Teachers’ Perceptions on the Relationship between Social Competence and Reading Skills Acquisition in Primary School Pupils

Abstract

This paper set out to examine teachers’ perceptions of the link between social competence skills and reading skills acquisition in the Kiswahili language for standard four pupils in public primary schools. This was a qualitative study, made on the population of the Kiswahili language subject teachers. The study was conducted in Babati Township Council, Manyara Region, Tanzania. It involved 17 selected public primary schools where one subject and school head teachers from each school were involved. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview guide.  The results show that the most important social competence skills for the acquisition of reading skills are communication skills, as other skills depend on the pupil’s ability to communicate his/her ideas well. The study posits that social competence skills have a positive impact on pupils’ acquisition of reading skills. The study recommends an additional curriculum that imparts pupils with social competence skills for reading and academic achievements at large.