Pre-schooling promotes better performance - study

Nearly 90 per cent of Year 1 pupils who had attended pre-school, also referred to as day nurseries or kindergarten, appeared to perform better in mathematics than those who did not, a recent study showed.

The study, conducted among all state, private church and private independent primary schools with Year 1 pupils in Malta and Gozo, is the first survey to focus on mathematics attainment of children in schools.

It was conducted by a project team - Sharon Mifsud, Dougal Hitchinson and Rowena Grech, led by Charles Mifsud, head of the Literacy Unit at the University of Malta - and published by the Department of Planning and Development at the Education Division last May. The study followed up a previous literacy survey in 1999, aimed at Year 2 pupils, another literacy survey conducted on Year 5 students in 2002, and a value-added study comparing literacy progress of pupils from 1999 to 2004.

The Malta National Mathematics Study showed that the longer the time they attended pre-school, the better the children fared later on, probably because pre-schooling already introduced some elements of mathematics. Early childhood education determined children's readiness for schooling and strongly influenced their attitudes towards engaging formal education as part of a lifelong learning process.

In particular, children responded positively to practical, "everyday" aspects of mathematics, such as understanding clocks, money and shopping - an area which should be promoted and extended. The introduction of more abstract notions at a later stage was also encouraged.

The results of the survey were compared to the results obtained from studies performed on children in the UK. The standardisation of the Malta National Mathematics Survey to a UK context on a nationally representative sample indicated that Year 1 pupils in the UK performed slightly better on formal items (mathematical applications including addition and subtraction) than their Maltese counterparts. One of the reasons was that UK children start school when they are four years old, while Maltese pupils start formal schooling at a later age.

However, it was too early a stage to suggest that formal teaching should start earlier, especially since, on the other hand, Maltese children fare better in more practical aspects of mathematics than UK students, the researchers said. In fact, although children in pre-schools learn to cultivate an interest for reading, acquire basic social skills and learn to recognise the alphabet, numerals, different geometric shapes and colours, in the UK many have voiced their concern against the particularly early age of starting school.

The study also indicated that it was almost as if there had been a voluntary lowering of the school entry age in Malta. In fact, raw scores show that out of 4,384 pupils (93 per cent) coming from all 101 schools in Malta and Gozo, 3,846 pupils had attended pre-school for two years, 267 pupils for one year and 184 for three years. Only 49 did not attend pre-school (results for 38 pupils were unavailable).

Speaking to The Times, Dr Mifsud said that the benefits of pre-school extended beyond academic practice. Apart from preparing students for the demands of formal education, pre-school provided children with their first social experiences. Pre-schooling is also linked to employment since children acquire literacy skills earlier. "In particular, children developing mathematical skills early are more likely to take up scientific studies, which lead to highly paid jobs."

Dr Mifsud said: "Studies in the US show that pre-school generates many economic returns. Early childhood education is linked to a reduction in teenage delinquency, and therefore also lightens the burden on the administration of justice.

"All these benefits highlight the importance of consolidating and further strengthening the quality of early childhood education programmes."

Dr Mifsud concluded that this was a very important study because it provided the opportunity to monitor the quality of education systems. It may also be used to lessen the over-emphasis on the examination system. "It is now up to agencies and education bodies to interpret the results and implement intervention programmes," he said.