Early Childhood Education, Mediation Analysis; A measurement of Factors Affecting Performance of Public Schools of Punjab Pakistan

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the factors that affect the performance of public schools for early childhood education (ECE) in Punjab, Pakistan. ECE focuses on provision of effective nutrition, health care, secure and compassionate environment and participatory opportunities for the children of 3-5 years age. A survey has been conducted for data collection using a structured questionnaire which was adapted from Early childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Total 90 responses were collected from teachers and parents of 36 ECE public sector schools in 6 districts of Punjab. The research design has been followed to explore the structural equation modeling (SEM) of variables. The results of the study reflected that qualification of teachers (QT) and availability of facilities (AF) are important factors that positively affect parent’s satisfaction (PS). Moreover, the AF mediates the relationship between QT and PS. The study will help academia and policy makers to effectively address the issues of performance of ECE schools. The impact of indicators like QT and experience of teacher were evaluated for the first time in public sector ECE schools and recommended to replicate it in all other public / private educational institutions. Keywords: early childhood education, structural equational modelling, availability of facilities, parent’s satisfaction, performance, mediation.