching methods, assessment, classroom organization and availability of learning resources in
carrying out preschool program. Moreover, the interview was used to get data about the potential
opportunities in carrying out preschool programs. It was held with directors, vice directors, city
administration education office and zone education department ECCE focal person. Totally 24
informants were involved in the interview. The interview was conducted by the researcher
himself.

Based on their nature data were organized using tables, graphs and narrations. And they were
organized, analyzed and interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively and also triangulated. The
qualitative data were analyzed and interpreted using narration, theme classification, quotations
and ranking. On the other hand quantitative data were analyzed and interpreted descriptively by
using descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, percentage and frequency count.
Moreover, to see the existence of statistical significant differences between governmental and
nongovernmental preschools regarding their teaching method, assessment, classroom
organization and instructional resource provision practice an inferential statistics called
independent sample t-test was used. In using the independent sample t-test, SPSS of the 20
version was employed. The 0.05 alpha level was accepted as a criterion of statistical significance
for all the statistical procedure performed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

ANRS’s ECCE standard strongly recommends preschool classrooms to be organized in to

different learning corners like family, medical, shop, science, social since, language,
mathematics, music and art and be conducive, attractive, safe and secured. However, all of the
government and nongovernment preschools were not found in such reality. More specifically, the
practice of classrooms organization from learning corner establishment point of view in both
governmental and nongovernmental preschool is totally against the standard set. This implies
that the classroom organization of the sample preschools is not individually appropriate to each
child.

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ANRS’s ECCE standard recommends different indoor and outdoor instructional resources to be
available in all preschool but the results revealed that practical provision of resources like
computer, resting and sleeping rooms in governmental preschools are not as per the regional
ECCE standard ,whereas 77.78% of them have independent ECCE classroom. In relation to
nongovernmental preschools, the provision of chairs, tables and toilet is in a very good practice
in all (100%) of them, whereas 87.5% of them are below the standard in their computer
provision. Instructional media, indoor &outdoor playing materials, standardized classroom,
playing field, computer, feeding and sleeping room and clean water provision are not in line with
the standard set by ANRSEB both in many of governmental and nongovernmental preschools.
So, it is possible to infer that majority of preschool physical environment is less child friendly.
Such findings are in harmony with what Animaw et al. (2015) reported.

Concerning teaching methods results obtained from both governmental and nongovernmental
preschool revealed that active learning methods like storytelling, songs and group play are the
most frequently used in (56.255% to 81.25% of government) and (50% to72.72% of
nongovernment) preschools. These findings are in line with the teaching methods recommended
in ANRS ECCE kindergarten standard. Hence, the standard recommends active learning
methods like storytelling, oral reporting, filed visit, puzzle, role-playing; singing and
demonstration to be used frequently in preschools. However, among these teaching methods oral
reporting, music and field visit were reported not to be used at all by 25% of governmental and
27.27% of nongovernmental preschool teachers. In this regard, it is possible to claim that the
practice of teaching method employment is not as per the regional ECCE standard.

Moreover, the results revealed that 43.75% of governmental and 50% of nongovernmental
preschool sample teachers reported lecturing as the most frequently used teaching method in
their preschool which is in contrast with what is recommended in ANRS ECCE strategy and
standard. This implies that there are many preschools which do not frequently use active learning
methods. Such a result is also supported by the data obtained from the interview because data
obtained from interview disclosed that overemphasizing on lecturing is reported as one of the
challenges in both governmental and nongovernmental preschool. However, unless all the
possible active learning methods are frequently employed in preschools the quality of the
program is under question.

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The results obtained from both types of preschool respondents revealed that oral questioning as
the first and observation as the fourth most frequently used assessment method in preschools
which is similar with the findings reported by Al-Momani, et al. (2008). Besides, results
disclosed that there are preschools which used final examination and written continuous tests
frequently. The results also showed that portfolio, oral quiz and observation are not used at all in
some preschools. Such practices are not recommended by ANRS ECCE strategy and standard.

The overall results about teaching method, assessment, classroom organization and instructional
resource practices disclosed that they are not as per the regional ECCE standard and strategy.
This is true both in governmental and non-governmental preschools. This implies that the quality
of the program is under question both in governmental and nongovernmental preschools.

One of the objectives of the study was crosschecking whether teaching method, assessment,
classroom organization and instructional resource provision practices are significantly different
or not between governmental and nongovernmental preschools. To this end, the results revealed
that there is no significant statistical difference between governmental and nongovernmental
preschools in their classroom organization practices. Such result was also supported by the
observation made. However, it is inconsistent with the findings reported by Çakırer and Garcia
(2010) in Spain. From such result, it is possible to infer that both types of preschool teachers are
not concerned about the issue of classroom organization even though it has significant role on
quality of ECCE program.

The result showed that there is a statistical significant difference between governmental and
nongovernmental preschools in their instructional resources provision practices. This means
nongovernmental preschools are significantly better in their instructional resource provision than
governmental preschools. It is also supported with the finding obtained from observation because
during observation it was confirmed that five of the sample governmental preschools have no
outdoor playing materials but all nongovernmental preschools do have. This result is in harmony
with the findings reported by Md-Yunus (2013), Orkin et al. (2012), Omayio (2013) and
Animaw et al. (2015) hence Md-Yunus & Orkin et al. disclosed that private preschools were
found having better learning resource provision than governmental preschools.

On the other hand regarding teaching method the result disclosed that there is no significant
statistical difference in employing teaching method between governmental and nongovernmental
preschools. Such result is consistent with the findings reported by (Schmidt, 2007). However, the

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result is against with what Md-Yunus (2013) reported in Malaysia. Concerning the assessment
practices, similar findings were disclosed. That is to mean that governmental and
nongovernmental preschools are almost at the same level of practice in their assessment
approach which is consistent with what Woodhead (2008) has reported.

Based on the qualitative data obtained through questionnaire (from preschool teachers) and
interview (from directors and ECCE focal persons), different challenges were investigated in this
study. Some of the challenges identified in carrying out ECCE program both in governmental
and nongovernmental preschool are shortage of professional of teachers, absence of in-service
training, lack of classroom management and organization skill , absence of family support in
assessment, shortage of instructional resources, absence of conducive playing field, absence and
inadequacy of official curricula documents, non-functionality of the different committees
established in regional ECCE strategy, focusing on lecturing, dissatisfaction of teachers and
provision of developmentally inappropriate care and education service

On the other hand, absence of permanently assigned teacher, absence of indoor and outdoor
playing materials, absence of uniform official assessment documentation system , time
constraint, lack of attention and sense of ownership on the part of school leaders, burnout, and
assigning prospective teachers who are there for practicum purpose are challenges reported only
in governmental preschools where as focusing on formal paper and pencil tests, shortage of
space and absence of professional support from the concerned bodies are reported as
challenges in nongovernmental preschools . The challenges identified in the operation of
ECCE program could be categorized into five thematic areas like resource, professional
competence, leadership, learner and family related. However, the overall results indicate that
most of the challenges are related with resources, leadership and professional competence of
teachers.

With respect to the challenge of developmental inappropriateness of chairs and tables, one ECCE
focal person noted that "ለቅድመ መደበኛ ተማሪዎች ተብሎ የተመደበ በጀት እስከለለ ድረስ በትምህርት
ቤቱ ዉስጥ ያለዉን ወንበርና ጠረንጴዛ መጠቀም የግድ ነዉ በሚል የርዕሳነ መምህራን እምነት በርካታ
የቅድመ መደበኛ ትምህርት ፕሮግራም ተማሪዎች በማይመጥናቸዉ ወንበርና ጠረንጴዛ ሲጠቀሙ
ይስተዋላሉ፡፡" It is to mean since no budget is allocated for ECCE program ,it is mandatory to
use the existing chairs and tables. This idea implies that many preschool children are forced to
use developmentally inappropriate chairs and tables. However, the issue of developmental

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appropriateness is critical in ECCE program .Therefore there is a need to be aware about the
issue on the part of school leaders and teachers.

Regarding the absence of professional support from the concerned bodies as a challenge, one of
the private school directors emotionally reported that:- "ከክልል ትምህርት ቢሮ፣ ከዞን ትምህርት
መምሪያ አንዲሁም ከወረዳ ትምህርት ጽህፈት-ቤት የሚመጡ ባለሙያዎች ወደ ግል ቅድመመደበኛ
ትምህርት ቤት የሚመጡት ለሪፖርት የሚያስፈልጋቸዉን አሃዛዊ መረጃ ለመሰብሰብ ብቻ እንጅ ሙያዊ
ድጋፍ ለመስጠት አይደለም፡፡" It is to mean that educational experts from the region, zone and
woreda came to nongovernmental preschools not to provide professional support but to have
data for report purpose. From such response it is possible to understand that educational experts
of the government are not providing professional support for nongovernmental preschools
which is a critical challenge and needs great attention on the part of top educational leaders.
Moreover, one government preschool director surprisingly responded that “ እንኳንስ ለቅድመ መደበኛ
ለመደበኛዉ ፕሮግራምም የግብአት አቅርቦት ችግር አለብን፡፡’’ This means we are in shortage of resource for
primary school let alone for preschool which implies that school directors do not give attention and do
not have sense of ownership for the program.

Regarding the overemphasis of lecturing teaching method as a challenge an ECCE focal person
respondent surprisingly describes the situation as such:"በአሁኑ ስዓት በርካታ የቅድመ መደበኛ
ትምህርተ ቤት መምህራን ህጻናትን በጨዋታ መልክ እያዝናኑ ሁሉን አቀፍ እድገታቸዉን ከማሳለጥ ይልቅ
ለአንደኛ ክፍል አብቅቶ ለማዘጋጀት በሚል እሳቤ ፊደላትንና ቁጥሮችን ብቻ በማሰቆጠር ህጻናትን
ያለፍላጎታቸዉ ለረጀም ጊዜ ሲያስጮሁ ይስተዋላሉ፡፡" It is to mean that preschool teachers provide
lecturing for a longer period of time on counting letters and numbers in the absence of
children’s interest rather than working for their holistic development of using playing with the
assumption of making them ready for grade one with better competence .in line with this idea
43.7% of governmental and 50% of nongovernmental preschool teachers reported that they
used lecturing more frequently during their instructional process. However, what the regional
ECCE strategy recommends is against this reality. Therefore there is a need to have a paradigm
shift from teacher centred to child centred approach in our preschools. This is because as
lecturing becomes more dominant in preschools the care and education service delivered for
children will not be developmentally appropriate.

The reported challenges such as lack of attention on the part of preschool leaders, shortage of
ECCE qualified teachers, lack of resources, absence of official curriculum uniformity and

12
lacking sense of ownership on the part of concerned bodies are in harmony with what UNESCO
(2007) and Orkin et al.(2012) have reported. Besides the challenges identified in governmental
preschools like time constraint, irregular class attendance, dropout and lack of professional
support were also reported as challenges in a study conducted by Animaw et al. (2015) in some
selected ANRS governmental ECCE centres including south Gondar administrative zone.

Remarkable opportunities have been identified in this study which ANRSEB, zone education
departments, town administration education offices and above all preschools need to seek and
exploit. Thematically the opportunities are related with government(presence of regional ECCE
strategy, standard and curriculum , political attention and commitment given to ECCE program
on the part of government and assignment of ECCE focal persons at different levels;
communities (willingness of the community and parents to employee teachers and care givers,
parents willingness to send their children to preschools and participation of unions, Edirs,
religious institutions in providing ECCE service); nongovernmental organization(presence of
different NGOs who support and work in preschool program); school location(presence of
Debere Tabor University and Begemidir College of Teacher Education which have ECCE
training program in the zone, opening of O-class preschools within primary schools ) and
teachers(willingness of many primary school teachers to work at preschools ).

The opportunities investigated in this study like Presence of regional ECCE strategy, standard
and curriculum, Participation of unions, Edirs, religious institutions in providing ECCE service,
presence of different NGOs who support and work in preschool program and commitment of the
government and communities are in harmony with what is reported by (Orkin et al., 2012) and
(Animaw et al., 2015).

CONCLUSIONS
Although shortage of local literature review and unavoidable sample size differences were the
limitations of the study the researcher reached at the following conclusions.
 Some aspects of classroom organization and instructional resource provisions practices of
both governmental and nongovernmental preschools were found in line with the regional
ECCE standard but still in many of the preschools the practices are against it. Especially

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 establishment of different learning or interest corners in the classroom in all of the
preschools was found totally against standard.
 The practice of employing active learning methods like storytelling, songs and group play
most frequently both in many governmental and nongovernmental preschools is in line
with the regional ECCE standard but still lecturing was found dominant in many
preschools.
 The employment of oral reporting, music and field visit is not a common practice in all
of the governmental and many of non -governmental preschools which against the
regional ECCE standard.
 Oral questioning is found as the most frequently used assessment method both in
governmental and nongovernmental preschools despite written tests are dominant in
many nongovernmental and some governmental preschools.
 Governmental and nongovernmental preschool are not significantly different in their
practice of classroom organization, teaching method and assessment but
nongovernmental preschools are found significantly better than governmental
preschools in their instructional resource provision
 Thematically the challenges investigated in carrying out preschool program in the five
town administrations are related to resources, leadership, professional competence
learners, and family.
 The potential opportunities investigated in running the program are related to
government, communities, school location, teachers and NGOs.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Regional education bureau, zone education department and town administration education office
should:

give special and equal attention for teaching method, assessment, learning environment
organization and provision of ECCE instructional resource provision practices,
challenges and opportunities of both preschool school types.
monitor and evaluate periodically whether preschool practices are in line with the
regional ECCE strategy and standard regarding teaching method, assessment, learning
environment organization and instructional resource provision or not
design a system to provide in-service training for preschool leaders and teachers.

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 enable the different ECCE committee established in regional ECCE strategy to function
fully
exploit all the existing opportunities in operating the program
design a system that enable ECCE program to be led independently and delivered by
qualified ECCE professionals
allocate budget and other physical resources for the program like that of other education
programs.
give due attention for the quality of ECCE like its access

Preschools leaders

Governmental preschool leaders must give due attention for the program. They should also
assign better primary school teachers for ECCE program. Both governmental and
nongovernmental preschool leaders should create awareness about the importance of ECCE
program among the society in general and school community in particular. They must also give
due attention for the teaching method, assessment, learning environment and resource provision
practices of the program to ensure its developmental appropriateness. Preschool leaders must
also design a system to get professional support from the nearby universities and teacher
education colleges which have ECCE training program.

Preschools teachers:-

Must employ active learning methods and formative continuous assessment mechanisms
and arrange the learning environment as recommended by the regional ECCE strategy
and standards
Must assess children regarding their holistic development by using observation, portfolio,
oral quiz, oral reporting, interview, checklists, rating scales, role playing, conferencing
and peer rating.
Must have a well organized assessment result documentation system.
Should be committed to fulfil the instructional resources by preparing them from locally
available resources.
Should be committed to overcome the different challenges contextually
Should exploit all the opportunities available in carrying out the program
Should deliver developmentally appropriate care and education service for children.

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