Neglecting the public and focusing on the private: "The situation of education in Nigeria"

Abstract

This research looks into the problem of public education funding in Nigeria. Immediately after independence, great strides were made in the area of mass education. The government’s efforts towards education recorded huge successes across the country. This period witnessed the establishment of great number of educational institutions, to complement what the country inherited from the pre - independent (colonial) administration. The major universities within the country today were established during that period, which introduced academic programmes that were relevant in preparing the foundation for growth and development of a newly independent nation. The attention towards education lasted for a period of time, before reversal of fortunes setin. The downturn could be traced firstly to the civil war that engulfed the newly independent nation just seven years after self rule, which created distrust among the various ethnic groups. The incursion of the military into government could be another reason for the neglect of the public educational institutions. The military at that moment was preoccupied with keeping the country together, rather than focusing on the provision of education and other social services. The lack of proper attention towards the education sector cuts across the different levels - from primary to tertiary. These two factors coupled with the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) led to the collapse of the education sector of the country. With the collapse of public schools, the need for private schools became necessary and agitation for the approval of private schools started in earnest. Selection process into private schools are centered firstly on financial ability before other factors like academic ability are considered (a common practice in most parts of the globe), because they are first and foremost commercial ventures. With the level of poverty in Nigeria astronomically high, approximately 80% of the population relied on public schools for their educational needs as a result of the subsidized cost. The trend seems to have changed greatly, with a near total collapse of standard in public schools as a 3 result of government neglect over time. While at the same time, the private educational institutions have continued to spring up at every nooks and crannies in the country. This thesis is going look into how the above scenario is going to affect the achievement of the MDG goal 2, and also how the deterioration of public education in Nigeria is going to affect the quality of life of the majority of the populace that depends on it for their intellectual needs.