Abstract:

This study was aimed at investigating the contribution of pre-school education in the first cycle primary school. This contribution was assessed in terms of students' academic achievement. Academic achievement was measured in terms of students' achievement result obtained from school records. The study used an ex-post facto design, in which what is happening on the students' achievement in primary school as their pre-school education was assessed. The participants of the study were selected randomly from Burayu Town administration government elementary schools. Students' result record/roster from grade one to four in three subjects (Afan Oromo, English and Mathematics) was analyzed to see the contribution of pre-school in the academic achievement during their primary school years and difference between pre-school attendees and non attendees. The study result showed that, pre-school education contributes to better students’ academic achievement. In addition the analysis of the achievement result also reveals that there was statistically significant difference between pre-school attendees and non attendees across the primary school years with p< .001. The difference in achievement between these groups was higher in grade one and slightly decreased across grade years. It was recommended that the government together with private and NGO partners should design strategies that provide pre-school education to rural areas and expand access and better enrolment in pre-school education.

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