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Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeria7.3 For-pr<strong>of</strong>it private schoolsAccording to <strong>the</strong> 2010 NEDS, around a quarter <strong>of</strong> primary school pupils attend private schools, includingboth secular and religious private schools (see Table 7.1). This is considerably higher in urban areas(44%) than rural areas (17%) and in <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn states (NPC and RTI International 2011). Thepercentage <strong>of</strong> children attending private schools is also increasing, up from 20% in 2004 (ibid.). This isparticularly true for Nigeria’s major cities. Most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> evidence on private schooling in this section isbased on research carried out in Lagos State.Lagos State has a particularly high number <strong>of</strong> low-fee private schools – around 10,000 primary schoolsmeasured by <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial 2011/12 Lagos School Census, compared with just 1,000 public primary schools(Lagos SMoE 2012). This may be an underestimation <strong>of</strong> private schools if small, unregistered schools arenot counted. The census counts 54% <strong>of</strong> primary students as attending private school while an earlierESSPIN study (Härmä 2011a) on Lagos State found closer to 60% attending private schools, and an evenearlier 2003 school census estimated this number as being up to 75% <strong>of</strong> children attending privateschools, including unregistered schools (Tooley et al. 2005).Table 7.1Distribution <strong>of</strong> primary school pupils by school type% at public schools % at private schools TotalGenderFemale 72.7 27.3 100Male 75.6 24.4 100ResidenceUrban 56.4 43.6 100Rural 83.1 16.9 100RegionNorth West 90.8 9.2 100North East 91.3 8.7 100North Central 73.2 26.8 100South West 55.6 44.4 100South South 69.6 30.4 100South East 61.5 38.5 100TOTAL 74.3 25.7 100Source: 2010 NEDS (NPC and RTI International 2011)7.3.1 Why do parents choose private schools?The main reason for choosing private over public schooling is that parents/guardians perceive privateschools to be better quality (Urwick and Aliyu 2003; Tooley and Dixon 2005; Adebayo 2009; Härmä 2011aand 2013; NPC and RTI International 2011) and have become disenchanted with <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> schoolingon <strong>of</strong>fer in <strong>the</strong> public sector (FME 2005; Härmä 2013).Certainly, low-fee private schooling <strong>of</strong>fers several advantages over public schooling, including: a greatercombined provision <strong>of</strong> pre-primary with primary schooling (Urwick 2002; Tooley et al. 2005); generallylower PTRs; and greater teacher accountability to parents (Tooley et al. 2005; Härmä 2011a, 2013),although <strong>the</strong> percentage <strong>of</strong> qualified teachers is likely to be lower (FME 2005; Härmä 2011a). An additionaldraw <strong>of</strong> private education is that it <strong>of</strong>ten <strong>of</strong>fers English as <strong>the</strong> MOI throughout primary school (thusEDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 71
Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeriaignoring <strong>the</strong> ‘mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue’ policy for years 1 to 3) (Onuka and Arowojulu 2008; Salami 2008), with <strong>the</strong>social advantages that that is perceived to bring.7.3.2 QualityA survey <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> parents <strong>of</strong> children in private secondary schools by Adebayo (2009) explores <strong>the</strong> reasonsfor <strong>the</strong>se parents’ choices, finding that parents perceived private schools to provide better qualityeducation because <strong>of</strong> better motivated teachers and better facilities.In an examination <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> factors that determine parents’/guardians’ patronage <strong>of</strong> private primaryschools in Ogun State, Abeokuta et al. (2009) found <strong>the</strong> following considerations to be most important:teachers’ perceived dedication to work; <strong>the</strong> high level <strong>of</strong> discipline among teachers and pupils; <strong>the</strong> earlyopportunity to train a child; good physical facilities; and teaching and use <strong>of</strong> English as <strong>the</strong> MOI. Cost didnot deter parents from enrolling <strong>the</strong>ir wards or children once <strong>the</strong> above factors were present.Tooley and Dixon’s (2005) survey in Lagos State found that teachers spend more time teaching in privateschools, and that <strong>the</strong> schools <strong>of</strong>fered comparable or better infrastructure. Their survey also foundsubstantially better pupil test scores at both unregistered and registered private schools.The ESSPIN study (Härmä 2011a), also in Lagos State, likewise explored <strong>the</strong> reasons behind parentchoice, concluding that, although government schools are cheaper, parents perceived governmentschool teachers to be lacking in motivation, to deliver poor learning outcomes, and to be unresponsiveto parents and children as customers. Interestingly, proprietors or head teachers <strong>of</strong> private schools in<strong>the</strong> study expressed very little concern about <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> teaching (Härmä 2011b).The 2011/12 Lagos ASC shows that class sizes are substantially larger in public than in private schools(Lagos SMoE 2012).Larbi et al. (2004) found that <strong>the</strong> private schools visited in Lagos and Enugu were less affected byteacher absenteeism due to moonlighting and strikes, and un-unionised unqualified teachers arecheaper and easier to fire for poor performance. Even so, <strong>the</strong>y concluded that <strong>the</strong>re was very littleevidence on <strong>the</strong> actual quality <strong>of</strong> teaching and learning, which, even if better than public schools, ‘maynot be good enough’ (Larbi et al. 2004). This view is endorsed by parents/guardians in Härmä’s Lagosstudy in which 95% <strong>of</strong> parents thought private schools needed to improve despite <strong>the</strong>ir greaterpropensity to choose private schooling (Härmä 2013).More classroom-based research still needs to be done to evaluate <strong>the</strong> actual quality <strong>of</strong> teaching andlearning across <strong>the</strong> range <strong>of</strong> private schools.The midline survey carried out in Kano, Lagos, and Nasarawa for <strong>the</strong> USAID COMPASS project (Keating2007) found that private schools were much more likely to have basic infrastructure and furniture thanpublic schools, although fewer than 10% <strong>of</strong> both public and private schools had any basic instructionalmaterials. The argument that private schools generally have better infrastructure is backed up morebroadly with results from <strong>the</strong> 2010 NEDS. Parents/guardians were questioned on whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>yperceived primary schools to have big, small or no problems with school buildings and facilities,classroom overcrowding, and pupil safety. Parents/guardians <strong>of</strong> children who went to private schoolwere four to five times less likely to consider <strong>the</strong>se issues serious than parents/guardians <strong>of</strong> children inpublic schools (NPC and RTI International, 2011). Within <strong>the</strong> private sector, <strong>the</strong>re is said to be an overlapin quality between <strong>the</strong> ‘lower end’ <strong>of</strong> approved schools and unapproved schools in <strong>the</strong>se studies (Larbiet al. 2004; Tooley et al. 2005).In terms <strong>of</strong> actual learning outcomes, <strong>the</strong> 2001 UBEC MLA study found that private primary schools hadbetter scores than government primary schools in both Ma<strong>the</strong>matics (40% in private vs. 34% in public)and English (48% in private vs. 38% in public) (FME 2010). The same was true at JSS level in <strong>the</strong> 2003EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 72
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