Towards Addressing the Challenges of Quality Education and Educational Inequalities in Nigeria
Akintola Ismaila Akinbode & Adam Adesina Muhammed-Lawal
1*Solace Human Resources Development Institute. Email akintolaakinbode5@gmail.com
2Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts. University of Ilesa (UNILESA). Email: adam_adesina@unilesa.edu.ng
Abstract
Education is pivotal for national, social, as well as cultural development and is a vital catalyst for individual growth, thus, every citizen need to have access to it. For education provision to achieve the purported goals, quality teaching and learning must be provided in schools. Nigeria's education sector however faces dual major challenges: inequality of educational opportunities and poor-quality education. The former is connected to the lingering problem facing the country such as insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, poverty, social inequality, secession ideology which continuously shaken the country’s cohesion and existence. The latter increases the rate of unemployment, social unrest, brain drain and retards economic growth and development. Addressing these challenges will help the nation to navigate through the present ordeal and cumulate into collective development. Thus, the study adopted a qualitative approach, focusing on the analysis and synthesis of existing literature to explore the causes of both inequality of educational opportunity and poor quality education in the country. The study utilized various data sources, including academic journals and articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, government reports and policies, non-governmental organization (NGO) reports and online databases and repositories. The identified causes involved all stakeholders including the government, community, parents, school leaders and teachers, educational agents and students as well. The paper explored encompassing strategies in solving the problem.
Keywords
Education inequality, quality education, public private partnership, teacher training, community engagement, SDG
Reference
Bello, I. & Oluwadare, S. (2013). Issues on gender enrolment in the sciences in Nigerian school system: The perspective of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 116–121.
British Council. (2012). Gender Equality in Nigeria Report. British Council.
British Council (2014). Girls’ education in Nigeria: Issues, Influencers and actions. British Council.
Chen, B., Tabassum, H. & Saeed, M. A. (2019). International Muslim Students: Challenges and Practical Suggestions to Accommodate Their Needs on Campus. Journal of International Students, 9(4) (2019), 933-953. ISSN: 2162-3104 (Print), 2166 3750 (Online) Doi: 10.32674/jis.v9i3.753ojed org/jis
Egenti, M. N. & Omoruyi, F. E. (2011) Challenges of Women Participation in Continuing Higher Education Programme: Implications for Adult Women Counselling and Education. Edo Journal of Counselling, 4(1& 2), 130-143
Ghazali, N. N. M. (2016). A Reliability and Validity of an Instrument to Evaluate the School-Based Assessment System: A Pilot Study. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 5(2), 148-157. ISSN: 2252-8822
ILO Ability Asia (2004). Women with Disabilities: Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training, ILO.
Iro-Idoro, B. C., Aluko, O. O. & Ayodele, K. O. (2014). Challenges faced by adult female students in some faculties: The Nigerian experience. International Journal of Current Business and Social Sciences, 1 (2), 31-37.
Jama, A & Barre, G. S. (2019). Understanding the barriers to girls´ and women´s access to higher education in Puntland, Somalia: A video and blogging project. Advancing learning and Innovation on Gender Norms. Somali Institute for Development Research and Analysis.
James, E. (2014). Investigation into the causes for decreasing enrolments in secondary schools in Niger State. Journal of Higher Education in Nigeria, 4 (1), 18–32.
Kubai, E. (2019). Reliability and validity of research instruments. Zambia: UNICAF University- Zambia.
Lasodea, A. O., & Awotedua, F. (2013). Challenges faced by married university undergraduate female students in Ogun State, Nigeria. International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology (ICEEPSY 2013). ELsevier Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 112(2014), 102 – 113.
Moser, C. A. & Kalton, G. (1989). Survey methods in social investigation. Aldershot, Gower.
Muthoni, N. I (2007). An analysis of factors influencing low enrolment and retention of girls with disabilities in Integrated Primary Schools, Embu County, Kenya. A Master Thesis: Department of Special Needs Education, School of Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Mvendag, T. L., Ifeanyichikwu, A. J. & Apine, N. (2014). Problems & challenges of girl child education in Nigeria: The situation in Kalgo Local Government Area, Kebbi State. Journal of Research and Method in Education. 4 (4), 1-05. Retrieved on 4th July, 2017. From http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jrme/papers/Vol-4%20Issue-4/Version-4/A04440105.pdf
Nasir, S., & Al-Amin, J. (2010). Creating Identity- Safe Space on College Campuses for Muslim Students. The Magazine of Higher Learning, 38(2), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.3200/CHNG.38.2.22-27
National Population Commission Nigeria (NPC) (2009). Nigerian demographic and health survey 2008. Abuja: National Population Commission Nigeria and ICF Macro.
Noori, A. Q., & Orfan, S. N. (2021) The challenges of undergraduate married female students in higher education: A case study of Takhar University. Journal of World Englishes and Educational Practices (JWEEP), 3(6), 9-18. ISSN: 2707-7586 DOI: 10.32996/jweep
Ogunode, N, J., Ahmed, L., & Muhammad, Y. (2021). Perception of female students on the challenges facing the woman education at the university level. Electronic Research Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 4(2021), 24-36. http://erjbehaviouralsciences.com/
Okoje, C. E. (2001). The conception and practical interpretation of each stakeholder’s role in promoting girls’ education in Nigeria: A paper presented at a workshop on the promotion of girls’ access, retention and completion of education 24th-27th, April.
Oluwatayo, J. (2012). Validity and reliability issues in educational research. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 2, 391-400.
Oluyemi, J. A. & Yinusa, M. A. (2016). Girl-child education in Nigeria: Issues and implications on national development. Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research. vol. 28 (1), 44-60. Retrieved on 4th July, 2017. From http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/123456789/1199
Research Advisors’ (2006). Sample size table. https://www.research- advisors.com/tools/SampleSize.htm
Silas, I. I., Shagari, O. D. & Innocent, O. E. (2018). Causes and remedies for female students’ low enrolment in science subjects in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State-Nigeria. International Journal of Recent Research in Physics and Chemical Sciences (IJRRPCS), 5(1)63-73. www.paperpublications.org
Taherdoost, H. (2016). Validity and reliability of the research instrument; How to test the validation of a questionnaire/survey in a research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 5(3), 28-36. www.elvedit.com
United Nations Education Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) (2014). Education for all: Global monitoring report: Teaching and learning for all. UNESCO.
Wasagu, M. A. (2007): Female education in science, technology and mathematics and sustainable development in the new millennium. Proceedings of the 50th Anniversary Conference of Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria.