NIGERIA EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT | EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN NIGERIA



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.
Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - MARTINS LIBRARY

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE