EDUCATION'S AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT'S ROLE IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

According to Uwadia (2010), education is a process through which a person obtains the numerous physical and social capabilities required to operate in the society in which he or she is born. It is to a country what the mind is to the body, just as a sick mind has trouble coordinating and directing physiological processes. As a result, the educational system, whether official or informal, contains the single most important complex of social-control mechanisms for national growth. According to Eduwen (2009), education is the process of acquiring knowledge, which includes both teaching and learning. Nigerian formal education dates back to British colonisation. The colonial masters introduced reading, writing, and arithmetic in the pre-colonial and colonial eras, which marked the beginning of Nigeria's official education system. Previously, education was informal, i.e., knowledge was acquired through an apprenticeship system. There was a transformation from an informal to a formal education system with the arrival of British colonization. The Nigerian states created higher institutions for manpower training and development soon after the country's independence. As a result, the professionalism of Nigerians has increased (Sandra, 2008). Nigerian education has had a huge influence on the Nigerian nation over the years, as seen by the country's growth and prosperity. Civil service, political system, technological expansion, communication, industrial growth, rise in agricultural output, medicine engineering, and the exploitation of her national wealth are all on the horizon. The development of applicable skills and fundamental scientific knowledge is facilitated through vocational and technical education (Samalia, 2006). It is a structured program of courses and learning experiences that begin with job exploration, support fundamental, academic, and life skills, and enable high academic standards, leadership, career preparation, and continuing education (Career and Technical Education, 2009). Unfortunately, Nigeria does not appear to be paying enough attention to vocational and technical education. This appears to be the cause of the country's growing unemployment and poverty rates, which have exacerbated the country's insecurity issues. This is due to the fact that Nigerian adolescents and graduates from educational institutions lack the necessary skills to harness the country's abundant natural resources, according to Olaitan (2006). (Bolu, 2007). He goes on to say that unemployment causes dissatisfaction and despair, which can lead to criminality or drug usage in a vain attempt to forget the miseries and humiliation of poverty, which has exacerbated as millions of school leavers and graduates of tertiary institutions are jobless (Lola, 2007). The reason for this is that they lack the requisite vocational skills to be self-employed and perform well in today's workplace. With the use of policies and recommendations from professionals, Nigerian domestic and international relations with other countries have been effectively managed, resulting in improved leaving standards, social economy growth, political stability, infrastructure development, provision of basic amenities, social reconstruction, and so on. With the increased demand for education, there has been a constant drive for a better leaving condition and way of life, resulting in mod (Bill, 2010). Universities in freshly founded nation nations were held in high regard. In rural areas with no true academic traditions, new learning possibilities were necessary due to constraints that prohibited migration. New faculties were created from the ground up or based on earlier branch departments. The proliferation of new institutions was made simple by the tradition of strong 'autonomous faculties' and a weak university. In a similar fashion to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the university's role in society was reconfirmed: the time for 'the national university' had returned. 'The role and significance of University were typical for the roles and significances that universities have played in western civilized countries, illuminist and liberator from tutelage of others,' Rector Rugova remarked (Rugova, 2010). The argument over what constitutes an equal distribution of the expense of delivering education is a key issue in the planning and management of education in Nigeria. The provision of education, and hence its finance, is the concurrent duty of the Federal, State, and Local governments, as stated in the Nigerian Constitution. It is also widely believed that it is the responsibility of parents to educate their children, and as a result, they cannot avoid sharing in the cost of education. The question of how the financial burden should be divided has remained unsolved (Ayetola, 2005). However, the current tendency is for the government to seek a higher financial commitment from parents, as seen by certain state governments' massive hikes in tuition fees in recent years. But, according to Nwagw (2002), because the federal government receives almost 80% of the nation's total revenue, it must give more monies to support the efforts of state and local governments as well as parents; the question is how much. Education is an essential component of every country's economy. It has a key role in long-term productivity and growth at both the micro and macro levels as a large investment in human capital development (Job, 2006). This explains why the condition of education in Nigeria remains a major topic of discussion at all levels of government. As a result, diminishing educational quality at all levels has far-reaching negative consequences for a nation's moral, civic, cultural, and economic survival. At this point, it's critical to recognize that discussions about education and reforms to make it more meaningfully contribute to national development should gradually and systematically shift away from a politicized approach and toward a more analytical approach that recognizes the complexities involved in proposing genuine and workable solutions for overhauling our educational system (Naomi, 2005). In the Nigerian setting, effective funding of the three levels of government is required for the sector (i.e. education) to contribute significantly to national development. If done correctly, the Academic Staff Union of Universities will not need to take strike action because infrastructure in primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools will be improved; there will be no brain drain because research activities will be effectively carried out; examination misconduct will be eradicated or reduced; and the sector will contribute meaningfully to national development. According to Murtala (2010), something has to be done urgently in the educational sector since "illiterates" are leading Nigerians. However, the difficulty with Nigeria is that in terms of leadership, there is no difference between a well-educated president and one who is not. Regardless of the above statement, the primary focus of this research is on the role of education to national development.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Since Nigeria's independence in 1960, the education system has experienced tremendous growth and expansion. However, the education system has only seen quantitative improvements in terms of the number of institutions and students enrolled, with little education in terms of capacity to maintain standards and efficiency in the educational process and products (Okoye, 2005). This condition has been ascribed to the crisis-ridden organization, planning, and administration of the education system. Nwagwu (2007), in a paper titled "The Environment of Crises in the Nigerian Education System," drew attention to a succession of crippling crises in the system, particularly in the previous two decades, and blamed them on inadequate and incompetent system design and administration. Many issues in education have arisen as a result of educational politics. For example, due to excessive centralization of educational planning and Federal Government meddling in topics that should be handled by the states, educational funding crises, regular staff strikes, and student rioting have become nearly a permanent fixture. "If the Federal Government strives to tackle problems that should be handled locally, it will be less successful in furthering the aims and interests of national development," according to Adesina (2002). The power struggle between politicians and government officials at the federal level, whether civilian or military, is usually complicated by religious and ethnic attitudes and interests. These factors make policy development and decision-making in education extremely challenging, and they also impact how successfully a policy or program is executed, if it is adopted at all.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The major goal of this research is to look at the role of education on Nigerian national development among secondary school students, especially to:

i. Discover the elements that influence Nigerian national development.

ii. Investigate the variables affecting Nigeria's education industry.

iii. Research the influence of education on Nigeria's national growth.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. What are the elements that influence Nigerian national development?

ii. What are the variables affecting Nigeria's education industry?

iii. What is  the influence of education on Nigeria's national growth?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study may help Nigeria's education and national development efforts. Stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, policymakers, teachers, and parents would benefit from this information. The research study may potentially add to the little body of knowledge about education and its role in national development in Nigeria.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study covers  education and national development role in nigeria.

1.7       DEFINITION OF TERMS

Education is the process of receiving or imparting systematic instruction, particularly in a school or university setting.

National development is defined as "the overall influence of all citizen forces, as well as additions to the stock of physical, human, and knowledge and skill resources."

Role: A person's or thing's role in a circumstance is the function they adopt or the part they perform.

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