A comparative study of the scholastic performance of pre-schoolers and non-preschoolers in early primary school

Abstract

There has been a belief by a number of parents in Zambia, and literature has shown that children who go to preschool do perform better accademically in early primary school than those who do not go to preschool. The purpose of this study was to find out the extent to which preschool experience in Zambia created differential scholastic performance amongst primary school pupils. It was hypothesized that early primary pupils with a preschool experience significantly do better in English and Mathematics than those without this background. A sample of 44 boys, 30 girls and 12 teachers from 6 primary schools in Lusaka were involved in the study.The boys and girls were given English and Mathematics tests.These tests were prepared by the researcher based on the government syllabus that is followed in all schools.The teachers were interviewed and asked to fill in a questionnaire about the academic performance of each student dating back to grade one The results showed a difference in performance between non-preschoolers in all the sampled schools. Those who went to preschool performed better in academic work than those who had no preschool background.In terms of behaviour in class, teachers also noticed a difference between the two groups. Those who went to preschool behaved better according to school regulations than those who never went to preschool.