Preschool Experience and Intellectual Abilities of Primary School Pupils: Evidence from Ghana

This study examined the factors that influence access to preschool education and the
intellectual outcomes of pupils with or without preschool experience in two regions in
Ghana. A mixed-bag of stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques was
employed to select 863 pupils in basic grades 2, 3, and 4 from eight selected schools for the
study. The research design was ex post facto and explored preschool experience and
intellectual outcomes of primary-aged pupils. The results revealed that access to preschool
does not depend on type of locality, parental income or parental educational background
but the type of preschool experience (private or public) pupils received depended, to a large
extent, on parental income levels. In addition, the type of preschool experience predicted
pupils’ intellectual abilities. Therefore, preschool programmes that target preschoolers from
lower socio-economic backgrounds would greatly improve their intellectual abilities.