review-of-the-literature-on-basic-education-in-nigeria-june-2014-3-1

Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in NigeriaDunne et al. 2013). The 2010 NEDS (NPC and RTI International 2011) claimed that <strong>the</strong> primary schoolgoingchildren interviewed who had missed school had missed on average 5.5 days <strong>of</strong> school during <strong>the</strong>previous month, which is approximately 25% <strong>of</strong> school time. This is likely to be an underestimation asparents were present when children were questioned. Attendance has also been noted to tail <strong>of</strong>f inparticular in <strong>the</strong> afternoon shift <strong>of</strong> double-shift schools (Boulton et al. 2009). Pupil attendance is clearlyan issue for fur<strong>the</strong>r investigation, especially in Kano State, where double shifts have been increased inorder to improve <strong>the</strong> PTR (Kano SMoE 2010).Although registers are supposed to be taken twice a day, at <strong>the</strong> beginning and end <strong>of</strong> school, and arechecked by school supervisors (Dunne et al. 2013), <strong>the</strong> matter is not straightforward given <strong>the</strong> highnumbers <strong>of</strong> pupils in class and frequent pupil and teacher latecoming and absenteeism. Who takes <strong>the</strong>register when <strong>the</strong> teacher is not <strong>the</strong>re? What happened if <strong>the</strong> registers have not been delivered to <strong>the</strong>school? The ESSPIN study noted that registers were <strong>of</strong>ten incomplete and at odds with observed pupilnumbers (Boulton et al. 2009). Similarly, in <strong>the</strong> Adamawa study, in <strong>the</strong> CFS evaluation and during <strong>the</strong>EGMA and EGRA assessments in Sokoto and Bauchi states, class enrolment figures were much higherthan observed class numbers (UNICEF 2009a; Dunne et al. 2013; USAID2013 b and c). As highlighted inSection 11.2.3, class attendance registers are <strong>of</strong>ten not kept.Without accurate registers <strong>of</strong> attendance, it is difficult to gauge how many ‘enrolled’ children areactually in school, how <strong>of</strong>ten and for how long. The qualitative data from Adamawa suggest that manypupils drift in and out <strong>of</strong> school in a constant ebb and flow, with a few missing months <strong>of</strong> schooling,depending on a variety <strong>of</strong> factors. However, more in-depth research needs to be carried out onattendance patterns and <strong>the</strong>ir causes, as well as in a range <strong>of</strong> national contexts. There are reports <strong>of</strong>some communities through <strong>the</strong> SBMC starting <strong>the</strong>ir own community-based data-management systemsto try and monitor attendance and/or making home visits to encourage children back into school,reportedly with some degree <strong>of</strong> success (Coinco 2012; Little and Lewis 2012; Pinnock 2012).None<strong>the</strong>less, it is not known how much school and classroom observation has been done to confirm<strong>the</strong>se reports.12.2.3 DutiesSchool duties take up a fair proportion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> school day in Nigeria, as in o<strong>the</strong>r countries in SSA (e.g. inBotswana and Ghana; Dunne et al. 2005). The Adamawa study noted a substantial amount <strong>of</strong> time wasdevoted to <strong>the</strong> daily cleaning <strong>of</strong> classrooms and sometimes litter-picking in <strong>the</strong> compound, in addition to<strong>the</strong> weekly ‘labour day’ or ‘general cleaning’ (<strong>of</strong> at least two hours), which involved o<strong>the</strong>r tasks such asfetching water or working on <strong>the</strong> school farm (Dunne et al. 2013). The SUBEB was trying to get labourday abolished in schools (ibid.). These duties were sources <strong>of</strong> complaint among some pupils, especiallywhen very time-consuming and/or given as punishments. They <strong>of</strong>ten reinforced gender inequalities andimpacted negatively on educational quality:The time spent cleaning can be disproportionate to <strong>the</strong> time spent on learning;The tasks are <strong>of</strong>ten physically demanding (e.g. weeding, fetching water or sand for construction,cleaning classrooms, working on <strong>the</strong> school farm), which undoubtedly negatively affects childrenwho may already be hungry, thirsty and/or tired; andTasks are <strong>of</strong>ten gender-specific and gender-stereotyped (girls sweep classroom floors while boysweed <strong>the</strong> compound, with <strong>the</strong> greater burden usually falling on girls, <strong>the</strong>reby perpetuatinggender inequality. Bakari (2013), however, reported more jobs being shared more evenlybetween girls and boys).The Federation <strong>of</strong> Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria in one LGEA in Kwara State reported SBMCsuccess in getting schools to reduce <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> hours that pupils spend on manual labour (Pinnock2012), although it is not known how widespread this success is.EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 138