Free Education In Nigeria Education Essay

Free Education In Nigeria Education Essay Education in Nigeria  is managed by the  Ministry of Education. And the  Local and state authorities  take charge for implementing guidelines for state and public education  and  schools  at a regional level. The education system is divided into Nursery education,  primary education,  secondary education  and  tertiary education. Nursery education begins at age of 2 for most Nigerians: students spend three years in nursery education and graduate with a school leaving certificate in other to progress to primary education. Primary education commences at the age of 4 for most Nigerians; students spend six years in primary school and graduate with a school-leaving certificate. Primary schools students are required to take a Common Entrance Examination which is supported by the government in order qualify for admission into the Federal and State Government Secondary schools, as well as private ones. Students spend six years in Secondary School that is 3 years of JSS (Junior Secondary School), and 3 years of SSS (Senior Secondary School). By Senior Secondary School Class 2 (SS2), students are taking the GCE OLevels exam, which is not mandatory, but most students take it to prepare for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, The Senior Secondary School Exam is taken in the last year of secondary school (SS3). They also have to take examinations like WEAC (West African Examination Council) and JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board) Private organizations, the State government or the Federal government manage secondary schools in Nigeria. (author, education in Nigeria) What contributions are made by the Nigerian government to promote free primary education in Nigeria? In 1948, Sidney phillipson,The Financial Secretery of the Nigerian Government appointed to review grants in -aid to education,recommended a univerasal ,free compulsory system of primary and secondary for Nigeria. Seven years later,1955,free primary education was inroduced in the Western Region, and in 1957 in the Eastern Region and in 1957 in the Eastern Region and in Lagos. However,free universal was not introduced in the Northern Region during the period under review.Infact, it was not launched until after the independence. (author, www.equip123.net) As you can see from the text sidney Phillipson constucted a plan to promote free primary education in Nigeria,This is a good because literacy improves the economy, country and improves the way of living. What steps are needed to implement the plans. The government would have to locate areas where children have little or no education The money gotten from the production of crude oil would be used to finance free primary education in Nigeria. The government is going to find teachers to teach in the schools. The government would check the education budget based on the actual needs of the educational sector. The Nigerian government would distribute free notebooks and textbooks. What challenges have been incurred during implementation of plans? One of the greatest challenges that Nigeria is going to face implementing free primary education in Nigeria is financial issues considering it is a developing country with other problems e.g. corruption, poverty and crime. In addition to finance-related issues including teacher training programs, funds for the school, there would also be different arguments about if the plans are going to be a progress. The implementation of free primary education in Nigeria would be hard because it is a matter of political convenience rather than planned education development. Lack of recourses has considered as a challenge because of the increase of children. (author, www.equip123.net) Due to rise of the terrorist group Boko Haram teachers similarly felt abandoned did not make efforts to teach which leads to strikes, they go on strikes because the is no getting enough pay and conditions for themselves? Another problem is shortage of qualified teachers, the government not being able to locate the children in numerous villages that dont go to school. Corruption among government officials, while many stats officials claimed to be spending so much money on books and supplies, teachers werent paid well, students didnt have books and they had to bring chair from home every morning because they lack proper seating. In order to ensure the implementation of free education in Nigeria these steps must be followed and considered: 1. Supervision of teachers and educational workers 2. The government should monitor the way the money is spent in order to check for fraud. 3. Adequate planning and enrollment of teachers, equipment should be acknowledged. 4. Funding should be adequate 5. Implementation of the program by all stakeholders 6. Teachers should be supervised and be paid equally. 7. Teachers should take training in order to improve their techniques 8. Anticipation of increased enrollment 9. Coordination of various levels of the free education in Nigeria program 10. The government should motivate those who have graduated by giving them small loans to start small businesses Several factors may contribute to the failure of the free primary education program in Nigeria, including 1) poor planning; 2) inadequate funding; 3) lack of qualified teachers. 4) Poor implementation; and 5) population explosion. (author, www.equip123.net) What quality of education would be provided? No situation analysis and evaluation of both the quality and extent of primary education preceded its implementation. As such, problems related to adequate funding allocation and infrastructure needs are being accommodated. Furthermore, in some countries, the amount of financing and the way it is distributed may be undercutting the quality of education that is being provided. (author, www.equip123.net) According to the text above no situation analysis of the quality of education has preceded its implementation; The Nigerian government should try to focus on the quality of education that would be provided because it is very important. Does literacy affect Nigeria Economy? Literacy is the ability to use reading and writing to widen and display ones intellectual and economic horizon well enough to be able to tackle very effectively many of the socio-economic problems confronting individuals and the country as a whole. the south Western Nigeria remains the first part of the country to have a major literacy campaign for its people ,They introduced an ambitious literacy programme in form of free and compulsory primary education before other regions began their own programme . The programme guaranteed basic literacy for people this setting the pace for literacy development in Nigeria. Thus, it can be argued that Nigerians had access to basic literacy early enough to prevent a situation where most citizens are illiterates. So, it can be well argued that the major cause of socio- economic problems, that have become endemic in the area, is not lack of basic literacy but functional literacy because most of the people can read and write. it has been realized that not only aim at just reading, writing and calculating but also helps in improving the social ,political and economic systems of given society as a whole. The aim of this study was to examine the strategies that could be used to develop functional literate citizens in the South Western part of Nigeria. (Wang, 1995) Problems of education in Nigeria Experts in the education sector has been able to identify examination malpractices with poor preparation of students for an examination, and lack of self- confidence In view to identify examination malpractices with poor of the rising costs of education (school fees, enrolment fees, cost of books and other materials)students and even their parents will not ordinarily want to be held back by any form of deficit or failure in any of the required subjects, hence will go to any length to ensure success. In some cases, some teachers at the secondary school level are involved by the way of encouraging student to contribute money (cooperation fees) in order to secure the needed assistance during such examinations because they, the teachers are left with no alternative considering the fact that they are aware of the inadequate preparation of their students as well as the lack of facilities to get them properly prepared for the exam. Interview with 50 school heads in Benin City, reveals that more than 50% of our secondary school students on annual basis choose to enroll and write their final year external examination in schools in the interior and some private schools where they are very sure of success at the end of the day (Omofonmwan) Cheating should not be supported because it brings dishonesty, lack of confidence and other problems. What type of education is offered in Ibadan The first university to be set up in Nigeria was the University of Ibadan. There are also a lot of local teach in the native language (Yoruba)There are also numerous public and private primary and secondary schools located in the city. Other noteworthy institutions in the city include the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital, also known as University College Hospital (UCH), which is the first teaching hospital in Nigeria; the internationally acclaimed International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Also the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, the Nigerian Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), and the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IART), all under the auspices of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria; and the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Before the dissolution of the Western Region, Nigeria, Ibadan and its environs were the home of the most sophisticated and liberal scientific and cultural community on the continent of Africa, as personified by the immortalized Ibadan School of historiography. In 1853, the first Europeans to settle in Ibadan, Reverend Hinderer and his wife, started Ibadans first Western schools. They built churches and schools and the first two-storey building in Ibadan, which can still be found today at Kudeti. The first pupils to attend an elementary school in Ibadan were Yejide (female) and Akinyele (male) the two children of an Ibadan high chief. (Ibadan) Another country that is supporting free primary education is Ghana Ghana has abolished all primary school fees and increased its financial support to schools. Since then more than 1.2 million more children have been able to attend school; this is the equivalent of twice the population of Frankfurt. In 2006 Ghana set aside one fifth of its total budget to spend on education. In conclusion majority of Africas population are poor, and abolishing school fees may not make sense if these children complete primary education and are unable to join secondary school because they are unable to afford fees. I think every child should be given the opportunity to attend school because through education we learn new things every day and it helps people become better and stronger every day. Education makes people brighter every day and improves the way if life. (oxfam international) Bibliography athor, n. (n.d.). oxfam international. Retrieved october 18, 2012, from www.oxfam.org: http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/issues/aid-effectiveness/aid-works/germany-ghana-education author, n. (n.d.). Retrieved october 18, 2012, from www.equip123.net: http://www.equip123.net/docs/e2-SF-PIS.pdf author, n. (n.d.). Retrieved october 18, 2012, from www.equip13.net: http://www.equip123.net/docs/e2-SF-PIS.pdf author, n. (n.d.). Retrieved october 18, 2012, from www.equip123.net: http://www.equip123.net/docs/e2-SF-PIS.pdf author, n. (n.d.). education in Nigeria. Retrieved october 18, 2012, from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Nigeria author, n. (n.d.). education in Nigeria. Retrieved october 18, 2012, from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Nigeria Ibadan. (n.d.). Retrieved october 18, 2012, from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadan Omofonmwan, L. O. (n.d.). Educational System in Nigeria Problems and Prospects. Retrieved october 18, 2012, from http://www.krepublishers.com: http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JSS/JSS-14-0-000-000-2007-Web/JSS-14-1-000-000-2007-Abst-Text/JSS-14-1-081-086-2007-541-Odia-L-O/JSS-14-1-081-086-2007-541-Odia-L-O-Tt.pdf