In the Nigerian
context, for the sector (i.e, education) to contribute meaningfully to national
development; there should be proper funding of the three tiers of government. If
this is done in the proper way, the Academic Staff Union of Universities will
not have any need to embark on industrial actions as there will be improved
infrastructure in the primary, secondary and post-secondary schools; there will
be no more brain-drain as research activities will be effectively carried out
and examination misconduct will be eradicated or reduced and the sector will
contribute meaningfully to national development.
Samalia and Murtala (2010:254)
state that something urgent has to be done in the educational sector since
‘illiterates’ are leading Nigerians. But the problem with Nigeria is that there
is no difference between an educated president and not so enlightened ones in
terms of their leadership. Irrespective of the above observation, the main
focus of this paper remains the contributions of education to national
development.
Concept
of National Development
The concept of development has been viewed
from different angles; social, economic, political and cultural. From whatever
angle it is however viewed , it depicts
positive change and development in socio-economic and political conditions or
situations of the society. Development, according to Akintayo and Oghenekohwo
(2004), is a process of economic, social, political and cultural change
engineered in a given society by the efforts of all stakeholders both internal
and external. Osokoya (2008) sees national development as the development of a
nation’s human and material resources, and education is perhaps the only means
to prepare individuals for participation in national development. Fadeyi
(1995), in Oyitso and lomukoro(2012),views development in terms of human potentials and capabilities in the
context of relations with other social groups. He further emphasized that
development means greater understanding of social, economic and political
process, enhanced competence to analyse and solve problems of day-to-day
living, expansion of manual skills, greater
control over economic resources,
restoration of human dignity, self respect and equality.
The 2001 Human Development Reports
(HDR), in Okojie (2011), states that the most basic capabilities for human
development are to lead long healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access
to the resources needed for a decent standard of living, and to be able to
participate in the life of the community. Thus, from the HDR dimensions, gender
equality relates to differences between women and men in education and health,
labour participation, participation in political decision-making, and access to
and power over economic resources. Thus, national development is seen as a
multi-dimensional process involving
the transformation and improvement of the economic, social and political
situations.
THE
IMPLICATION IN NIGERIA EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
One of the
problems in globalization of education is still access to basic education, not
to mention the digital divide in developing countries. Sauvgeot (2000) observed
that 113 million children are still out of the school system globally.
According to global education evaluation (Pearson & Creed, 2000) new technologies
have not been able to increase significantly the access to quality education.
The potential of information and communication Technology (ICT) in widening
access to education has not been fully utilized. Access to computers is still
seen as the major problem in most countries. It is quite ironic that it is
considered as a problem also in rich countries like Finland, France, Norway and
Belgium, where the actual student computer ratio is less than 10 (Kosebolabon
2005). This being the case, how many of our young children have or will have
access to computers even in a hundred years to come?
It is also
observed that teachers consider their skills insufficient regardless of the
actual level of training. This may be as a result of the individualistic
approach in teacher education and development, which has concentrated on the
skills of teachers not on the dynamics of change in schools and education as a
system.
In a discussion
on “Globalization, democracy and corruption” at the University of Colorado, Denver
Health Sciences Centre (2002), it was observed that globalization is seen to
undermine cultural diversity, deconstructing societal values, destroying group
identity and destroying social cohesion. It is also viewed as a standardizing
and a commercializing force that stifles diversity and dissent and spreads western
culture. These views, it is supposed, may create barriers to the growth of
globalization especially in a developing country like ours where people tend to
hold firmly to their beliefs and cultures.
The notion of
universal education, in which all young persons in a society receive several
years of competent schooling is still a distant dream in many corners of the
globe (Kosebalabon, 2005). Nigeria, of course is not left out. As a result of
wonderful opportunities abroad (good employment opportunities, better paid
jobs, welfare and comfort), the issue of how to stymie “bran drain”, whereby
students who study abroad do not return to their native lands, or even those
who studied locally drift to other
countries, is
always under constant debate. These students retain little or no academic
connection to their home countries. These problems need to be addressed if the
third world nations, including Nigeria will join the world in its globalization
efforts.
EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEMS IN NIGERIA
Education
is an investment that pays off any time anywhere. And in a world of crumbling
economies and turbulent times, where investors spend sleepless nights trying to
figure out how their stocks are doing, investing in education becomes even more
paramount. By investing in education, governments, corporations, communities,
NGOs and individuals can help prepare the youths for the challenges ahead. If
children are really the leaders of tomorrow, then it is time we started
investing in them!
Education in Nigeria is based on a 6-3-3-4 system, which involves
three levels of institutional learning processes:
- at the primary school level
- at the secondary school level
- and at the tertiary level
Actually, nursury education forms the first stage of the learning
process in Nigeria. Unfortunately, a lot of families still can’t afford to send
their todlers to nursery schools. Since the 6-3-3-4 system of education does
not include education at this stage, this write-up will concentrate on the
three levels mentioned above.
In
Nigeria, children start attending primary
schools (elementary schools) when they are 6 years old and spend the next six
years there, graduating at the age of 12. However, most children who attended
nursery schools prior to primary schools have an edge over those children who
didn't have the privilege to do so. Therefore, they usually finish earlier. At
graduation, primary school pupils are awarded the First School Leaving Certificate
(FSLC), which, in combination with the common entrance examination, fulfils
the formal requirements for secondary school education.
Primary
education in Nigeria is compulsory, but
free under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme introduced by
President Olusegun Obansanjo on September 30, 1999. However, it may be an
exaggeration to speak of free primary education here because in reality
parents still have to pay school levies imposed on pupils, buy school uniforms
and so on. Admittedly, education at this level is mainly financed by the
government. But after the primary school education, parents and guardians are
made to bear the full costs of sending their children/wards to secondary
schools or tertiary institutions.
At
primary school level, pupils have to put on school
uniforms throughout the country. Every school has its own uniform as a way of
distinguishing its pupils from the other school pupils within the same
locality. Some primary schools, expecially those ones in big cities, require
their pupils to wear sandals as part of their outfits.
Starting
from 1998, those wishing to teach at primary school level are required to
possess a National Certificate in Education (NCE), which is awarded by
Colleges of Education. Due to lack of teachers, however, holders of the Teacher's
Grade 2 Certificates (TC 2) are still allowed to teach in some remote
primary schools.
Secondary School Education
Successful
pupils at the primary school level -
those in possession of FSLC and who have passed the entrance examination
to secondary schools, the Common Entrance Examination, can then proceed
with the secondary school education, usually at the age of twelve. Secondary
School Education, which used to last for five years, now takes 6 years to
complete. The language of instructions at this level of education is English.
Like primary and nursury schools pupils, secondary school students have to wear
school uniforms. But while at the nursery and primary school levels, pupils,
irrespective of their sex, attend mixed schools, boys and girls at the
secondary school level are often sent to separate schools (boys' schools or
girls' schools). However, mixed secondary schools are no longer a rare sight in
Nigeria today.
The first phase of the secondary education, which lasts for three
years, is provided at the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). At the end of
these three years, students sit for Junior Secondary School Examination
(JSSE) and the successful ones are awarded the Junior Secondary School
Certificate (JSSC). A successful completion of the JSS is a
prerequisite for the second phase - the Senior Secondary School (SSS),
which also lasts for three years. At the end of this period, students obtain
the Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSSC) after writing and passing
the final examination, which is the Senior Secondary School Examination.
The SSSC is equivalent to the former West African School Certificate
(WASC). As is the case at the primary school level, brilliant students who
wish to skip a class may be allowed to do so after due consultations with their
parents/guardians and their respective school authorities.
At the
secondary school level, there are
also the technical secondary schools and commercial secondary schools which
also offer courses lasting up to six years. Both academic and specia- lised
subjects are taught here. There is also the vocational education offered at
technical colleges. Students who want to acquire specialised skills at the end
of their studies may choose to attend the technical/commercial schools. Mostly
due to financial contraints, however, a lot of poor children are forced to
pursue their education at private business centres and commercial schools,
which offer low quality education and are far from being government
approved.
On the other
hand, there are some private schools
which can boast of well-qualified teachers and therefore provide qualitative,
but expensive education. And of course, there are also the most sought Government
Colleges, Federal Colleges and the Uni- sity Secondary Schools,
which are the crème de la crème in terms of secondary school education. But to
obtain admission into these schools, students must not only come from
well-to-do families, their parents/guardians must also have high and powerful
connections. The quality of education here is by far higher than what is
obtainable in normal secondary schools. In fact, it is a privilege to attend
such schools! All animals are equal, but ...
Irrespective of which secondary schools they attended, all
students who wish to study at a university level must have at least 5 credits
(in not more than two exams) out of the subjects they entered for in the SSS
exam(s) or West African General Certificate of Education - Ordinary Levels
(GCE O/levels). These subjects must be relevant to the courses they want to
study and should include credits in English language (especially in
Humanities), Mathematics (especially if one wishes to study a science course)
and a science subject. In addition, they have to pass the Universities
Matriculation Examination (UME), which is conducted by the Joint Admission
and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
However, due to limited number of admissions - the so-called numerus
clausus - some applicants who did well in the UME are not offered admissions:
their scores are said to be below the cut-off mark set by their
prospective departments. The UME includes a compulsory paper for all the
candidates - the almighty Use Of English, and three other subjects which
are relevant to their proposed courses. All these subjects have to be passed
with acceptable results. Although each of the 36 states in Nigeria, including
the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, now has at least one institution of higher
learning, tertiary education has continued to elude many secondary school
leavers.
Institutions
of higher education, or the tertiary institutions
provide the last stage of formal education, which takes a minimum of 4 years,
completing the 6-3-3-4 educational system mentioned earlier in this
article. Professional courses, however, last longer; Medicine and Dentistry,
for instance, last for 6 years. Institutions offering higher education include
universities (both Federal and State universities), polytechnics (both Federal
and State poly- technics), universities of technology (owned either by the
Federal or State governments), universities of agriculture and numerous
colleges of education.
Provided that the candidates have fulfilled the formal entrance
requirements mentioned above, and depending on whether or not their
parents/guardians can afford to sponsor them, they can continue their education
at a tertiary level. Direct entry candidates for degree programmes spend three
instead of the usual four years for first degree courses in Arts, Social
Sciences and Pure Sciences. There are three stages of education at the
univeristy level:
- First Degree Programme
- Master's Degree Programme
- Doctorate Degree Programme
The
first degree programme leads to
the award of a Bachelor's Degree, which can be a Single Honour or Combined
Honours. Students who graduate from the faculty of Humanities are awarded B.A.
(Single or Combined Honours) while graduates in science courses are awarded
B.Sc. The Master's degree programme takes one or two years after the first
degree while the PhD Programme lasts for two or three years after the Master's
Degree. Thereafter, Master's respectively Doctorate degrees are conferred on
successful students.
Polytechnics and some other institutions of higher education provide
education in two phases of two years each. After the first two-year full-time
programme, successful candidates are awarded the Ordinary National Diplomas
(OND). With these diplomas in their pockets, students can now proceed to
the second stage, which leads to the award of the Higher National Diploma
(HND). Apart from a successful completion of the OND-programme, students
are also required to do at least one year industrial attachment before being
admitted to the HND-programme.
Colleges
of Education award the Nigerian Certificate
of Education (NCE) at the end of a 3-year programme. Most NCE-holders seek
admission into univeristies with a veiw to obtaining bachelor's degrees in
education, the BEd, which could increase their chances of teaching at
the senior secondary schools or becoming headmistresses/headmasters at primary
schools. The higer institutions of education also run sandwich courses to
enable the working population further their education or obtain the
qualifications necessary for their present jobs.
GIUDIANCE AND COUNCELLOR IN NIGERIA EDUCATION
The importance of guidance and
counseling programme in secondary schools, include bringing to the students an
increased understanding of the educational, vocational and social information
needed to make wise choices. In our society there are many influencing forces
responsible for the gradual recognition of formal guidance to young people in
various educational levels. This review paper focuses on the role of ICT on
guidance and counseling in secondary schools. Counseling is a form of
education, which the students receive from their counselors. The essence of
incorporating guidance and counseling into the school system was to eliminate
overwhelming ignorance of many young people on their choices of career
prospects and personality maladjustment among school children. The role of ICT
in guidance can be seen in three ways: as a tool, as an alternative, or as an
agent of change. The growth of websites and help lines as forms of technically
mediated service delivery means that the potential of ICT as a change agent is
now greater than ever before. The telephone, websites and e-mail, alongside
face-to-face facilities, could be alternative services; or they could be
portals into a wide, flexible and well-harmonized network of services. The
paper recommends that principals should make provision for guidance and
counseling on the school time table. Most importantly secondary school ICT
adoption should be encouraged by the ministry of education.
The essence of incorporating guidance
and counseling into the school system was to eliminate overwhelming ignorance
of many young people on their choices of career prospects and personality
maladjustment among school children. Based on these and more, career officers
and counselors were appointed to take the responsibilities in sensitizing
students on the needs for effective career choice. Following the tremendous
benefits of the first recipients of guidance and counseling in 1959, a group of
untrained counselors were inaugurated in 1967 by the Reverend Sisters from St
Theresa’s College Oke-Ado who were the first pioneers of this body. Although
these were untrained counselors but their efforts brought remarkable
development in guidance and counseling in Nigeria. With more emphasis placed on
guidance and counseling as far back as 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1967 respectively,
the peak of getting aware of counseling profession in Nigeria was on 11th of
November, 1976 following the formal launching of the body of counselors known
as Counseling Association of Nigeria (CAN), with Professor Olu Makinde as the
first President. In 1977, the association became affiliated to the American
Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) with Professor Ibrahim I. Kolo from
Ahmadu Bello University as the current president.
ADVANTAGES AND
DIS AVANTAGES OF G & C IN NIGERIA EDUCATION
IMPORTNACE OF G
& C IN NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
The importance of guidance and
counseling programme include bringing to the students an increased
understanding of the educational, vocational and social information needed to
make wise choices. Prior to 1937 very little
attention was given by the government and education to formal guidance of young
people in educational settings. Due to the rapid development the country is
undergoing, it calls for technological advancement hence guidance and
counseling needs to be adopted to the changes faced by the new system of
education (6-3-3-4) system which is a two tier secondary schools system of six
years duration and it is divided into two stages of Junior and Senior secondary
each being a three (3) years duration. The Federal Ministry of Education
initiated the establishment of guidance and counseling in all secondary schools
as a result of the apparent prospects and in view of personality mal-adjustment
among the school children.
JOURNEY SO FAR
IN NIGERIA EDUCATION SYSTEMS
Historical
Perspective:
There
were three fundamentally distinct education systems in Nigeria in 1990: the
indigenous system, Quranic schools, and formal European-style education
institutions. In the rural areas where the majority lived, children learned the
skills of farming and other work, as well as the duties of adulthood, from
participation in the community. This process was often supplemented by
age-based schools in which groups of young boys were instructed in community
responsibilities by mature men.
Apprentice systems were widespread
throughout all occupations; the trainee provided service to the teacher over a
period of years and eventually struck out on his own. Truck driving, building
trades, and all indigenous crafts and services from leather work to medicine
were passed down in families and acquired through apprenticeship training as
well. In 1990 this indigenous system included more than 50 percent of the
school-age population and operated almost entirely in the private sector; there
was virtually no regulation by the government unless training included the need
for a license. By the 1970s, education experts were asking how the system could
be integrated into the more formal schooling of the young, but the question
remained unresolved by 1990.
Islamic
education was part of religious duty. Children learned up to one or two
chapters of the Quran by rote from a local mallam, or religious teacher, before
they were five or six years old. Religious learning included the Arabic
alphabet and the ability to read and copy texts in the language, along with
those texts required for daily prayers. Any Islamic community provided such
instruction in a mallam's house, under a tree on a thoroughfare, or in a local
mosque. This primary level was the most widespread. A smaller number of those
young Muslims who wished, or who came from wealthier or more educated homes,
went on to examine the meanings of the Arabic texts. Later, grammar, syntax,
arithmetic, algebra, logic, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and theology were added;
these subjects required specialist teachers at the advanced level. After this
level, students traditionally went on to one of the famous Islamic centers of
learning.
For
the vast majority, Muslim education was delivered informally under the tutelage
of mallams or ulama, scholars who specialized in religious learning and
teaching. Throughout the colonial period, a series of formal Muslim schools
were set up and run on European lines. These schools were established in almost
all major Nigerian cities but were notable in Kano, where Islamic brotherhoods
developed an impressive number of schools. They catered to the children of the
devout and the well-to-do who wished to have their children educated in the new
and necessary European learning, but within a firmly religious context. Such
schools were influential as a form of local private school that retained the
predominance of religious values within a modernized school system. Because the
government took over all private and parochial schools in the mid-1970s and
only allowed such schools to exist again independently in 1990, data are
lacking concerning numbers of students enrolled.
Western-style education
came to Nigeria with themissionaries
in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the first mission school was founded in
1843 by Methodists, it was the Anglican Church Missionary Society that pushed
forward in the early 1850s to found a chain of missions and schools, followed
quickly in the late 1850s by the Roman Catholics. In 1887 in what is now
southern Nigeria, an education department was founded that began setting
curricula requirements and administered grants to the mission societies. By
1914, when north and south were united into one colony, there were fifty-nine
government and ninety-one mission primary schools in the south; all eleven
secondary schools, except for King's College in Lagos, were run by the
missions. The missions got a foothold in the middle belt; a mission school for
the sons of chiefs was opened in Zaria in 1907 but lasted only two years. In
1909 Hans Vischer, an ex-Anglican missionary, was asked to organize the
education system of the Protectorate Northern Nigeria. Schools were set up and
grants given to missions in the middle belt. In 1914 there were 1,100 primary
school pupils in the north, compared with 35,700 in the south; the north had no
secondary schools, compared with eleven in the south. By the 1920s, the
pressure for school places in the south led to increased numbers of independent
schools financed by local efforts and to the sending of favorite sons overseas
for more advanced training.
The
education system focused strongly on examinations. In 1916 Frederick Lugard,
first governor of the unified colony, set up a school inspectorate. Discipline,
buildings, and adequacy of teaching staff were to be inspected, but the most
points given to a school's performance went to the numbers and rankings of its
examination results. This stress on examinations was still used in 1990 to
judge educational results and to obtain qualifications for jobs in government
and the private sector.
Progress
in education was slow but steady throughout the colonial era until the end of
World War II. By 1950 the country had developed a three-tiered system of
primary, secondary, and higher education based on the British model of wide
participation at the bottom, sorting into academic and vocational training at
the secondary level, and higher education for a small elite destined for
leadership. On the eve of independence in the late 1950s, Nigeria had gone
through a decade of exceptional educational growth leading to a movement for
universal primary education in the Western Region. In the north, primary school
enrollments went from 66,000 in 1947 to 206,000 in 1957, in the west (mostly
Yoruba areas) from 240,000 to 983,000 in the same period, and in the east from
320,000 to 1,209,000. Secondary level enrollments went from 10,000 for the
country as a whole in 1947 to 36,000 in 1957; 90 percent of these, however,
were in the south.
Given
the central importance of formal education, it soon became "the largest social
programme of all governments of the federation," absorbing as much as 40
percent of the budgets of some state governments. Thus, by 1984-85 more than 13
million pupils attended almost 35,000 public primary schools. At the secondary
level, approximately 3.7 million students were attending 6,500 schools (these
numbers probably included enrollment in private schools), and about 125,000
postsecondary level students were attending 35 colleges and universities. The
pressure on the system remained intense in 1990, so much so that one education
researcher predicted 800,000 higher level students by the end of the 1990s,
with a correlated growth in numbers and size of all education institutions to
match this estimate.
Universal
primary education became official policy for the federation in the 1970s. The
goal has not been reached despite pressure throughout the 1980s to do so. In
percentage terms, accomplishments have been impressive. Given an approximate
population of 49.3 million in 1957 with 23 percent in the primary school
age-group (ages five to fourteen), the country had 21 percent of its school-age
population attending in the period just prior to independence, after what was
probably a tripling of the age-group in the preceding decade. By 1985 with an estimated
population of 23 million between ages five and fourteen, approximately 47
percent of the age-group attended school. Although growth slowed and actually
decreased in some rural areas in the late 1980s, it was projected that by the
early part of the next century universal primary education would be achieved.
Secondary
and postsecondary level growth was much more dramatic. The secondary level
age-group (ages fifteen to twenty- four) represented approximately 16 percent
of the entire population in 1985. Secondary level education was available for
approximately 0.5 percent of the age-group in 1957, and for 22 percent of the
age-group in 1985. In the early 1960s, there were approximately 4,000 students
at six institutions (Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, the
University of Nigeria at Nsukka, and the Institute of Technology at Benin),
rising to 19,000 by 1971 and to 30,000 by 1975. In 1990 there were thirty-five
polytechnic institutes, military colleges, and state and federal universities,
plus colleges of education and of agriculture; they had an estimated enrollment
of 150,000 to 200,000, representing less than 1 percent of the twenty-one to
twenty-nine-year-old age-group.
Such
growth was impossible without incurring a host of problems, several of which
were so severe as to endanger the entire system of education. As long as the
country was growing apace in terms of jobs for the educated minority through
investment in expanded government agencies and services and the private sector,
the growing numbers of graduates could be absorbed. But the criterion of
examination results as the primary sorting device for access to schools and
universities led to widespread corruption and cheating among faculty and
students at all levels, but especially secondary and postsecondary. Most
Nigerian universities had followed the British higher education system of
"final examinations" as the basis for granting degrees, but by 1990
many were shifting to the United States system of course credits. Economic hardship
among teaching staffs produced increased engagement in nonacademic moonlighting
activities. Added to these difficulties were such factors as the lack of books
and materials, no incentive for research and writing, the use of outdated notes
and materials, and the deficiency of replacement laboratory equipment. One
researcher noted that in the 1980s Nigeria had the lowest number of indigenous
engineers per capita of any Third World country. Unfortunately, nothing was
done to rectify the situation. The teaching of English, which was the language
of instruction beyond primary school, had reached such poor levels that
university faculty complained they could not understand the written work of
their students. By 1990 the crisis in education was such that it was predicted
that by the end of the decade, there would be insufficient personnel to run
essential services of the country. It was hoped that the publication of
critical works and international attention to this crisis might reverse the
situation before Nigeria lost an entire generation or more of its skilled labor
force.
The national
policy on education commonly know as the 6-3-3-4 system of education has been
operational in the country for same time now. The secondary education competent
of the scheme comprises two levels- junior and senior secondary education, each
with three years duration.
An important
objective at the junior level is that graduates can either proceed to the
senior levels or move into paid on self employment, moving into employment
means that graduates of that level should have acquired a reasonable level of
functional, vocational and productive skills.
From the review of
literature it appears that this objective is far from being met because of
several implementation problems and constraints. Amongst these are scarcity of
teachers and other personnel, in some key areas as science, technology and guidance
and counseling, the situation is similar with facilities, total and equipment
which are very vital for the teaching and learning of relevant skills.
Despite the
short-comings, the 6-3-3-4 scheme is potentially useful. Thus, the problem is
more of that of policy implementation than of policy formulation. The situation
calls for the need for adequate structures to be put in place before starting
any major policy reform. It is against this background that this study was
embarked upon.
Summary of findings
The finding of the
study can be summarized as follows:
1. Although the
available technical teachers in secondary schools are sufficiently qualified
the number of such teacher is grossly inadequate to provide meaningful skills
to JSS students.
2. There is
general agreement amongst secondary school teachers that continuous assessment
is an important aspect of junior secondary education.
3. Most teachers
fed that not only do teachers not have sufficient skills for conducting
continuous assessment but also that the exercise is generally not reliable and
effective.
4. There is also
general agreement amongst secondary school teachers that guidancy and
counseling services are an important aspect of JSS.
5. Guidance and
counseling staff in schools were not only found to be generally incompetent,
but the counseling exercise was also said to be ineffective.
6. Although many
schools have functional introductory technology workshops, the tools and
equipment in them were inadequate, while the workshops themselves were under-utilized.
7. There was a
general consensus that graduates of junior secondary schools do not possess
sufficient functional vocational skill to enter.