دراسة تقويميه لجودة التعليم في رياض الأطفال بقطاع غزة 21

الملخص EN

This evaluation aims to identify the quality of education offered by preschools in the Gaza Strip by doing the following: 1) Identifying the reality of Gaza preschools in terms of quality of education, particularly in regards to curriculum, teachers' scientific qualifications, educational materials utilized, and parents' participation.

2) Defining obstacles to the quality of education offered to [sic] preschools from the perspective of preschools' principals and female teachers.

3) Specifying the prospective indicators of improvement in performance in the domains targeted in this study; i.e.

curriculum, teachers' qualifications, educational materials, parents' participation; as well as identifying quality and quantity indexes to be used to measure such results.

This evaluation was completed in two and a half months following the signing of a contract with ANERA.

During this period, the diverse instruments of study were prepared as applicable to all concerned parties (principals, teachers, parents and early childhood specialists).

The study team was careful to constantly keep contact with ANERA during the preparation and implementation phases of the study.

The study instruments applied to the target audience were as follows: preschool principal questionnaire (54 principals); preschool teacher questionnaire (106 teachers); parents' questionnaire (112 parents); teacher performance observation card (15 preschools); preschool set-book analysis card (18 set books), preschool annual plan analysis card (31 annual plans); preschool daily plan analysis card (20 daily plans) personal interviews (an interview withy the Director of Private Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education); focus groups (12 specialists and experts in the field of early childhood education).

The study found that, given the numerous hindrances detected, there was a need for various interventions in the domains of curriculum, teachers' qualifications, educational materials, and parents' participation.

Concerning curriculum, the study found that preschools use of a traditional classroombased approach reflective of the dominance of the social and cognitive dimensions as major objectives of the preschool, from the perspectives of principals, teachers and parents.

As for teacher qualification, the study demonstrated that all teachers are holders of the General Secondary Certificate and that one third of them are equipped with university degrees.

Educational materials were shown to be inadequate in preschools; and parents' participation was found to be limited to payment of tuition fees and attendance of some routine meetings.

According to principals and teachers, there are many obstacles; most challenging of which are those related to fee payment, behavior-related problems, inadequate involvement on the part of families, low teachers' salaries and inadequate experience in the field of early childhood.

After conducting this inclusive evaluation of preschools in the Gaza Strip Governorates and after analyzing qualitative and quantitative findings obtained from the stakeholders, the study team proposed several practical recommendations.