Political Will and Strategic Planning in Theimplementation of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria: the Obafemi Awolowo Example
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Political Will and Strategic Planning 41 JER Journal of Education and Research KUSOED March 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 41-55 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jer.v5i1.13057 Political Will and Strategic Planning in theImplementation of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria: The Obafemi Awolowo Example Akinjide Aboluwodi* Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria Abstract In Nigeria, the introduction of Universal Basic Education is meant to reduce the problem of illiteracy, ignorance and povertyto the barest level; a goal it shares with the goals of the World Conference on Education For All. It is meant to aid rapid national economic and political development. Its implementation has become a major challenge; hence its success has been marginal across the country. Among the factors identified as hindering its success are lack of political will on the part of government, absence of strategic planning, inaccurate data, politicisation of the programme and improper funding. Back in 1955, the then Prime Minister in Western Nigeria1 Obafemi Awolowo introduced a similar programme, Universal Primary Education with strong commitment and determination. The same commitment, determination and political will that helped Awolowo meet the objectives of his programme arewhat the government can apply to sustain and advance the current Universal Basic Education programme. Keywords: Universal basic education, strategic planning, political will, implementation policy, economic and political development Introduction Dabney once remarked that “universal education is not a blessing, but a bane to the cultural norms of a nation” (as cited in Simpson, 2006, p. 51). This remark was made in response to the statistics he obtained on criminal activities of some American children decades ago. In a study carried out to determine the rate of crimes in Agricultural South and Industrial North, it was discovered that the rate of criminal activities was high in North America where there was universal education compared to the South where literacy rate was minimal. Dabney was forced to conclude hastily, in spite of the fact that other factors could be responsible for such a high rate in crimes, that universal education which was obtained in the North was the cause of the crimes. This remark by Dabney may likely sound offensive to intellectuals such as Rao (2007, p. 122) who have argued that basic education * Author Email: [email protected] ISSN: 2091-0118(Print)/2091-2560(Online) Journal of Education and Research, March 2015, V©ol.2015 5, No. JER 1 42 A. Aboluwodi is not only a means of preserving culture and passing on social values but a veritable means of achieving economic and social development. At least, from the Africans’ point of view, the significance of Universal Basic Education was demonstrated by the Conference on Education For All held in Dakar, a capital city of an African country in 2000. Interestingly, Nigeria affirms the Jomtien and Dakar Declarations by its adoption of the Universal Basic Education programme in order to solve the problem of illiteracy, poverty and ignorance in the country and to achieve sustainable development. However, the implementation of the programme in Nigeria has become so contentious that it has only had a marginal success. This paper highlights the present problems of implementing the Universal Basic Educationprogramme in Nigeria and shows that determination, commitment and political will used by Awolowo as strategies for his Universal Primary Education programme in Western Nigeria (see note 1) back in 1950s could be adopted by Nigerian government in order to achieve effective implementation of its Universal Basic Education. Nature and Characteristics of Universal Basic Education The introduction of Universal Basic Education is part of the global initiatives to achieve Education For All (EFA) in 2015 and to reduce the problem of illiteracy and ignorance in Nigerian societyto the barest level. In response to the global initiatives to achieve Education For All, the Federal Government launched the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme in 1999. Prior to this, the government of General Olusegun Obasanjo had launched a Universal Primary Education in 1976 in what Labo-Popoola, Bello, and Atanda (2009) claimed to be the government’s attempt to make “universalisation of the primary education a national project.” The programme, as claimed by Aluede (2006) was abandoned mid-way. The introduction of Universal Basic Education came at a time when the world was in need of efforts to tackle the problems of illiteracy, ignorance and diseases. In the context of Nigeria, universal basic education comprises early childhood education, six years of primary education and three years of junior secondary school education. Then there is also the non-formal programme which is set to take care of those who dropped out of school. According to Obanya (2004), the target clientele (children, adolescents, youth and adults) are those whose basic learning needs can be met in order to effect positive changes in the society. Thus, it incorporates formal, non-formal and informal programmes to achieve Education For All. Basic education, in this respect, involves the provision of infrastructure, continuous and sustainable in-service training for teachers and giving prominence to skills acquisition in primary and secondary education (Tahir, 2008, p. 200). Further to this explanation, Tahir contends that in Nigeria, Universal Basic Education is designed to ensure free access to education, reduce the rate of dropout to the minimum, make education relevant to the needs of learners and make education a lifelong enterprise. In Nigeria, this notion as represented Journal of Education and Research, March 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1 Political Will and Strategic Planning 43 by Tahir is a mere paper work since its implementation has been dwarfed by Nigerian leaders’ ineptitude. According to Tahir (2008), the cardinal concerns of Universal Basic Education are deeply rooted in how to meet the basic learning needs of children, adolescents, youth and adults (p. 194). It is hoped that meeting these basic learning needs will translate to meeting the needs of the society. However, the beneficiaries of the programme are not homogenous; hence, each beneficiary is expected to achieve its basic needs through the Universal Basic Education programme. Thus, Universal Basic Education programme emphasises ‘education’ rather than schooling and this has been the view of Obanya (2004, p. 62), who says that the curriculum of Universal Basic Education goes beyond the famous ‘three Rs’. As he aptly puts it, “it is determined by the basic survival needs of the beneficiary” (p. 62). In other words, it has to do with the all-round development of the child. It is a life-long learning programme aiming at improving the literacy level of the children and adults by 2015. In Obanya’s (2004) view, the emphasis is on literacy, basic needs and continuing education, that is education in its totality. These aspects are well reflected in the objectives of UBE in Nigeria as noted below (Federal Republic of Nigeria [FRN], 2000): a. developing in the entire citizenry strong consciousness for education and a strong commitment to its rigorous promotion. b. the provision of free, universal basic education for Nigerian child of school going age. c. reducing drastically the incidence of dropout from the formal school system (through improved relevance, quality and efficiency). d. catering for young persons who, for one reason or another, have had to interrupt their schooling as well as other out of school children, adolescence, through approaches to the provision and promotion of basic education. e. ensuring the acquisition of appropriate level of literacy, numeracy, manipulative and life skills as well as the ethical moral and civic values needed for laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning. With the UBE Act of 2004, three areas are specifically designated for the programme, these are; (a) formal basic education encompassing the first 9 years of schooling (primary and junior secondary education) for all children, (b) nomadic education for school age children of pastoral and migrant fishermen, and (c) literacy and non-formal education for out-of-school children, illiterate adults, street children and disabled groups. Nigeria has the primary aim of achieving a 100 percent enrolment rate in primary school. As part of this primary objective, Nigeria’s ultimate goal in her subscription to the goals of Education For All (EFA) is also to improve the quality of life of the individuals within the society in order to achieve sustainable human development (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). However, attitudes of government officials, parents and the community Journal of Education and Research, March 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1 44 A. Aboluwodi members have made the implementation of the programme a mirage. Governments hold back fund and refuse to enforce laws that guide the implementation of the programme, parents refuse to support governments in their efforts while communities are not ready to assist governments in the area of infrastructure (Obanya, 2004, p. 16). More than a decade ago, Baikie (2000) gave startling figures to show that Nigeria was compelled by the glooming picture of the literacy rate in the country to embrace the global initiative on education in order to arrest the problem of illiteracy. According to him, Nigeria’s literacy rate is estimated at 52 % and out of a population of 21 million children of school-going age, only14.1 million children are enrolled in primary schools aroundthe nation. Completion rate in primary schools is 64% and the transition from primary to junior secondary school 43.5%. (para. 12) However, efforts at increasing literacy rate in Nigeria have been overshadowed by political manipulation. Going by the figure released by the United States Embassy in Nigeria, Nigeria’s literacy rate in 2012 is estimated at 61 per cent (United States Embassy in Nigeria, 2012). This shows the change in the literacy status of the country in a decade has not been that impressive.