Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T12:54:45.525Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perceptions of Unequal Access to Primary and Secondary Education: Findings from Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Cynthia Szymanski Sunal ,
Dennis W. Sunal ,
Ruqayyatu Rufai ,
Ahmed Inuwa  and
Mary E. Haas
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Nigerian parents and teachers were interviewed with the purpose of understanding how ordinary citizens view the unequal participation in education in Nigeria. Several areas of concern were identified in relation to participation in schooling such as its financial cost to families, the perceived limited value of education in adulthood, and the low quality of instruction. The interviewees acknowledged the continuing unequal participation of some groups and gave some reasons for their exclusion, though they did not seek to justify it. Specific policy suggestions are made for increasing participation in schooling by all children and for improving the quality of schooling.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Nous avons interrogé des parents et des enseignants nigériens afin de comprendre comment les citoyens ordinaires considèrent la participation inégale à la scolarité au Nigeria. Plusieurs domaines d'inquiétude relatifs à la participation à la scolarité ont été identifiés, tels que le coût financier pour les families, la valeur limitée de l'éducation perçue dans la vie adulte, ainsi que la faible qualité de l'instruction. Les personnes interrogées ont reconnu la participation inégale constante de certains groupes, et ont donné des raisons pour leur exclusion, bien qu'elles n'aient pas cherché à la justifier. Des suggestions de politique spécifique sont faites, destinées à accroître la participation de tous les enfants à la scolarité et à améliorer la qualité de l'éducation.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , April 2003 , pp. 93 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adaralegbe, Adamu. 1982. “Secondary Education in Nigeria.” In Nigerian Education: Trends and Issues. Lagos: Board Publications.Google Scholar
Adesina, Segun. 1982. Planning and Educational Development in Nigeria. Lagos: Board Publications.Google Scholar
Aga Khan Foundation. 1997. Western Kenya: Evaluation Report. Geneva: Aga Khan Foundation.Google Scholar
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1998. Blueprints for Reform. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bashir, Daura. 1985. “Problems and Prospects of Science Secondary Schools in Gongola State.” Kano, Nigeria: Bayero University.Google Scholar
Casapo, Margaret. 1983. “Universal Primary Education in Nigeria: Its Problems and Implications.” African Studies Review 26 (1): 91–106.Google Scholar
Chapman, David, Mahlck, Lars O., and Smulders, Anna E. M., eds. 1997. From Action to Planning: Government Initiatives for Improving School-Level Practice. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Comer, John. 1988. “Effective Schools: Why They Rarely Exist for At-Risk Elementary-School and Adolescent Students.” In School Success for Students at Risk, edited by Comer, J., 72–88. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Farouk, Mohammed. 1994. “Social Studies Teacher Education in Nigeria: Implications.” In Teacher Education in the Caribbean and Africa: Points of Contact (Monograph no. 2), edited by Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, 43–62. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group: Research Focus on Education in the Caribbean and Africa.Google Scholar
Farouk, Mohammed. 1998. “Citizenship Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Defining a Nation.” In Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary Issues and Future Concerns, edited by Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, 167–88. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Freeman, Anita A. 2001. “Parent Involvement in Alabama's Public Schools.” Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama.Google Scholar
Hawthorne, Rebecca. 1992. Curriculum in the Making. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Henevald, Ward, and Craig, Helen. 1995. “A Framework for Using Qualitative Research to Inform Policy-Makers and Empower Practitioners: Lessons from Madagascar.” Paper presented at the biannual meeting of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Involvement in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, 01 3–6. ERIC Document Reproduction Service no. ED 381–867.Google Scholar
Honig, Benson. 1998. “Education for the Informal Sector.” In Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary Issues and Future Concerns, edited by Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, 71–94. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Lassibille, G., and Gomez, M.. 1990. “Forecasts of Primary-Education Expenditure in Developing Countries in the Year 2000.” Prospects 20 (04).Google Scholar
Lockheed, Marianne, and Verspoor, Adrianne. 1991. Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mohammed, Hamid. 1984. “Attitudes of Rural People Towards Women's Education in Kano State with Particular Reference to Birnin Kudu LG.” Kano, Nigeria: Bayero University Press.Google Scholar
Nigeria Ministry of Education. 1996. National Education Statistics. Abuja: Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Nyirenda, Stanley. 1995. “From Ministry of Education and Culture to Ministry of Dedication and Torture: A Top-Down Approach to the Implementation of Secondary School Improvement Policy in Malawi.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Ozigi, Albert, and Ocho, Lawrence. 1981. Education in Northern Nigeria. Winchester, Mass.: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Osa, Osayimwense. 1998. “Using Indigenous Literatures in Sub-Saharan African Schools.” In Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary Issues and Future Concerns, edited by Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, 189–222. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, et al. 1989. “Status of Primary Education in Nigeria following the Initiation Period of Universal Primary Education.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education 41: 30–39.Google Scholar
Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, Sunal, Dennis, and Osayimwense, Osa. 1994. “Nigerian Primary School Teachers' Perceptions of Schooling during the Second Decade of Universal Primary Education.” African Studies Review 37 (3): 51–76.Google Scholar
Sunal, Dennis, Haas, Mary E., and Ruquayattu, Rufai. 1998. “Issues for Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary Issues and Future Concerns, edited by Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski, 37–70. New York: Garland.Google Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 1994. Education for All: Status and Trends, 1994. Paris: EFA Forum Secretariat.Google Scholar
Urwick, John. 1983. “Politics and Professionalism in Nigerian Education Planning.” Comparative Education Review 27 (10): 323–41.Google Scholar
Wilson, David. 1978. “Universal Primary Education, Nigeria: An Appraisal of Plan Implementation.” Canadian and International Education 7 (12): 28–52.Google Scholar