Towards Designing Effective Preschool Education Programmes in Tanzania: What can We Learn from Theories?

Abstract

Pre-school education, which ordinarily is supposed to be the foundation stone of our education system, is wholly left in the hands of private operators to manage with no supervisory authority over them, a situation that has led to poor standards and quality. It was emphasised that if pre-school education is to serve its stated purposes of making the children to have an effective smooth transition from home to school; prepare the child for the primary level of education; inculcate social norms; inculcate in the child the spirit of inquiry and creativity; develop a sense of cooperation and team-spirit and really teach the children the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes, among others. It should be well supervised, staffed, equipped, financed and coordinated. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to give foundation tenets for establishing effective preschool programmes.

Key words:preschool education; early childhood education, theories; Tanzania