Abstract:
The study appraised early childcare centres in public primary schools in Udenu Central Education Authority of Enugu State. The study was guided by twelve (12) research questions. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. All the teachers in all the early childhood care centres in the zone constituted the population for the study and they were used for the study since the number was manageable. The instruments for data collection were checklist schedule on availability of material requirements in early childhood care centres (CSAMRECC) and questionnaire on the utilization of material requirements in ECC centres (QUMRECCC). The instruments were adopted from the national minimum standards stipulated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the running of ECCE programme. Data collected were analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results showed that with the exception of record books and few of the instructional materials, all other materials that are needed in the early childcare centres in Udenu Central Education Authority are not available. It was equally found that most of the materials needed in the early childhood care centres are being utilized by the teachers to a very low extent. The implication of the findings is that the desired output from these early childcare centres cannot be achieved if nothing is done to improve the provision and utilization of necessary materials in the centres. It was recommended, among others that strategies should be mounted by the government to improve the provision and utilization of materials in early childcare centres in the education authority.
