Education
affects every individuals of a country. The general consensus has been that
there is a high positive relationship between rise in educational expansion and
economic development. The
report of Ashby commission supported this assertion and in fact favoured the
expansion of the educational sector. The old 6-5-2-4 inherited from the
colonial master was replaced by the 6-3-3-4 education system in 1977. This
means that pupils will spent six years to get primary education, six years in
secondary school (three years of junior secondary and three years of senior secondary
education) and four years of higher education.
In
Nigeria, the federal government is principally responsible for the tertiary
institutions. However, several states also fund this level of education.
Indeed, with the approval of the eight new universities, the number of the
nation’s private universities has risen to 20 and they will be funded by
private individuals. Secondary education is mainly a state responsibility
though there are some federal secondary schools. Primary education is a local government
responsibility, but there exist also a National Primary Education Commission
(NPEC) that draws up the curricula for the schools in this category. There has
also been collaboration by corporate bodies, individuals, religious
organization, international agencies, non-governmental organizational (NGOs)
and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) with the three tiers of government.
The
enrolment in primary school was 12.2million in 1980, declining thereafter to
11.5million in 1987. Since 1988, both enrolment and number of primary schools
have increased progressively to 26.3 million and 52,815 respectively, in 2003. The
student-teacher ratio in primary schools which stood at 35 in 1980 rose to 44
in 1986 declining thereafter to 36 in 1990. from there it rose to 60 in 1995
declining afterwards to 53 in 2003. When compared to the United Nations
stipulated minimum of 25 it is seen that Nigeria has not performed well.
Post-primary
enrollment was 1.0million in 1980, rose further to 3.4 million in 1984. By 1989,
enrollment has declined to 2.7 million, rising afterwards to 2.9 million in
1990. From 1990, post-primary enrollment has risen steadily, reaching 7.1
million in 2003. In the same manner, the number of schools rose from 6,001 in
1990 to 11,918 in 2003. The student-teacher ratio increased from 28 in 1980 to
38 in 1984. It rose to 40 in 1995, declined to 37 in 1996. In 2003, the ratio
fell to 38 compared to 40 recommended by the National Policy on education. This
is a noticeable improvement, which should be sustained.
The
number of universities was 13 in 1980, rose to 16 in 1981 and 28 in 1987. In
all, the number of tertiary institutions increased from 104 in 1988 to 202 in
2003. Similarly, total enrollment rose from 219,119 in 1988 to 1,274,772 million
in 2003.