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Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in NigeriaThe proliferation <strong>of</strong> NFE centres also suggests a similar rise in interest in non-formal modes <strong>of</strong> education(Chege et al. 2008; UNICEF 2012).Fur<strong>the</strong>r evidence that demand is high lies in <strong>the</strong> fact that, according to <strong>the</strong> 2010 NEDS (NPC and RTIInternational, 2011), over 97% <strong>of</strong> parents/guardians considered schooling to be beneficial for girls andboys. Thus, it may be that parents/guardians want to send children to school in <strong>the</strong>ory but that inpractice, for one or more reasons, children are ei<strong>the</strong>r not enrolled or drop out <strong>of</strong> school. The three mainreasons for pupil non-enrolment are: distance from school, <strong>the</strong> need for children to work (paid andunpaid) and monetary costs. These last two related issues are examined below.9.3 Poverty and <strong>the</strong> need for children to workAs highlighted in Chapter 2, <strong>the</strong> need for children to work in ei<strong>the</strong>r paid or unpaid employment persistsas a major constraint to educational participation in Nigeria (FME 2005; Okpukpara and Odurukwe 2006;NPC and RTI International 2011; UBEC 2012a). This section looks in more detail at <strong>the</strong> evidence on <strong>the</strong>relationship between poverty and schooling and at <strong>the</strong> specific costs – direct and opportunity – thataffect children’s access to and persistence in school.Box 9.1 Being out <strong>of</strong> schoolMy name is Gambo Umar. I am 10 years old. We are four in my house that are not in school one <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong>m is older than me. We all want to enter school. I am saving money to enrol in school. I fetchwater for people and <strong>the</strong>y pay me to enable me to enter school. I have saved five hundred Naira s<strong>of</strong>ar. I want to buy uniform, sandals and socks to enable me to enter school. I want government toprovide uniform, sandal and socks for me so I can enter school. My mo<strong>the</strong>r will buy books for me. Butfor <strong>the</strong> head teacher, I don’t know what he will do for me, because he said if he gets money he willenrol us in school.Extract from an interview with an out-<strong>of</strong>-school boy (Dunne et al. 2013: 83)9.3.1 Direct costsCosts associated with schooling are frequently cited as a barrier to school enrolment and a cause <strong>of</strong>dropout in Nigeria. Although UBE is <strong>the</strong>oretically free for all, <strong>the</strong> reality on <strong>the</strong> ground is very different.The 2010 NEDS found that around 60% <strong>of</strong> households were still paying PTA levies while almost allhouseholds had costs associated with books and supplies (NPC and RTI International 2011). Over 90%were paying for school uniforms and o<strong>the</strong>r school materials, which Lincove’s (2009) study foundcomprised <strong>the</strong> bulk <strong>of</strong> school expenses and which o<strong>the</strong>r studies have also highlighted (e.g. Urwick 2002;Sunal et al. 2003; FME 2005; ActionAid 2011; UBEC 2012a; Dunne et al. 2013). More positively, NEDS2010 also found that household expenditure per pupil in government schools had decreased by aroundhalf since 2004. Even so, among parents/guardians whose children had never been to school monetarycosts were cited as <strong>the</strong> third most common reason given for non-enrolment (after distance to schooland <strong>the</strong> need for child labour – also a cost-related reason), affecting around a quarter <strong>of</strong> children.Moreover, cost was <strong>the</strong> most commonly cited cause <strong>of</strong> dropping out <strong>of</strong> primary school, affecting a third<strong>of</strong> dropouts nationally – boys (35.7%) more than girls (29.7%) and more in urban areas (40.4%) than inrural areas (30.9%) – irrespective <strong>of</strong> socio-economic status.In <strong>the</strong> 2004 ESA poverty was a major reason for withdrawal from school and over half <strong>the</strong> parentssampled cited financial reasons for not sending <strong>the</strong>ir children to JSS, which pupil interviews confirmed(FME 2005).Lincove’s (2009) analysis <strong>of</strong> combined NDHS 2003 and NEDS 2004 data for just under 4,000 childrenaged 6–12 resulted in <strong>the</strong> finding that only 15% <strong>of</strong> children actually get free education. The study foundEDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 101
Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeriathat, generally speaking, wealthier children are actually more likely to receive free education.Specifically, free schooling is more likely to be available to access in <strong>the</strong> relatively wealthier urban areasand sou<strong>the</strong>rn regions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country than in <strong>the</strong> poorer zones <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> North West and North East, whoseschool-age children make up 65% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> data set. Girls are slightly less likely than boys to have freeschooling (14.1% to 16%), with Muslim pupils considerably less likely to have free schooling (12.7%) thanChristian pupils (19.5%).The 2004 ESA also collected information on household spending at <strong>the</strong> ECCE, Primary and JSS levels. Atall three levels, clothing and miscellaneous costs (which included transport and lunch) were higher thanthose for learning materials and fees (FME 2005). The report highlighted <strong>the</strong> need to reduce such hiddencosts <strong>of</strong> schooling for parents.The persistence <strong>of</strong> PTA levies, as well as o<strong>the</strong>r fees (for example, for examinations, school registrationand/or o<strong>the</strong>r ad hoc payments), has been widely documented in studies and has <strong>of</strong>ten been attributedto <strong>the</strong> need for schools to make up for shortfalls in government funding (e.g. Urwick 2002; Sunal et al.2003, Flett et al. 2005, cited in Theobald et al. 2007; Antoninis 2010; Santcross et al. 2010; ActionAid2012; Dunne et al. 2013). In <strong>the</strong> recent TEGINT endline survey in six states across nor<strong>the</strong>rn Nigeria, itwas noted that although around 75% <strong>of</strong> PTA levies had remained <strong>the</strong> same as for <strong>the</strong> baseline survey afew years earlier, over 25% had increased <strong>the</strong>ir fees, citing increased running costs due to moreambitious SDPs (ActionAid 2012). In <strong>the</strong> country’s only national labour survey, inability to pay fees was<strong>the</strong> most widespread reason for dropping out given by working children who had withdrawn fromschool (FOS/ILO 2001). More recent studies have confirmed that fees continue be a major obstacle toparticipation in schooling in nor<strong>the</strong>rn Nigeria (UNICEF 2009a; ActionAid 2011, 2012; Mahdi andAsubiario-Dada, forthcoming, cited in British Council 2012; UBEC 2012a; UNICEF 2012; Dunne et al.2013).Pupils’ inability to pay school fees or levies or to provide <strong>the</strong> requisite school equipment can also resultin <strong>the</strong>ir being denied admission to school or can lead to corporal punishment by teachers, which in turnmay lead to absenteeism and dropout (Flett et al. 2005, cited in Theobald et al. 2007; ActionAid 2011;UNICEF 2012; Dunne et al. 2013; Gabrscek and Usman 2013). Pupils <strong>the</strong>mselves will <strong>of</strong>ten be absentfrom school to earn money specifically to pay for educational costs (FOS/ILO 2001; ActionAid 2011;UNICEF 2012; Dunne et al. 2013), sometimes for younger siblings (Samuels et al. 2012). The TEGINTstudy reported that some girls engaged in transactional sex in order to earn money for school (ActionAid2011). Sunal et al.’s (2003) small interview-based study <strong>of</strong> 40 teachers and 40 parents from six states inboth <strong>the</strong> north and south (including both parents with children in and not in school) noted that,although parents and teachers were in favour <strong>of</strong> schooling for all children, <strong>the</strong>y admitted that whenmoney was tight sometimes decisions had to be made about who to school.However, <strong>the</strong> relationship between poverty and enrolment in schooling is not straightforward; o<strong>the</strong>rfactors such as educational quality and potential gains from schooling come into play. Even poor familiesare prepared to pay to send children to school (Lincove 2009; Härmä 2011b), although consideration <strong>of</strong>educational quality, however it is defined, is an important factor (Sunal et al. 2003). Data from <strong>the</strong> 2010NEDS (NPC and RTI International 2011) back this up. For example, when parents/guardians were askedto identify <strong>the</strong> main consideration for primary school selection, cost was identified by only 13% <strong>of</strong>households, and by an even smaller percentage in <strong>the</strong> bottom two wealth quintiles; school proximity(53%) and school quality (30%) were more frequently cited. For choice <strong>of</strong> secondary school too, schoolcost came third again, behind school quality and school proximity, although a higher percentage <strong>of</strong>parents considered it to be <strong>the</strong> most important factor (21.1%).EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 102
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