An evaluation of school readiness in an informal settlement

Abstract

School readiness is a stage in a child's development when he learns easily and effectively. A child who is not yet ready for school on school entry is already at a disadvantage in the formal learning situation. This in itself can affect his school performance in the later years. The researcher, being a primary school teacher noticed that the children from the informal settlements that had no pre-school intervention arrived at school unready to learn. This investigation set out to evaluate the school readiness of children from an informal settlement without a pre-school programme. The school readiness of these children were compared against children from an informal settlement with a pre-school programme. Test and questionnaires were used to determine the five year olds' school readiness. The researcher used the idiographic method of research. The findings of the research were based on the interpretations of the tests and questionnaires.