THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AS DETERMINANTS OF ACCESSIBILITY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: AKOKO SOUTH-WEST AS A CASE STUDY.

The study evaluated the environmental and socio-economic factors as determinants of accessibility of early childhood education: Akoko South-West as a case study. the research question and research hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. The population of the study are teachers in public and private schools in Akoko South-West, Ondo State. A total of two hundred (200) respondents were randomly selected from the teachers at the selected schools. The stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques was used in the selection of the respondents for the study and data was collected through the use of questionnaire. The respondents were selected in a way that each has an equal chance of selection for the study and the sampling of each was independent of the other. The research questions were analyzed using the simple percentage and frequency count with a view to analyzing the environmental and socio-economic factors as determinants of accessibility of early childhood education and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to analyse the research hypothesis. The results shows that environmental factors encompass the physical, geographical, and infrastructural conditions such as long travel distances, poor transportation infrastructure, and inadequate facilities affect access to ECE. Also, socio-economic factors play a pivotal role in determining access to ECE such as household income parental education levels, gender disparities, employment status and parental occupation and social inequalities. It was concluded that government policies play significant role in promoting access to ECE such as establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework, inclusive and gender-sensitive approaches and promotes quality improvement measures including training and professional development for ECE practitioners. Also, strategies were put in place to improve the accessibility of ECE such as increase investment in building and maintaining high-quality ECE centers, mandate the equitable distribution of ECE centers across all regions, invest in safe and reliable transportation services for children, community-based environmental awareness programs, financial assistance and incentives for low-income families to enroll their children in ECE. The researcher therefore suggested that Governments and NGOs should prioritize the development of ECE facilities in underserved areas, particularly rural and low-income urban communities. Also, to tackle socio-economic barriers, governments should offer free or subsidized ECE programs, covering necessary materials. Community outreach programs should be launched to educate parents. Recruiting and training qualified ECE teachers is essential to ensure quality education. These efforts require sustained commitment and collaboration to ensure that every child, regardless of their circumstances, has access to quality early education, setting the stage for lifelong success.