The role of home learning environments and socioeconomic status in children’s learning in Tanzania: A comparison study of naturalized refugee, rural majority, and urban majority population groups

Abstract

This study investigated the role of home learning environments and family socioeconomic status in children’s learning in Tanzania. A total of 303 participants from the naturalized refugees, rural, and urban majority groups were recruited. Data were collected using parents’ questionnaires, interviews, Bracken’s Basic Concept Scale–Receptive, Early Grades Reading Assessment, and Early Grades Mathematics Assessment. The results indicate that although naturalized refugees’ home learning environments were comparable to those of the rural majority, and had lower socioeconomic status than the urban majority, their learning attainments were as good as those of the more-advantaged urban majority. Parental beliefs and expectations were the possible reasons for their demonstrating better learning attainments. These findings broaden our understandings of various protective and supportive factors which have implications on children’s development and learning across contexts.

Early learning attainments of children of naturalized citizens of refugee backgrounds in the sub‐Saharan region: Evidence from Tanzania

“…Contrary to common trends, emerging evidence in Tanzania indicates that most parents of naturalized citizens from refugee backgrounds regard education as a pathway to upward social mobility (Ndijuye, 2020, 2022; Ndijuye & Tandika, 2022a) and a way to escape intergenerational poverty. For instance, when parents from this group learned about their children's difficulties mastering Kiswahili, they used strategies that had not been used elsewhere, such as sending their children to church sermons conducted in Kiswahili (Ndijuye, 2022) and telling their children not to use vernacular languages at home (Ndijuye & Rao, 2019).…”

“…Across contexts and countries, empirical studies have documented the linear relations among home learning environments, families' socioeconomic status (SES), and early learning achievement (Ip et al, 2016; Ndijuye, 2020; Susperreguy et al, 2022). For example, in developed countries, children from households with low incomes or from refugee backgrounds are less prepared for schooling than those from well‐to‐do households (Leyva et al, 2019).…”

“…Empirical evidence and reports by government bodies have identified significant challenges in Tanzania when facilitating learning attainment among children of naturalized citizens from refugee backgrounds. These include low‐quality or extremely old physical facilities, such as classrooms, libraries, and toilets; too many children per classroom; and multigrade teaching in primary schools (Ministry of Science, Education, and Technology, 2022; Ndijuye, 2020; Ndijuye & Beatus, 2022). Yet, we should avoid generalizing these shortcomings to the entire country because of variations across rural and urban areas and among the country's 26 regions.…”

“…Recent reports and empirical evidence indicate that while the sub‐Saharan region of Africa has broadened access to basic education, most children there are not acquiring basic learning skills on par with their grade levels (Ndijuye, 2020; UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2021). The effects and resulting implications persist into adulthood in terms of developmental outcomes such as personality and income (García et al, 2021), especially for children from households with low incomes in rural areas (Ndijuye & Tandika, 2022b; Susperreguy et al, 2022).…”

“…According to research from both developed and developing countries, improvements in families' SES increase resources and opportunities for children's development and learning outcomes (Kafle et al, 2018;Susperreguy et al, 2022), especially in refugee households (Ndijuye & Tandika, 2022a). However, emerging evidence from Tanzania indicates that even though children of naturalized citizens from refugee backgrounds tend to come from households with relatively low incomes, their early learning attainment is comparable to that of children from rich urban local majorities (Ndijuye, 2020(Ndijuye, , 2022Ndijuye & Tandika, 2022b).…”