Characteristics of attendants in day-care centres and nurseries in Nigeria

Abstract

A study of the characteristics of 28 supervisors and 79 assistants in 30 day-care centres and nurseries in Ibadan was carried out. The findings indicate that the supervisors were mostly married women with moderately large families and that about half of them had previously been engaged in economic activities outside their homes. The study further shows that a large proportion of the supervisors and all the assistants had no training in the management of pre-school groups whilst the assistants were also found to be of poor educational background. The possible ill-effects on the physical, emotional and social development of children reared in nurseries staffed by poorly educated and untrained staff are stressed. In order to ensure proper care and healthy development of young children placed in day-care centres and nurseries, it is suggested that more nursery nurses and teachers be trained and to this end, training schools must be established locally to meet the needs of the children.