Operational Standards of Child Development Centers under the Local Administrative Organizations in Surin Province

Abstract

This research aimed 1) to study operational conditions based on the standards of the child development centers, 2) to compare administrators’ and teachers’ opinions towards the operation based on the standards of the child development centers classified by education levels and experiences in the current positions, and 3) to study problems and development guidelines based on the operational standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organizations in Surin Province. The samples were 331 participants: administrators and teachers. They were randomized by stratified sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire. The statistics used in the research were percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and Analysis of Variance: ANOVA. 

              The research findings were found as follows.

1. The operation based on the standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organizations in Surin Province in the overall was at a high level. The aspect with the highest level was the management of the child development centers, followed by the academic and the activities according to the curriculum. The aspect with the lowest level was the buildings, environment, and security of the child development centers.
2. The findings of the comparison of the opinions of the respondents towards the operation based on the standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organizations in Surin Province classified by education levels and experience in the current positions showed that in the overall, the respondents with the different positions had the different opinions towards the operation based on the standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organizations in Surin Province significantly. The respondents with the different education levels and the different experiences in the current positions in the overall had no differences of the opinions towards the operational standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organizations in Surin Province.
3. The problems and the development guidelines based on the operational standards of the child development centers under the local administrative organization in Surin Province were that the child development centers lacked of autonomy in management, staffs were not sufficient, child development center buildings did not meet the standards of Department of Local Administration, activities the teachers used to develop or enhance the students’ learning were not related to children’s learning, the residents in the communities did not participate in the development of the child development centers, and Department of Local Administration did not have policies to promote concrete early childhood development networks. The development guidelines were that the Director of Division of Education, Religion, and culture should be proceed to have the power to fully manage child development centers, the administrators should recruited enough staffs for child development centers, the Director of Division of Education, Religion, and culture should suggest that the administrators asked for the support for the construction of a new child development center building, the teachers should adjust the activities in accordance with the learning of young children, the administrators of Department of Local Administration should create understanding of the residents in the communities to change the attitudes to the new ones that the residents in the communities  were able to participate and support in all aspects, and Department of the Local Administration should have policies to promote concrete early childhood development networks.