Published Paper Details:

Education is the priority for all the progressive nations in the world. It is acknowledged globally that laying strong foundation for education is very important. Research in the field of neuroscience revealed that stimulating early learning environment leads to smooth transition of children from preschool environment to formal schooling. Early Childhood Education programs worldwide aim at School Readiness of children. In the study, early childhood education programs are assessed in the perspective of school readiness. Researcher considered different domains of development and listed the indicators of school readiness. Using this list, school readiness assessment tool was constructed to assess the School Readiness of children. The study aimed to assess the readiness level of 1st standard children from the feeder schools. From 13 Government, 12 Aided and 16 Private schools of Bengaluru North District, total of 587 children were considered for the study. Study considered early childhood education programs where the children had 3 years of preschool education. The study assessed early childhood education programs in the light of syllabus, textbooks, worksheets, and lesson plans, activity plans, learning materials, infrastructure, time table, pedagogical practices and assessment. Questionnaire was used to know about the pedagogical practices of the teachers. Data was also collected through teacher interaction also. It was found that the Private school students have high school readiness compared to government and aided schools. Infrastructure and other facilities in the Private early childhood education programs are good compared to other types of schools. It is inferred that the Materials and Infrastructure Facilities, Pedagogical Practices of Teachers and Parent Participation are associated with the School Readiness of Children and are considered as facilitators of School Readiness.