Comparative Effects of Maternal Educational Attainment and Instructional Scaffolding on a Child’s Educational Outcomes in Cameroon

Abstract

This study investigates the comparative effects of married and single mothers’ educational attainment and instructional scaffolding on a child’s educational outcomes in Cameroon. The demographic survey data used is collected from the Cameroon National Institute of Statistics database. Employing the instrumental variable (IV) probit estimation technique, the study shows that an additional year of married mothers’ education as opposed to single mothers has positive and statistically significant effects on children’s educational outcomes. Using the analysis of variance estimation technique, the study reveals that married and single mothers’ utilization of instructional scaffolding has positive and statistically significant effects on children’s educational outcomes. Moreover, the findings indicate that Piaget and Vygotsky’s framework of instructional scaffolding is applicable in the Cameroonian economy. The study therefore recommends that the Cameroon government can improve early childhood education by creating a capacity building workshop where married and single parents will be educated on the value of attaining higher levels of education, how to adapt the culture of using one-on-one scaffolding technique as well as prompt questioning technique to scaffold a child. The study further recommends that married and single mothers should use innovative scaffolding techniques, provide appropriate explanations and give spaces for children’s voices and feedback throughout the instructional scaffolding process.