Enhancing Quality Basic Education for the Attainment of - Journal of ...

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3 (1): 92-98Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3(1):92-98 (ISSN:2141-6990)© Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2012 (ISSN: 2141-6990)jeteraps.scholarlinkresearch.orgEnhancing Quality Basic Education for the Attainment ofMillennium Development Goals in Nigeria:Suggested Policy InterventionsOlukolade Odekunle and Oluwakemi OkuwaNigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NJSER). NigeriaCorresponding Author: Oluwakemi Okuwa___________________________________________________________________________This paper examines the different ways of enhancing quality basic education in order to achieve millenniumdevelopment goals in Nigeria. Also the paper further examines the pertinent facts about Universal BasicEducation (UBE) as well as vision and mission of the UBE,, some key challenges facing the universal basiceducation in terms of resources such as finance, human, infrastructures, materials, time etc. in order to ensurequality basic education for the achievement of the millennium development goals in Nigeria. Therefore, somepolicies were suggested in the paper and among policies suggested are; provision of adequate funds,improvement of teachers quality and quantity, provision of adequate infrastructure, moderation of teacherslearnersratio per classroom and upward review of teachers remuneration as well as enabling environmentamong others.__________________________________________________________________________________________Keywords: education, resources, infrastructure, UBE, Nigeria__________________________________________________________________________________________INTRODUCTIONThe global debate on the place of education andtraining in social, economic, political andtechnological development cannot beoveremphasized. It has been empirically proved anduniversally acknowledged that unless the citizens of anation are well educated and appropriately trained theachievements of rapid economic and socialdevelopment of such a nation cannot be guaranteed.Education has long been seen as the bedrock ofnational development and the primary, level ofeducation is the foundation required for thisdevelopment. Therefore basic education in Nigeriarepresents the most facilitating and perhaps the mostcontroversial to the education system. It is the mostfascinating because there lies the greatest activities inthe educational system. It is also the mostcontroversial because the decision to make educationfree and compulsory at this level has led many peopleto conclude that quantity is being bought at theexpense of high standards and quality. Theeducational system at any level must therefore beimproved in order to make education capable ofplaying the part of enhancing socio-economicdevelopment, reducing inequality and encouragingeconomic competitiveness. The indicators of qualitymust now become those that can promoteadvancement of knowledge and mastery of skills aswell as prepare the learner for leading a meaningfullife in the world (Ayodeji 2004).Facts about Universal Basic Education and theMDGS in NigeriaNigeria’s commitment is the ideals of education forall (EFA) of 1990 to which she is a signatory, wasfurther reinforced by the launching of UniversalBasic Education (UBE) by the former President ofthe Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief OlusegunObasanjo in September 1999 and passed into law in2004 as one of the strategies aimed at implementingthe education components of the MDGs.. The UBEprogramme is a reform measure by the FederalGovernment aimed at rectifying the existingdistortions in the basic education subsector ofNigeria’s educational system. It is a second attemptby the Federal Government of Nigeria at providingaccess to basic education at the national level, thefirst being the Free Universal Education (UPE),which was effected in September, 1976, but could notbe sustained due to inadequate planning and faultyestimation. Its major goal is to bring about positivechanges by making programme implementationresponsive to the needs of the people and ensuringthat individual and communities become activelyinvolved in the provision of basic education.(FGN,2004)Prior to the commencement of the UBE scheme, theNigerian 6:3:3:4 educational system which means sixyears of primary, three years of junior secondary,three years of senior secondary and four years oftertiary education, the primary education was free butnot compulsory and expanded the curricular tocontain literacy and numeracy, study of science,study of social norms and values of the localcommunity through civics and social studies, study ofhealth and physical education, moral and religiouseducation, encouragement of aesthetic creative andmusical activities, the teaching of craft, domesticscience and Agriculture. To achieve the above92

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3(1):92-98 (ISSN:2141-6990)countries by 2015. The development goals, whichhave been embraced by the World Bank, have notprovided a focus for the Bank’s developmentprogrammes. The goals which are put in place toaddress specific poverty indices include thefollowing:1. Eradicate extreme poverty and Hunger.2. Achieve universal primary education.3. Promote gender equality and empowermentof women.4. Reduce child mortality.5. Improve maternal health.6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and othercommunicable diseases.7. Ensure Environmental sustainability.8. Develop a Global Partnership fordevelopment.The attainment of these goals has been a challenge todeveloping nations of the world. While overallsignificant progress has been recorded worldwide, theprogress however has not been uniform across theworld with respect to some specific goals. Thefederal government of Nigeria faces the challenge ofmeeting the MDGs and believes that the attainmentof the goals will be at stake if human and materialresources of the country remain untapped. One of thestrategies adopted by the country in her multiprongedapproach towards attaining these goals is theempowerment of people through education. Earlyinvestment in the basic education is also endorsed bythe United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) for its capacity to foster gender equality andsustained economic growth. National government anddonor organisations have concentrated investment onincreasing school participation at the primary level inthe developing countries. Most of the poorestcountries, including most Sub-Saharan African (SSA)countries are increasing their efforts (resources) toimprove access to and quality of primary education.This creates an increasing demand by parents andcommunities to let their children benefit from thenext stage in the education circle, largely ignoring theneed to simultaneously increase quality and capacityat the secondary level.Bregman and Brymen (2005) found out in their workon quality of primary education in Africa, that mostSub Saharan African countries are at different stagesof reforming their education system. Many havebegun to address access issues, reform the curriculumor develop management capacity. They were of theopinion that as government moves towardsestablishing an egalitarian rather than elitist educationsystem; they need to ask themselves and stakeholdersof education ‘what is the purpose and intent ofprimary education system in general and juniorsecondary school specifically? Pitchard (2002a)introduced the idea of using lesson quality adjustmentin the measurement of education output. According tohim, government inspector in U.K make assessmentregarding the quality of lessons, Powell and Pitchard(2002) noted that weight could be assigned to thethree rating categories for lessons such as good, verygood lessons, satisfactory lessons and unsatisfactorylessons, they concluded that if these assessmentswere used to form a lesson quality adjustment, therate of growth of volume of indicators would beraised. The children of any nation are its greatestresource. In the future, the prosperity and quality oflife of all nations will be determined by today’schildren and their ability to solve problems that facethem, their communities and their countries.Education unlocks this ability and investment inchildren’s learning is the most important contributionany nation can make to better the future of hercitizens.Thias and Carnoy (1972) carried out research workon the influence of school factors on the quality ofschool, output in Kenya. Their results show thatquality of output is equated with student examinationperformance. Thus in measuring education outputperformances of students are always considered. Thisis measured in terms of the grades obtained by thestudents in a course or group of courses (Kemmis,1994, Adeyemo 1998 and Akangbou 1985).Rahman et al (2005) assessed the effectiveness ofcommunity intervention in improving the quality ofbasic education. They found out that child friendlycommunity learning programme (SOPAN) schooleliminate some of the constraints and students’performance for both boys and girls has improvedboth in aggregate and individual subject scorescompared to that of control schools where no suchintervention exists.Teacher as the Key Quality Factor in EducationTeachers’ knowledge, an intended outcome of preservicetraining, is strongly and consistently related tostudent performance (World Bank, 1995). As aresult, teachers are the main medium through whichstudents learn, especially during the foundation years,making school the important functional locus ofefforts for improving quality requires therefore thatteachers use their professional attitudes, energy, andmotivation in combination with teaching skills increating quality learning. Teacher quality is,therefore, the most important school – related factorinfluencing student achievement (Schon, 1983 andRice, 2003)While acknowledging this fact, the UNESCOEducation for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Reportnoted:“What goes on in the classroom, and the inputof the teacher and teaching, has beenidentified in numerous studies as the crucialvariable for improving learning outcomes.The way teachers teach is of critical concern94

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3(1):92-98 (ISSN:2141-6990)in any reform designed to improve quality(UNESCO, 2004: 152).”In defining educational achievements, mostgovernments emphasize on years in school and not onknowledge and skills (World Bank, 1995). They failto recognize that school attendance is only a means ofacquiring skills and knowledge but it is not an end initself. The numbers of pupils attending school forhow many years is not as important as what theylearn. What goes on in the classroom depends on anumber of factors including teacher training andpreparedness, which are not in return influenced bythe school environment among many other factors(Riding, et al, 1995). The UNESCO reportenumerates five areas critical to teacher quality:finding the right recruits; initial teacher education; ongoing professional support; teacher earnings; andteacher deployment and conditions of service.Considering that teachers’ salaries constitute thelargest public expenditure in budgets of lessdeveloped countries, the central dilemma facingmany governments is paying them, expanding theteaching force to fulfill the demands of increasingenrolments, and devoting resources to improving thequality of teachers (UNESCO, 2004: 161). As withthe provision of education, many countries need toaddress issues of teacher quality simultaneously.Innovative ways of meeting both demands areurgently being sought; ideas include shorter preserviceteacher education, recruitment of teacherswith higher education qualifications intensified inserviceprofessional development, and increasedschool-based support (Verspoor, 2004: 6).Generally held perspectives on good teacher qualitiesinclude: sufficient knowledge of subject matter toteach with confidence; knowledge and skills in arange of appropriate and varied teachingmethodologies; knowledge of the language ofinstruction; knowledge of, sensitivity to, and interestin young learner; ability to reflect on teachingpractice and children’s responses; ability to modifyteaching/learning approaches as a result of reflection;ability to create and sustain an effective learningenvironment; understanding of the curriculum and itspurposes, particularly when reform programmes andnew paradigms of teaching and learning areintroduced; general professionalism, good moral anddedication to the goals of teaching; ability tocommunicate effectively; ability to communicateenthusiasm for learning to students; interest instudents as individuals, a sense of caring, compassionand responsibility to help them learn and becomeresponsible people, good character, ethical, andpersonal discipline; and ability to work with othersand to build good relationships within the school andcommunity (Chesterfield and Rubio, 1997; Craig etal, 1998; Fenstermather and Richardson, 2000;Fredriksson, 2004; Heneveld and Craig, 1996; leu,2004b; UNESCO, 2004) and Boyle, et al (2003)Equipped with these qualities, a good teacher issupposed to be passionate and committed to doing thebest for their students, love children in warm andcaring relationship and know how to identify,present, and explain key concepts. A well-trainedteacher will make use of variety of teaching andlearning models encourage a collaborative workingstyle with other teachers to plan, observe, and discusseach other’s work. With experience, effectiveteachers shall be involved in constant questioning of,reflecting on, and modifying their own practice(Hopkins and Stern, 1996, quoted in Nuthal, 2004:282). However, where teachers are not adequatelytrained and qualified, these expectations will be farfetched.To be effective in their work, teachers shouldbe well trained, given an enabling environment foroperationalising their skills in addition to asupportive policy framework for professional growth(Van der Berghe, (1995). There should be amechanism of encouraging undertaking continuousresearch of the teaching-learning process andcarefully monitoring the relationship between theirexpected roles and student learning. To do this, theyhave to conduct, independent, in-depth assessment ofwhat students learn; collect data on individual studentexperience and classroom activities; and makeanalyses based on the continuous connectionsbetween classroom activities, students experience andlearning processes (Nuthall, 2004; 296 – 297).Teachers in Nigeria lack appropriate training inresearch and are overwhelmed by increasingenrolments to be able to collect students’ data toenable them properly monitor their progress. Inaddition, professional growth is rare.Suggested Policy InterventionsA number of national committees and commissionshave influenced the development of policies inNigeria’s education system, which has not yielded therequired qualitative expansion. It is significant tonote that although policy documents reflect onawareness of the critical importance of quality andpositive learning out-comers, very often, thereferences have focused on deficits in quality andvery uncertain outcomes (King, 2006). Owing tofinancial and other factors, challenges of access,equity, poor implementation of policies, poorbudgetary allocation to education, manpowershortages, quality and relevance among others havecharacterised Nigeria’s educational system.( Boud,.etal, 1985)The reports of the National Committees onEducational Objectives and Policies focused mainlyon redefining the country’s educational policies andobjectives, giving consideration to national unity,economic, social and cultural aspirations of the95

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3(1):92-98 (ISSN:2141-6990)people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FederalRepublic of Nigeria 1972). It recommendedUniversal Primary Education (UPE) in September1976 throughout the whole Federation. Under thisscheme, duration in primary education throughout thewhole Federation became uniform and stood at sixyears in order to teach civic, moral and practicalskills that would physically mature the children. Thisis also aimed at reducing the level of illiteracy inNigeria as well as attaining the target of theMillennium Development goals (MDGS) by the year2015.To ensure quality basic education in order to achievemillennium development goals in Nigeria, thereforethe following among other policies should be put inplace.‣ Provision of Adequate Funds: The fundsmade available to schools in relatively smallcompared to the increase in demand foreducation. Government should realize thateducation is an investment in development butthen, a capital-intensive venture of highpriority. As such, increasing financialprovisions must be made available to the basicschools by the government at all levels.‣ Improvement of Teachers Quality andQuantity: The popular saying that “noeducational system can rise above the qualityof teachers in the system” is rather apt at thismoment in the Nigerian education system. Itis obvious that the attainment of universalprimary education component of the MDGsdepends largely on the availability of teachersin sufficient numbers and quality to performthe task. For UBE to have intended impact onthe learners, their learners must be capable ofimparting permanent literacy and numeracyand some useful communication skills to them.The government is therefore enjoined toprovide adequate and qualitative staffing ofschools.‣ Provision of Adequate InfrastructuralMaterials: For basic education system toachieve its set goals, the need to put certaineducational materials, equipment and facilitiesin place cannot be over-emphasized.Unfortunate, these facilities are in short supplyat all levels of education. In some, cases, theyare non-existence and where they are availableat all, they are in deplorable condition. Toenhance proper teaching-learning process inour basic schools facilities such as library andlaboratory must be well-equipped anddilapidated buildings must be reconstructed.Also, teaching aids must be made available toteachers to facilitate learning. The schoolenvironment should be made conducive andattractive for proper administration.Moderation of Teacher-Learners Ratio perClassroom: Due to the ever-increasing quest foreducation and its attendant increase in students’population, the number of pupils accrued to a teacherper class has unmanageably increased in mot publicschools in Nigeria. In fact, there are cases of over100 pupils heaped up in a small classroom only to betaught and controlled by just a teacher. This menacecan be traced back to non-availability of enoughclassrooms and inadequate staffing of schools. Thegovernment is therefore enjoined to moderateteacher-learners ratio to the normal 1:30 respectivelyby providing enough classroom accommodation andemploying more effective teaching force in order toenhance effective learning in our basic schools.(Ani,(1999)‣ Improvement of the Basic Education Curricula:Prior to civilization, traditional educationemphasized the skills acquisition and selfreliantattitudes that made its products useful tothemselves and the society. However, westerneducation in Nigeria has often been criticized aselitist and non-functional as majority of itsproduct have no marketable skills that would fitthem into a world of employment. Themismatch between education and employmentplanning, in which education is fast expandingand complementary employment opportunitiesare not being created has led to the productionof all-equipped graduates, majority of whom areroaming the street in search of jobs. There istherefore the dire need for government,academia, planners as well as society tocritically re-examine the basic educationcurricula with a view of making it morefunctional, skills acquisitive, self-reliant innature and politically-directed to the end thatproducts from this educational level would beable to stand on their own after graduationespecially for those that did not intend to furthertheir education beyond this level.‣ Upward Review of Teachers’ Remuneration:For effective discharge of duties, teachersshould not be treated as the underdogs of theeconomy and the socio-political system. Theirpay-package should be reviewed and incentivesshould be given to them as it is being given totheir counterparts in the industries. If this isdone, it will no small way enhance quality basiceducationThere is dire need for government and stakeholders tosee basic education as a fundamental tool to attainingnational development. Therefore more funds shouldbe directed towards this level of education in order to96

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS) 3(1):92-98 (ISSN:2141-6990)enhance its quality. If we can achieve quality basiceducation in Nigeria, then attaining the MillenniumDevelopment Goals is not far-fetched.- Quality of education can be improvedthrough developing national standards to beachieved, enforcing and monitoring thesame to ensure effective instruction inschool.- Creation of opportunities for focused andsustained staff development will enhancestudent learning.- Quality of education will improve wheregovernment and stakeholders focus onactivities that will improve student learningand performance to address local needs andcircumstances- Sensitization of all stakeholders about theimplementation of the courses andencouraging visits to schools, sharing theprogress made with teachers and studentsand giving them the support that is required.Enabling Education Inputs- A strong and effective training programme andenhanced teacher’s working conditions requirespecial considerations to attain an education ofquality.- Retraining of teachers is essential to enablethem to acquire new technologies for enhancingthe teaching and learning processes.- Attractive classroom environment attracts a lotof students and attendance and improvesschools effectiveness. Students find a richreadingenvironment attractive and as such willfind something meaningful to do at school thatwill not get them bored.- Training only the numbers of teachers require inschools is an efficient way of using scarceresources.- Systematic and continuous learning assessmentschemes are needed in all educational systemsin order to understand the dynamics of teachingand learning context.CONCLUSIONNigeria UPE and UBE Programmes have enhancedaccess to basic education. However, owing tofinancial constraints and poor budgetary allocationsand implementation, the programme has facednumber of challenges, which must be redressed so asto make it a worthwhile investment.According to Oni, (1999) and Akinwumi (2007), it isevident that the quality of the country’s PrimaryEducation is threatened. Although the policydocuments indicate government commitment toproviding quality education, the country appears to belagging behind in achieving the prospected quality ofeducation. Gaps exist in terms of the quality ofteacher training programmes, assessment procedures,setting of standards, monitoring performance,creating a favourable and enabling environment forprimary education to ensure that all the studentsreceive quality and education.It is obvious that there is more focus on access andnot on outcomes with serious implications on thecountry’s development goals.REFERENCESAni, C. I. (1999) Dimensions of Systems ofEducation in Nigeria. Enugu J. TC Publishers.Adeyemo, T, O (1998) Labour Movements andPolicy-Making in Africa CODESRIA, WorkingPaper.Akangbou 1985) ‘’Educational Planning and Policyin Nigeria.’’ Published by the University Press,Ibadan, NigeriaAkinwumi, J. F (2007) The Demand for UniversityGraduates and Employers’ Assessment of GraduatesSkills in Nigeria” Draft, Ibadan, NISER.Ayodeji, G.S. (2004) Education and Development: APaper Presented at a Training Workshop organised byManpower Development Department, NISER,Ibadan.Boud, D.et al (1985) Reflection: Turning Experienceinto learning. LondonBoyle, B et al (2003) A longitudinal study of Teacherchange: What makes Professional Developmenteffective? Manchester.Chester Field, R. and Rubio, F. E. (1997). ImpactStudy of the Best Teacher Effectiveness inGuatemala Higher Education. Washington, D.C.Craig et al, (1998) Teacher Development: Making animpact. Washington, D.CFederal Republic of Nigeria (2004) National policyon EducationFenSterMacher, G. D, and Richardson (2000). Onmaking Determinants of Quality in Teaching,National Research Council, Washington, D.C.97

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