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An Assessment of the Implementation of Millennium Development Goal Two (Universal Primary Education) in Enugu State, Nigeria (2000-2012)

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An Assessment of the Implementation of Millennium Development Goal Two (Universal Primary Education) in Enugu State, Nigeria (2000-2012) i AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL TWO (UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION) IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA (2000-2012) BY OHOTU MARCUS .E. PG/M.Sc/11/59671 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. MAY 2013 i TITLE PAGE AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL TWO (UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION) IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA (2000-2012) By OHOTU MARCUS .E. PG/M.Sc/11/59671 BEING A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE DEGREE (M.Sc) IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAY 2013 ii APPROVAL PAGE This project work has been approved for the award of Master of Science Degree (M.Sc) in Public Administration/ in the Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. By ____________________ ____________________ Prof. (Mrs) R.C Onah Dr. Mrs S U Agu Supervisor Head of Department _______________ _______________ Date Date ____________________ ____________________ External Examiner Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences _______________ _______________ Date Date iii CERTIFICATION I certify that this research work titled an “Assessment of the Implementation of Millennium Development Goal Two (Universal Primary Education) In Enugu State, Nigeria (2000-2012)”, was carried out by Ohotu Marcus .E., under my supervision in the Department of Public Administration and Local Government, Faculty of the Social Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka. ____________________ ____________________ Prof. (Mrs) R.C Onah Dr. Mrs S U Agu Supervisor Head of Department _______________ _______________ Date Date ____________________ ____________________ External Examiner Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences _______________ _______________ Date Date iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to Almighty God, the giver of intelligence and wisdom. Also to my wife and children. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to God Almighty who has upon my unworthiness given me strength and resources to make this work a successful one. My gratitude goes to my lecturer and supervisor Prof (Mrs) R.C. Onah for her patience and understanding with me. I thank Prof. Fab Onah (HOD), Prof. F.C. Okoli (Osisi Oma), and my only brother in the department Dr. Edwin Izueke for their effort and accommodation. My special thanks go to my darling wife (Caroline) who stood by me through out the exercise. I have not forgotten the contributions of my friends and colleagues – Mr. Apeh Godwin Ejike, Mrs. Akpu Ebele, Prince Ezeodili, etc. They are source of inspiration to me. I also remember my typist, Lebechi who did a wonderful job. I also remember my lecturer and friend in the Public Administration Department ESUT, Mrs. Ify Asomba (Nee Ezenwaji) for her support and encouragement. This acknowledgement can never be completed without recognizing my father, mentor, role model and the life wire of my academic sojourn. Dr. Jude Okezie Emmanuel Udenta. I thank you immensely for your encouragement, support, advice and every thing humanly possible. Without God and you, I wouldn’t have been shouting “mission accomplished”. vi ABSTRACT The study was an assessment of the Implementation of Millennium Development Goal Two (Universal Basic Education) in Enugu State of Nigeria. The poor infrastructural facilities in the school system and high rate of school drop out in the state necessitated the study of the implementation of the UBE in Enugu State. The research was guided by three hypotheses which were drawn from the problem statements and objectives of the study. Related literatures were reviewed in the study. The data are sourced from both the primary and secondary sources available. The interview was the only source for primary data collection, the interview guide was drawn from the research objectives. The secondary data came from the literature of scholars and different agencies, such as UNO publications, gazettes and project files, etc. Content analysis method was adopted as the method of data analysis for the study. The findings indicated that the poor infrastructural facilities in the state primary and secondary schools were as a result of inadequate funding of the UBE in Enugu State. Also, government has not done enough to monitor the teachers under UBE programme effectively, etc. The study further discovered major obstacles militating against effective implementation of Universal Basic Education in Enugu state. Such as inadequate infrastructure, poor motivation, etc. Finally, some recommendations were made to ratify the problems identified. vii TABLE OF CONTENT Title Page - - - - - - - - - i Approval Page - - - - - - - - ii Certification - - - - - - - - iii Dedication - - - - - - - - - iv Acknowledgment - - - - - - - - v Abstract - - - - - - - - -- vi Table of contents - - - - - - - - vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study - - - - - 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem - - - - - 2 1.3 Objectives of the Study - - - - - - 4 1.4 Significance of the Study - - - - - - 5 1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study - - - - 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Literature Review - - - - - - 8 2.1.1 History of Education in Nigeria - - - - 10 2.1.2 Purpose of Education - - - - - - 14 2.1.3 Aims of Education - - - - - - 14 2.1.4 Universal Basic Education - - - - - 15 2.1.5 UBE and UPE Interrelation - - - - - 18 2.1.6 Provision of the Universal Basic Education Programme - 22 2.1.7 Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education - - 32 viii 2.2 Hypotheses - - - - - - - - 35 2.3 Theoretical Framework - - - - - - 36 2.4 Operationalization of Key Concepts - - - - 38 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH PROCEDURE AND STUDY AREA 3.1 Background Information on Study Area - - - 40 3.2 Research Procedure - -- - - - - 49 3.2.1 Population of the Study - - - -- - 51 3.2.2 Sample Size - - - - - - - 55 3.2.3 Sampling procedure - - - - - - 56 3.3 Reliability and Validity of Instruments - - - 56 3.4 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis - - - 57 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis -- - - - 58 4.2 Findings and Discussion - -- - - - - 65 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary - - - - - - - - 71 5.2 Recommendations - - - - - - 72 5.3 Conclusion - - - - - - - - 74 Bibliography Appendix 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The Millennium development Goals are United Nations initiative. They are eight international development goals that all the 193 United Nation member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. The goals are: (i) Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. (ii) Achieving universal primary education. (iii) Promoting gender equality and empowering women. (iv) Reducing child mortality rates. (v) Improving maternal health. (vi) Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, (vii) Ensuring environmental sustainability (viii) Developing a global partnership for development (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Each of the eight goals has specific stated targets and dates for achieving those targets. To accelerate progress the, G8 finance ministers agreed in June 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank 2 (ADB) to cancel an additional $40-55 billion debt by members of the heavily indebted poor countries (UN Report 2007). This will allow these countries to re-channel the resources saved from the forgiven debt to social programme for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty. The aim of the MDGs is to encourage development by improving socio and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. It is also aimed at providing both national and global route for the transformation of the national economy and the emancipation of the total citizenry, providing educational opportunity for all. Enugu state among other states of the federation is expected to carry out the aforementioned goals especially the achievement of universal primary education. This work assesses the implementation of the universal primary education which is the MDG goal number two as stated above, in Enugu State. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The work focused attention on the assessment of implementation of universal primary education which is the Millennium Development Goal two in Enugu State, Nigeria. 3 The earlier systems of primary education have not addressed the fundamental problems of basic primary education. There have been reported cases of parents pulling their children out from public schools with the preference of schools that are privately managed. They have come to believe that education is not practically free as a result of various fees collected from their children. It is clear that pupils may leave school for a number of reasons:- change to a more convenient school, drop out for business, poor academic performance or lack of fund. In Enugu-North L.G. Area, it has been observed that many children of school age have been seen during school hours at Ogbete main market, Old park area and road sides hawking various goods for their parents and relatives. Also in Ezeagu L.G.A, there are a number of schools that the pupils still could not express themselves in English language. These children lack in attitudinal change and behaviour caused by environment and extent of exposure to societal values and norms. This appalling basic
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