Nigeria’s education deficits: Redefining the scope & quality assurance
Education in Nigeria has no doubt been posing its effects of reflections according to the profile of same in the Country. It is of note that though the impacts of education is largely known to have borne its positive effects on the Country, yet, the huge deficits is by all means bearing its negativities on the fabric of the Country. Deficits in education in the Country have seen the scourge of poverty with all its associated settings blowing tough on the Country.
Woes of terrorism, banditry, hooliganism, among all forms of insecurity mayhem, have largely been linked to the huge deficits in the education profile within the state of Nigeria’s demography. The impacts in cyclical formation of deformities have been known to inflict huge blow in the chain of the entire fabrics of the Country – socio-economic, cultural, and political.
It is lamentable that Nigeria’s 10.5 million out-of-school children do not portend good omen for the Country. Of Nigeria’s deficits in education profile, the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF), has said: “Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge. Gender, like geography and poverty, is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalization. States in the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school. The education deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls. Ensuring educational provision in predominantly rural areas and the impact of insurgency in the northeast present significant challenges. In north-eastern and north-western states, 29 percent and 35 percent of Muslim children, respectively, receive Qur’anic education, which does not include basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. The government considers children attending such schools to be officially out-of-school.”
The statistical and sociological analysis of lacunas posed by deficits in education is one mind-boggling subject that evokes thought when the state-of-nation discourse is put forward. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari got to blame the crises in Nigeria on ignorance and lack of proper education, saying the problem can only be addressed through the provision of proper education. Calling on universities to begin to develop curricula on self-education, Buhari, who spoke, Saturday, 26th March, 2022, at the 11th Convocation ceremony of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) held in Abuja, mentioned that a shift in focus and orientation of students was very necessary at the moment.
“Education as we all know, supports all efforts and developments in terms of social, economic, political and religious undertakings. It is common knowledge that the root cause of most of the recorded crises of nationhood we experience in Nigeria is as a result of ignorance which can only be addressed through the provision of education. This is why this Administration is committed to making education affordable to all, through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL). In this connection, the National Policy on Education (NPE) had provided for Lifelong Learning that transcends all barriers through Open and Distance Learning (ODL). This Administration has done and will continue to do a number of things to support the operations of the University by placing priority in the provision of critical human and material infrastructure through annual budgetary allocations and interventions from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). It is pleasing to note that the National Universities Commission (NUC) is about to conclude the comprehensive review of the cuprograms all programmes in our universities and placing premium on entrepreneurship. This as we all know is a driver to increase productivity and reduction in unemployment figures among our youths,” the President through his representative, the acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. David Gende, had said.
It has become significant that the redefinition of education in the Country both in principles, profile and scope must take the course of full extension with critical reformation. The situation has demanded that deliberate efforts by policy measures and orientation redefinition of the education system be fortified with macroscopic interventions to enhance the coverage of provisions, as well as the quality assurance structures to develop a well defined architecture for education in the Country. The impacts of poor profile of education in the Country, in quality and coverage, demands concerted efforts to redefine the face of education in the Country, while enhancing the quality of same which are key necessity for development in the Country.
