Pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing and their association with Kiswahili pre-reading outcomes in Tanzania

Abstract

This study examined the association between psychological wellbeing and acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills among pre-primary school children in Tanzania. It employed cross-sectional design and 403 pre-primary school children aged 5–7 years from 12 pre-primary schools in the country. Results revealed that 28% (n = 111) of children had psychological difficulties with conduct problems being the most prevalent among them. Meanwhile, 58% (n = 235) of the studied children scored below average on Kiswahili pre-reading skills test. Results of One-Way ANOVA analysis indicated significant differences in pre-primary school children’s mean scores on the level of psychological wellbeing (F (2,400) = 53.315, p<.001, η² = .210)) and Kiswahili pre-reading skills (F (2,400) = 156.685, p < .001, η² = .439)) between districts. Results of hierarchical regression indicated that internalizing (β = −.09) and externalizing (β = −.21) variables were significantly correlated with acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills (ps<.05). The model variables explained 46% of the variance in pre-primary school children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. Results confirm that psychological wellbeing significantly influences pre-primary school children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The study recommends intervention strategies to enhance pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing and Kiswahili pre-reading skills should be devised and implemented.

Keywords:

• Psychological wellbeing
• pre-primary school children
• Kiswahili pre-reading skills

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Victoria Simms, University of Ulster: Ulster University, United Kingdom

Subject:

• Educational Psychology
• Mental Health
• Primary/Elementary Education
• Childhood
• Early Years

1. Introduction

Children comprise almost one third of the world population and 40% of them live in Africa (United Nations Population Funds, 2022). Despite the fact that a large proportion of children are found in low-income countries, mostly in risky settings, less is known about their psychological wellbeing and school-related behaviour. Based on the existing association between children’s psychological wellbeing and learning as established elsewhere (Pourhossein et al., 2015), it is important to study this association in low-income settings, particularly in Tanzania.

2. Pre-primary school children’s psychological difficulties and their associated effects

Psychological wellbeing entails a sense of optimism, confidence, happiness, clarity, vitality, self-worth, achievement, having a meaning and purpose, engagement, having supportive and satisfying relationships with others, understanding oneself, and responding effectively to one’s emotions (Weare, 2015). Children who are well psychologically can develop mentally, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually; they demonstrate good behaviours; initiate and sustain mutually satisfying personal relationships; use and enjoy solitude; understand others and empathize with them; play and learn; develop a sense of right and wrong; resolve problems and setbacks and learn from them (The Mental Health Foundation, 2005).

The association between psychological wellbeing and behavioural problems is considered bidirectional. Poor psychological wellbeing can lead to behavioural problems, which would negatively affect a child’s psychological wellbeing in turn (Shucksmith et al., 2005; Centre for Mental Health, 2015). Therefore, early diagnosis and intervention is essential in helping children to develop positive psychological wellbeing and manage behavioural challenges effectively. Also, behavioral problems and psychological difficulties are often interconnected and can influence each other in complex ways. There is a reciprocal relationship between behavioural problems and psychological difficulties. Behavioural problems can lead to psychological difficulties, and vice versa (Shucksmith et al., 2005; Public Health England, 2014). For example, a child with conduct problems may experience academic failure, leading to low self-esteem and depression. On the other hand, a child with depression may experience peer rejection, withdrawal, and avoidance behaviors.

Psychological wellbeing and behavioral problems among preschool children are interconnected but distinct aspects that influence a child’s overall development. Behavioural problems primarily include observable actions, conduct, or manners displayed by a child and external manifestation of disruptive behavior, aggression, hyperactivity, impulsivity, defiance, tantrums. Meanwhile, psychological difficulties include internal emotional and mental states which might not be immediately observable but can influence a child’s behaviour: for example, anxiety, depression, trauma-related symptoms, attachment disorders which may lead the child to hyperactivity, rejection, and aggression (Shucksmith et al., 2005; Public Health England, 2014).

Recent studies on child development and psychological wellbeing have reported that pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing varies across the world. For instance, Von Klitzing et al. (2015) revealed that the prevalence of mental health difficulties worldwide among children aged 1–5 years is 16–18%, with over half (8–9) of these being severely affected (Von Klitzing et al., 2015). Also, the highest prevalence rates of 5 to 15% for mental health problems among children aged 2 to 5 years has been recorded in low and middle-income countries (World Health Organization, 2005, 2011). A report by Khoshlessan (2017) and Erskine et al. (2017) shows that the rate of mental health difficulties among pre-primary school children in the socially disadvantaged and densely populated urban areas of high income countries range between three and eleven percent. Yet around five to fifteen percent of pre-primary school children aged 2 to 5 years in low and middle-income countries have been reported having mental health problems (Narea et al., 2023). In Sub-Saharan Africa, the reviewed literature from six countries, excluding Tanzania, showed that the prevalence of general mental health and psychological difficulties among children ranges from 2.7% and 27%. Besides, 15% of the pre-primary school children have emotional and behavioural problems, with boys displaying higher prevalence rates than girls (Keenan & Meenan, 2014). Although studies on mental health and psychological wellbeing among students in other levels of education are quite informative, studies related to Tanzanian pre-primary children’s learning are scanty. The current study addresses this knowledge gap by studying the prevalence of psychological wellbeing among pre-primary school children and its association with their pre-reading skills in Tanzania.

Pre-primary children’s behavioural problems are associated with multiple risk factors such as parental negligence, poor supervision and attention, family conflict and maladjustment, rejection, sibling rivalry, unconscious anger and defiance of the child, insecurity, conflict or hostility, aggression, neurotic attitudes of the mothers, and violent behaviours (Hecker et al., 2021; Scharpf et al., 2020). Psychological wellbeing is known for its profound influence on the personality, self-recognition, emotions, and social behaviours of pre-primary school children. Pourhossein et al. (2015) show that, pre-primary children’s behavioural problems affect both their daily lives and future mental health and can degenerate into issues at the societal level. During the child’s pre-primary years, poor psychological wellbeing may lead to behavioural problems. Then, the behavioural problems may attribute to temper tantrum, breath holding spells, thumb sucking, nail biting, enuresis, encopresis, pica, tics and stuttering or stammering, delayed speech and attention deficit disorder, attention deficit personality disorder, overdependence, poor adaptability, and conduct problems (Datta et al., 2018).

Furthermore, Abd Rahim et al. (2023) show that preschool children who exhibit symptoms of behavioural disorders experience more peer rejection, which may in turn drive them into antisocial behaviours during early adolescence and may cause them to develop externalizing behavioural problems. Morgan et al. (2012) warns that, unless pre-primary school children’s psychological problems are diagnosed and treated early, their social adaptation, interpersonal communication, and academic performance might be problematic.

The Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) reports that almost one quarter of students (24%) felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row such that they stopped doing their usual activities during the past 12 months (Nyandindi, 2008). Despite this recognition of the importance of school-based mental health, there are few empirical reports addressing school mental health problems among pre-primary children in Sub-Saharan Africa in general (Atilola & Ola, 2016), and Tanzania in particular (Nkuba et al., 2019, Masath et al., 2021; Scharpf et al., 2020). Most of the existing studies were conducted in primary and secondary schools.

Blair et al. (2015) observe that stress, anxiety, and emotion are the major areas of psychological wellbeing which affect reading and pre-reading skills among school children. Furthermore, Lauermann et al. (2017) reveals that children’s feelings are the predictors of their responses in their reading and their general academic performance. In that regard, stress, anxiety, and emotional problems among children are associated with the way they respond to the reading activities in school (Garwood et al., 2017; Metsäpelto et al., 2017). Katzir et al. (2018) add that the reading and learning processes can themselves trigger feelings of anxiety and stress which can in different ways affect the general trends of the children’s attainment of reading and pre-reading skills at school. Significantly, the literature from different global settings affirms that anxiety in young children is negatively associated with acquisition of reading skills (Grills-Taquechel et al., 2012; Katzir et al., 2018). Similarly, a study by Jõgi et al. (2021), which investigated how first-grade students’ physiological stress levels are related to their reading skills and social competence, found that children with better reading comprehension had lower physiological stress levels in the morning after waking up.

Studies show that students with internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems such as higher empathy, more stress, and emotional disorders exhibit other dysfunctional behaviours such as bullying, aggression, antisocial behaviours, poor educational outcomes, and higher rates of school dropout (Kulkarni & Sullivan, 2022; Turunen et al., 2019; O’Neal, 2018; Kliewer, 2016; Piquero et al., 2012). Accordingly, it is reported that internalizing and externalizing behaviours may distract their attention on classroom instructions and classroom activities, hence interfering with their ability to learn, a situation that can lead to delayed acquisition of reading skills (Lim & Kim, 2011; Morgan et al., 2012).

2.1. Pre-primary education in Tanzania

Over the last decade, the Tanzania government has been striving to provide quality early childhood education. Under the Education and Training Policy revised in 2014 (ETP, 2023 Edition), pre-primary education is offered for one year, with enrollment starting at the age of five. The same policy also rewards fee-free compulsory universal education in all public schools. Even though education is fee-free, low enrolment of school-age children remains one of the major challenges in the provision of pre-primary education in Tanzania. The Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) shows that more than 60% of the children aged 5 years do not get enrolled for pre-primary education (MoEST, 2019). Furthermore, many children are unprepared for Standard I owing to low attainment of reading, writing, and numeracy skills (UNESCO, 2017).

Moreover, after joining primary school, many children from pre-primary do not demonstrate adequate mastery of basic knowledge and skills which constitute the foundation for learning in the later stages of education (Uwezo, 2012, 2013). This situation raises a fundamental question regarding how pupils learn early skills at the pre-primary level of education. The previous empirical studies, mostly from Tanzania (see e.g. Bennett et al., 2018; Mtahabwa and Rao, 2010; Ndijuye et al., 2020; Shukia and Mabagala, 2019; Tandika and Ndijuye, 2019) show that the quality of pre-primary education and child development depends on many factors such as adequate teaching resources, adequate teaching staff, quality of teaching and learning environment, supportive institutional structures, parental co-operation, the instructional pedagogy used, and teachers’ capacity.

2.2. The current study

Children’s psychological wellbeing is essential for children’ healthy development in different aspects including their school-related behaviours such as the acquisition of pre-reading skills (Jõgi et al., 2021; Metsäpelto et al., 2017). However, despite its role, our review of literature indicates a lack of information on its prevalence and its associated effects on pre-primary school children’s academic outcomes, particularly their acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills in Tanzania. Yet, there is evidence indicating that a significant number of pre-primary school children in Tanzania complete their pre-primary school cycle without having acquired the intended pre-reading skills in Kiswahili (Edward & Shukia, 2021; Ndijuye & Rao, 2019; UWEZO, 2017). While multiple reasons for this have been reported, less is known about the association between pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing (externalizing and internalizing problems) and their acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills in the country. Hence, this study examined the association between pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing and their acquisition of pre-reading skills to bridge the existing knowledge gap and contribute insights useful in the intervention to enhance children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills in Tanzania.

3. Methodology

3.1. Study design, sample, and procedures

This study used a cross-sectional survey design to examine the prevalence and association of psychological wellbeing with pre-primary school children’s acquisition of pre-reading skills. The study was conducted in three districts of Tanzania, i.e. Arumeru, Kinondoni, and Nzega. These districts were randomly selected from amongst the districts with high, middle, and low performance in reading skills, respectively (UWEZO, 2017).

A total of four public pre-primary schools were randomly selected from the list of pre-primary schools found in each of the district. Thus, a total of 12 pre-primary schools were selected from the three districts. All the selected schools were contacted and asked for their readiness to participate in the study in a formal meeting with the heads of school. All of them agreed to participate. A total of 106,909 pupils found in the selected districts formed the study population. With a sampling error of 5% for sample size determination (95% Confidence Interval (CI)), a sample size of 420 was required to detect the effect of the association between the study’s independent and dependent variables (Slovin, 1960; Israel, 2013). Due to anticipated school absenteeism and dropouts (United Republic of Tanzania, 2021), a total of 432 students (n = 18 boys; n = 18 girls) from the twelve selected schools were sampled for the study. The school managements helped the researchers to clarify the purpose of the study to the parents. They also helped to manage the parents’ signing of the informed consent forms. A total of 403 pre-primary school children (93% enrolment rate; 50.4% boys (n = 203) and 49.6% girls (n = 200); mean age = 5.96 years; median = 6.00; standard deviation (SD) of age = .677, range = 5–6 years) received parental consent. All of them agreed to participate and showed up for interview (100% response rate). Prior the actual field work, the researcher obtained a research clearance from the University of Dar es Salaam and research permits from regional and district authorities.

3.2. Measures

3.2.1. Psychological wellbeing

The study examined pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing using four sub-scales (conduct problems, hyperactivity problem, emotional problems, and peer problems) of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1998). The children orally responded to the items of the instrument under guidance of their teachers. They had to choose one of three options, namely 0 (Not True), 1 (Somewhat True) and 2 (Certainly True). The sum of all four items represents a total difficulty score ranging from 0 to 40 where the value of 17 or higher on the SDQ score indicates a severely elevated level of mental health problems. The SDQ scale has both internal validities having been used intensively in Tanzania (Hecker et al., 2014, 2021; Nkuba et al., 2018a; Scharpf et al., 2020) and elsewhere with pre-primary school children aged between 1 and 5 years (Gustafsson et al., 2017). The original scale comes with a reliability of .81 Cronbach’s alpha value (Goodman & Goodman, 2012). In the present study, this scale had a Cronbach alpha value of .72.

3.2.2. Pre-primary school children’s Kiswahili assessment pre-reading skills test

The standardised Early Grade Pre-reading Assessment (EGRA) was used to assess the Kiswahili pre-reading skills for beginners of pre-primary school (Gove & Wetterberg, 2016). The test items were 10 in total and were scored as = Not true, 1= Somehow true, and 2= certainly true, where the total scale score ranged from 0 to 100 (Piper & Miksic, 2011). The EGRA test was orally administered to each pre-primary child by the first author and her research assistants in a quiet place around the school premises. Children who scored 50 or below were categorised as low performers, 51 to 61 as moderate performers, and above 61 as high performers in Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The results from the test were analysed to determine the level of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The EGRA test has an internal validity, having been used in Tanzania (Edward & Shukia, 2021; Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), 2016; NECTA, 2019; Piper & Miksic, 2011). In this study, the instrument’s Cronbach reliability was .95.

The questionnaire data collected from pre-primary school children were about their demographic characteristics and psychological wellbeing. The interaction was done in silent and secure places in the pre-primary school compounds. Such places were under shady trees and in empty classrooms. The assessment took a duration of 30 to 35 minutes. All the selected pre-primary school children were informed of the purpose of the study. Also, they were informed of the consent forms that their parents had to fill and sign to allow them to take part in the study. The participating pre-primary school children were asked for their own consent to participate in a formal discussion prior to the actual exercise of assessment. A total of 403 pre-primary school children (93% enrolment rate; 50.4% boys (n = 203) and 49.6% girls (n = 200); mean age = 5.96 years; median = 6.00; standard deviation (SD) of age = .677) got parental consent, agreed to participate, and consequently appeared for the interviews (100% response rate).

During data collection, six research assistants were recruited and trained together with other 36 teachers from all the 12 pre-primary schools sampled for the study. After the training, the recruited research assistants were involved in a pilot study which was carried out in one district that had similar characteristics with the study area. The researcher spent time with them in the field, giving them an opportunity to familiarise with the pre-primary school environment and to understand how to interact with children.

3.2.3. Assessment procedure

Before the actual assessment, the researcher and research assistants met with the school management, talked to the selected pre-school children and their teachers to familiarize themselves with them. The SDQ assessment was done in a one-on-one session with the children from 12 schools. To facilitate understanding of the questions during oral interaction, 6-research assistants and 36 trained pre-primary schoolteachers were involved. Information was also collected from the cohort children’s class teachers using a self-completion questionnaire. During the Kiswahili pre-reading test, the child read the cards, alphabet set, and pictures following instructions provided by the research assistant. In the actual pre-reading assessment, a stopwatch was used to manage the test time. All questions were administered in Swahili language, and whenever the child faced difficulty to understand an item, the pre-primary schoolteachers helped to clarify in the children’s local language.

Clear explanations about the SDQ questionnaire and the EGRA oral test were provided in simple language to make the children understand the task. Visual aids and demonstrations were used to ensure that every child who participated understood the study. The pre-primary children were encouraged to participate actively while maintaining a fun and playful atmosphere. Demonstration of all processes on how to respond, to name alphabet letters, and to identify the letter cards was done in manner that made it simple for the children to understand what to do. Support and encouragement were provided throughout the activity by the researcher and researcher assistants. The researchers and her assistants praised their efforts to keep them motivated to interact and respond to the questions during the assessment. The class teachers were helped in case they faced difficulties but they were allowed to try on their own as much as possible during the assessment. During the one-on-one session, the researcher and research assistants recorded the data accurately through tally marks by using a tape recorder and a tablet. After the session, the researcher and her assistants discussed with the children to confirm their comprehension and ensure accuracy of the collected data. Positivity and fun were maintained to keep the children engaged and willing to participate. Above all, patience and flexibility were maintained during the process of collecting data from the children.

3.3. Data analysis

The collected data were coded and analysed using IBM SPSS version 27. Preliminary analysis indicated no missing values for the study variables. We used frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation to find out the state of the psychological wellbeing of our sample. Scores between 0 and 13 were classified as normal, between 14 and 16 as borderline and between 17 and 40 as abnormal (Goodman & Goodman, 2012). A score of 50 or below was categorised as low reading skills performance and a score of 51–60 was categorized as high reading skills performance. A bivariate correlational analysis using Pearson correlation coefficient ‘r’ was performed to account for correlation between the study’s outcome variables (psychological wellbeing and Kiswahili pre-reading skills acquisition). A correlation coefficient of p <.05 was set for a significant correlation. Using Cohen’s d, correlation coefficients of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.6 were set for low, moderate, and high effect size of correlation respectively (Cohen, 1992). A one-way ANOVA, using Tukey HD post-hoc comparison, was employed to test the data for any possible difference in the mean scores of pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing and Kiswahili pre-reading skills between high, middle, and low performing districts. For the One-Way ANOVA analysis, Cohen d Eta Squared (η²) values of .01, .06, and .15 were set as small, medium, and high effect size respectively. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing with their Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The regression was meant to find out the predictive ability of the psychological wellbeing of children, i.e. its ability to predict their acquisition of reading skills. All the conditions for regression analysis, including normality, homescedacity, and collinearity, were met. An effect size was set using Cohen f² = 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 for small, medium, and large effect size. All analyses used a significant value of p < .05 (two tailed: Cohen, 1992).

4. Results

This study involved 403 pre-primary school children whereby 200 (49%) were girls and 203 (51%) were boys. The respondents’ mean age was 5.96 years, SD = .68, range = 5–7 years. In the low performing district, 82 (49%) of the pre-primary school children were girls and 81 (50%) were boys. In the middle performing district, 69 (50%) of the children were girls and 70 (50%) were boys. In the high-performing district, 49(48%) of the children were girls and 52 (52%) were boys. In terms of age, the majority of pre-primary school children (218 = 54%) had six years, i.e. 44 (44%) from the high-performing district, 75 (54%) from the middle-performing district, and 99 (61%) from the low-performing district. Only 84 (21%) had seven years. Out of them, 9(9%) were from the high-performing district, 32 (23%) were from the middle-performing district and 43(26%) were from the low- performing district.

4.1. Psychological wellbeing

The findings (as presented in Table 1) indicated that 41% (n = 169) of pre-primary school children had a normal level of psychological wellbeing, 30% (n = 123) had an average level, and 28% (n = 111) had a level above the threshold of psychological total difficulty, indicating that they had an abnormal level of psychological difficulty.

Table 1. Pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing scores and subscales (N = 403).

Psychological wellbeing scores	Cut off	Normal %(n)	Borderline %(n)	Abnormal %(n)
Total difficulty score	≥17	41(169)	30(123)	28(111)
Externalizing
Conduct problems	>4	46(187)	21(85)	33(131)
Hyperactivity	>6	73(297)	15(62)	11(44)
Internalizing
Emotional problems	>6	73(295)	8(35)	18(73)
Peer problems	>5	35(144)	36(147)	28(112)

4.2. Pre-reading skills

This objective examined the level of pre-primary school children’s Kiswahili pre-reading skills in high, middle, and low performing districts. Children with total scores below or equal to 50% on the EGRA scale were categorised as having low performance and those with scores above 50% were considered to have high performance in Kiswahili pre-reading skills. The descriptive results of Kiswahili pre-reading assessment are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Pre-primary school children’s Kiswahili pre-reading skills items’ scores.

	Item	M	SD	Range	<M (n(%))	≥M (n(%))
1	Timely alphabet letter naming	13.70	14.35	98.00	261(64.8)	142(35.2)
2	Alphabet letter naming	52.07	26.91	92.31	215(53.3)	188(46.7)
3	Alphabet letter identification	52.15	29.87	100.00	237(58.8)	166(41.2)
4.i	Vowel identification and naming	77.84	25.04	100.00	165(40.9)	238(59.1)
4.ii	Consonant identification and naming	53.22	32.47	100.00	230(57.1)	173(42.9)
5.i	Equipment starting with vowel	51.14	34.93	100.00	241(59.8)	162(40.2)
5.ii	Equipment starting with consonant	44.06	33.08	100.00	244(60.5)	159(39.5)
6	Sound comprehension	56.02	30.32	100.00	267(66.3)	136(33.7)
7	Initial letter identification	54.31	35.20	100.00	245(60.8)	158(39.2)
8	Picture reading	70.66	30.23	100.00	207(51.4)	196(48.6)
9	Initial sound identification	55.13	29.87	100.00	230(57.1)	173(42.9)
10	Book reading	58.15	14.51	83.33	111(27.5)	292(72.5)

The results indicated that 58% (n = 235) of pre-primary school children had scores below average on the Kiswahili pre-reading skills test. Specifically, the majority of pre-primary school children (72.5%, n = 292) scored high on book reading items, and 66.3% (n = 267) scored low in sound comprehension items of the Kiswahili pre-reading test.

4.3. The association between psychological wellbeing and Kiswahili pre-reading skills acquisition

Results of the bivariate correlation indicated a significant correlation between district of study (r = −.63, p<.001; CI: −0.706–−0.554), internalizing (r = −.26, p<.001; CI: −0.169–−0.003) and externalizing (r = −.38, p<.001; CI: −0.291–−0.121) problems with acquisition of pre-reading skills. The effect size of the correlations ranged from small to high. No significant correlation was found between pre-reading skills and age (r = −.05, p = .288; CI: 0.046–0.196), as well as sex (r = −.02, p = .339; CI: −0.081–0.070). Using a two-stage hierarchical regression model, we examined the association of psychological wellbeing with acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills among pre-primary school children. In the first step, we entered the district of study as a control variable of our model. The obtained findings indicated that the district of study was significantly associated with Kiswahili pre-reading skills (p<.05). The model fit was good (R² = .397, F(1, 401) = 263.611, p<.001), and the model variable explained 40% of the variance in pre-primary school children’s Kiswahili pre-reading skills. In the second step, all the three districts under study, the internalizing problems, and the externalizing problems were entered. The findings indicated that both variables were significantly associated with acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills (ps<.05). The model fit slightly improved (R² = .461, F(3, 399) = 113.533, p<.001), and the model variables explained 46% of the variance in pre-primary school children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. Such findings imply that the psychological wellbeing of pre-primary school children is a significant determinant of their school academic behaviour, including their acquisition of reading skills. Table 3 presents detailed results of the hierarchical regression model.

Table 3. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression model of pre-primary school children’s Kiswahili pre-reading skills acquisition.

Predictor variables	Beta	95.0% CI		SE	β
		LL	UL
Step 1^a
(Constant)	1.355E-16	−.076	.076	.039
District^b	−.68***	−.756	−.554	.039	−.63***
Step 2^c
(Constant)	1.355E-16	−.072	.072	.037
District	−.59	−.645	−.496	.038	−.57***
Internalizing problem behaviour	−.08*	−.169	−.003	.042	−.09*
Externalizing problem behaviour	−.25***	−.291	−.121	.043	−.21***

Note. N = 403, B unstandardised coefficients, CI = Confidence Interval; LL = lower limit; UL = upper limit, SE = coefficients standardized error, β = standardised coefficients, *p < .05, ***p < .001.

^a Test statistics: R² = .397, Adjusted R² = .395, F(1, 401) = 263.611, p <.001.

^b 1= High performing, 2 = Middle performing, 3 = low performing.

^c Test statistics: R² = .461, Adjusted R² = .456, ΔR² =.064, F(3, 399) = 113.533, p <. 001.

5. Discussion

5.1. Prevalence of psychological wellbeing

The study findings indicated that the majority of the pre-primary school children under study had an average level of psychological wellbeing. Moreover, an elevated level of psychological difficulties among them was revealed by the findings. These findings are in agreement with those of other studies conducted with samples of secondary school pupils in Tanzania (Nkuba et al., 2018a) and primary school children in southern Tanzania (Hecker et al., 2014).

Besides, the findings of this study indicated that conduct problems and peer problems are highly prevalent among pre-primary school children as compared to emotional problems and hyperactivity. This implies that pre-primary school children are prone to externalizing and internalizing problems. This corroborates previous studies conducted elsewhere (e.g. Gustafsson et al., 2018; Hammer et al., 2017; Sonuga-Barke et al., 1994) which reported that conduct problems precede pre-primary school children’s hyperactivity behaviour as the children’s age increases towards the school years.

Gustafsson et al. (2018) show that children with conduct problems also had hyperactivity problems unlike those with no report of hyperactivity in Sweden where they conducted a study with a sample of pre-primary school children. The implication is that pre-primary school children with conduct problems are more likely to demonstrate hyperactivity problems as they socialize or interact with the environment.

Again, it has been reported that peer interaction is very important for children’s development because through it the children can learn different things (including pre-reading) from their peers and friends. The current study revealed that pre-primary school children had problems with peer interaction in Tanzania. Similar results have been reported in Turkey by Özçelik (2017) who found that children with peer problems exhibit limited social interaction skills and are tend have social problems, including conduct and emotional problems. This confirms the argument that children with behaviour problems find it hard to interact well with their peers in contexts such as playgrounds, homes, and schools (Özçelik, 2017). The findings indicated that peer problems are significantly correlated with conduct and hyperactivity problems. The existing relationship between conduct problems, peer problems and hyperactivity imply that pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing is related to multiple behavioural characteristics. Thus, children’s problems related with their psychological wellbeing should be addressed in school settings using intervention measures which focus on multiple behavioural characteristics.

The findings suggest that if children with psychological difficulties are not identified and treated, there is a high risk of being subjected to violence by teachers and peers in school. This is supported by Hecker et al. (2021) whose study indicated that children with psychological difficulties attract more violence from teachers, which is partly attributed to teachers’ lack of behaviour screening skills and alternative disciplinary strategies (Semali & Vumilia, 2016). This observation is consistent with previous studies conducted in Tanzania (Hecker et al., 2014; Masath et al., 2021; Nkuba et al., 2018b) which call for teachers to be trained on behaviour screening skills and treatment of children with psychological difficulties at the earliest stages of their school and academic life. Thus, identifying such children early will not only help to establish ways to handle their behavioural difficulties as they grow but also serve them from being subjected to maltreatment and violence by teachers in their early and later school life.

5.2. Pre-reading skills among pre-primary children

Pre-reading is a very important facet and it is a basic ability to be mastered by every child at an early stage of learning to read any language. That is because pre-reading ability is a child’s gateway to mastery of reading. Adolf, Catts, and Lee in Jansson (2018) point out that in the process of pre-reading, children need knowledge about alphabet naming, the sounds of the alphabet, reading and understanding of holding and opening books, letter identification, picture naming and the like. It has been reported that in the process of learning to read in pre-primary school and other stages of early education, mastery of all pre-reading skills will enable the child to read easily once she/he starts Grade One (Widyana et al., 2020). Thus, pre-reading ability is among the basic abilities that must be mastered by children and it is one of the requirements for one to be admitted in different schools both government and private schools (ETP, 2014; Osei et al., 2016).

While Pre-reading skills are very important, the majority of pre-primary school children scored below average in Kiswahili pre-reading skills test that was administered during the study. This implies that the majority of the pre-primary school children in Tanzania did not have mastery of alphabet naming, the sounds of the alphabet, reading and understanding, holding and opening books, letter identification, picture naming and the like. The findings corroborate with other studies conducted in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (e.g. EGRA, 2013; Nyirenda, 2014; UWEZO, 2017; World Bank, 2017) and Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank, 2017) which found that children had lower reading and pre-reading skills. For example, the study by Dubeck and Gove (2015) reports that only eight percent (8%) of the children were able to read comprehensively at the end of Grade two. However, the difference between the percentage level of pre-reading skills found in the present study and the percentage level revealed by the former study emanates from differences in the methodological approaches used in these studies. The former study used a sample of primary school children while the current one used a sample of pre-primary school children. Our findings are consistent with the reports by UWEZO (2012; 2017) which show that two out of 10 Standard Seven children in the East African countries, including Tanzania, do not have standard two-level reading literacy competencies. Implicitly, the current study, in line with the previous ones (e.g. UWEZO, 2012; 2017), indicates that the majority of children in Sub-Saharan Africa (including Tanzania) possess lower pre-reading and reading skills at their lower levels of education. However, their performance in reading skills may change as they progress from lower to higher levels of education, with about 20% of them completing their primary school cycle without having attained the reading skills.

5.3. Associations between psychological well-being and pre-reading skills

Psychological wellbeing is very important for all persons, including children in pre-primary school. So, children’s behavioural problems like externalizing (conduct problems, hyperactivity problems) and internalizing (emotional problems and peer interaction problems must be detected at the stage of pre-primary school. If all those behavioural problems are not intervened, they can affect children’s acquisition of reading. This is according to the results of this study, which showed that internalizing and externalizing problems have an influence on pre-primary school children’s acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. This is consistent with other studies which revealed a similar association of psychological wellbeing with students’ learning outcomes (see e.g. Hecker et al., 2016; Kızıltepe et al., 2020; Masath et al., 2023; Scharpf et al., 2021) in Tanzanian primary and secondary schools. For example, in a study by Hecker et al. (2016), students with internalizing problems were found with lower memory functioning which in turn had a significant impact on their learning. Yet, the study by Masath et al. (2023) showed that children with externalizing problems are at a high risk of attaining lower academic performance.

The findings of the present study indicated that pre-primary school children with high internalizing and externalizing problems are likely to attain lower Kiswahili pre-reading skills at the end of their pre-primary school years. This is in line with previous studies which reported that children with lower levels of externalizing problems (hyperactivity and conduct problems) exhibit good school-related behaviours such as school attendance (Lawrence et al., 2019), word reading (Turunen et al., 2019) and academic achievement (de Zeeuw et al., 2017; Sonuga-Barke et al., 1994). The results of the present study support the previous studies whose findings indicate an association of externalizing problems with learning outcomes in Tanzania (Masath et al., 2023). This is again supporting the findings by Turunen et al. (2017) which found an association between children’s behavioural problems like frustration and antisocial behavior with their reading difficulties.

In the Tanzanian settings, research conducted in primary and secondary schools reported the importance, association, and the effect of externalizing and internalizing problems. Children with less externalizing problems, including the ones related with obedience, respect, and discipline, receive societal approval (Hecker et al., 2021). The externalizing and internalizing behaviours in turn attract close relationship and support from parents, teachers, and the community, consequently influencing children’s development and learning outcomes. This argument is in line with findings by Kempe et al. (2011) and Parhiala et al. (2015) who show that children and students with good reading skills are more likely to have high social skills and competence than their peers. On the contrary, children experiencing rejection by peers (Turunen et al., 2019) and those often feeling angry, sad, and unpopular (Morgan et al., 2012) are at a high risk of experiencing pre-reading and reading difficulties. Moreover, although the findings of this work are drawn from cross-sectional data, they reflect the results of a longitudinal study conducted by Hammer et al. (2017), which indicated that internalizing and externalizing problems predict children’s cognitive and academic achievement in their later ages.

Therefore, the results of this study are consistent with previous studies on lower pre-reading and reading skills conducted in Tanzania and other Sub-Sahara African countries (EGRA, 2013; Nyirenda, 2014; UWEZO, 2017; World Bank, 2017). Arguably, the results suggest that, unless the psychological difficulties are diagnosed and intervened at the earlier stages of education, their effects on children’s later learning cannot be avoided. Thus, diagnosis and treatment of the psychological difficulties of children is as essential as their learning process itself. The findings of this study support other studies’ which have recommended that mental health among children in Tanzania and other places where mental health is not prioritized should be prioritized. Proper education, early screening and treatment of behavioural problems are necessary to save children from the various health and academic related risks including poor learning outcomes and violent disciplining by teachers and caregivers (Hecker et al., 2021; Scharpf et al., 2021;Masath et al., 2022; Masath et al., 2023).

6. Conclusion and recommendations

The results of this study have indicated that about one-third of preschool children had psychological difficulties. A significant association of pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing with their Kiswahili pre-reading skills was revealed, which implies that learning outcomes are influenced not only by systemic interventions that improve infrastructures and the availability of resources, but also by the learners’ psychological wellbeing. Thus, it is suggested that improvement of infrastructures and resources should go hand in hand with improvement of the state of children’s psychological wellbeing so as to attain the envisaged learning outcomes, including mastery of Kiswahili pre-reading skills. This means that, unless deliberate intervention measures are taken to enhance their psychological wellbeing, pre-primary school children’s educational achievement, particularly their acquisition of Kiswahili pre-reading skills, will be at stake.

We therefore call for the concerned authorities to keep a book of records on children’s behavioural trajectories, which will cover a wide range of children’s behavioural problems. This book of information will be used immediately at pre-primary school levels to track children’s psychological wellbeing from lower levels of education throughout their academic life. As such, information on the psychological health of each individual child in the country will be known. Moreover, we recommend that the government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) should devise and integrate intervention psychological assessment and treatment programmes into schools in the country. By using guidance and counselling from school psychologists and providing education to the parents, caregivers, and teachers on how to enhance the psychological wellbeing of children. This may involve the collaboration of parents, caregivers, educators, and mental health professionals to provide the necessary education, support and resources for the child’s well-being and development. In addition, more research on the cause-effect relationship between pre-primary school children’s psychological wellbeing and their acquisition of reading skills is highly recommended.

7. Research limitations

The present study had several limitations, both methodological and technical. Methodologically, the current study employed a cross-sectional survey research design, which has shortcomings that provide an opportunity for longitudinal research to assess the association between psychological wellbeing and pre-reading skills among pre-primary school children in Tanzania. Second, the analysis of the findings was limited to data from the orally self-reported SDQ from children through their teachers. The self-reported data from pre-primary school children with their teachers’ observation are not always as reliable as data collected using more behavioural measures from pre-primary school children, teachers, and parents since the teachers may not be aware of the behaviour of the child at home.

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge all the research participants for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data will be made available upon request from the journal.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nabwera Rashid

Nabwera Rashid is a PhD candidate at the University of Dar es Salaam in the School of Education and an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (MUCE) where her teaching and research interest is in the areas of psychology of children and adolescents, parenting psychology, family counseling, mental health and wellbeing. Her motivation is to raise wellbeing children and adolescents of today for a good society of tomorrow.

Faustine Bwire Masath

Faustine Bwire Masath (PhD) is a Lecturer in the department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies. He has a PhD in Psychology from Bielefeld University, Germany. Masath also holds M.A. (Applied Social Psychology) and B.Ed. (Psychology, Hons.) from the University of Dar es Salaam. His research interests include: child protection, violence research and prevention, children and adolescents mental health and wellbeing; developmental psychology; and research in education.

Mabula Nkuba

Mabula Nkuba is a Senior Lecturer in educational psychology at the University of Dar es Salaam (DUCE) where his teaching and research interest is in the areas of parenting psychology, child violence prevention as well as children’s mental health. His works and interventions are focused on improving positive relationships between teachers and students and linking the school teachers with families for the wellbeing of school children. From the works he conducted in schools in different schools in sub-Saharan Africa countries, the focus is to improve mental health of children and ensure that the academic performance keeps improving.