EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NIGERIA
WHAT IS EDUCATION: Education
is an investment that pays off any time anywhere. And in a world of crumbling
economies and turbulent times, where investors spend sleepless nights trying to
figure out how their stocks are doing, investing in education becomes even more
paramount. By investing in education, governments, corporations, communities,
NGOs and individuals can help prepare the youths for the challenges ahead. If
children are really the leaders of tomorrow, then it is time we started
investing in them!
Regrettably,
Illiteracy has come to stay in many developing countries of the world,
including Nigeria, and has continued to pose a threat to many such nations. On
this Web site, you will learn more about education in Nigeria and the future of
those pupils who are not opportuned to further their education after leaving
primary school.
Educational System In Nigeria
Education
in Nigeria is based on a 6-3-3-4 system, which involves three levels of
institutional learning processes:
at the primary school level
at the secondary school level
and at the tertiary level
Actually,
nursury education forms the first stage of the learning process in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, a lot of families still can’t afford to send their todlers to
nursery schools. Since the 6-3-3-4 system of education does not include
education at this stage, this write-up will concentrate on the three levels
mentioned above.
PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION
In
Nigeria, children start attending primary schools (elementary schools) when
they are 6 years old and spend the next six years there, graduating at the age
of 12. However, most children who attended nursery schools prior to primary
schools have an edge over those children who didn't have the privilege to do
so. Therefore, they usually finish earlier. At graduation, primary school
pupils are awarded the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC), which, in
combination with the common entrance examination, fulfils the formal
requirements for secondary school education.
Primary
education in Nigeria is compulsory, but
free under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme introduced by
President Olusegun Obansanjo on September 30, 1999. However, it may be an
exaggeration to speak of free primary education here because in reality parents
still have to pay school levies imposed on pupils, buy school uniforms and so
on. Admittedly, education at this level is mainly financed by the government.
But after the primary school education, parents and guardians are made to bear
the full costs of sending their children/wards to secondary schools or tertiary
institutions.
At
primary school level, pupils have to put on school uniforms throughout the
country. Every school has its own uniform as a way of distinguishing its pupils
from the other school pupils within the same locality. Some primary schools,
expecially those ones in big cities, require their pupils to wear sandals as
part of their outfits.
Starting
from 1998, those wishing to teach at primary school level are required to
possess a National Certificate in Education (NCE), which is awarded by Colleges
of Education. Due to lack of teachers, however, holders of the Teacher's Grade
2 Certificates (TC 2) are still allowed to teach in some remote primary
schools.
Secondary School Education
Successful
pupils at the primary school level - those in possession of FSLC and who have
passed the entrance examination to secondary schools, the Common Entrance
Examination, can then proceed with the secondary school education, usually at
the age of twelve. Secondary School Education, which used to last for five
years, now takes 6 years to complete. The language of instructions at this
level of education is English. Like primary and nursury schools pupils,
secondary school students have to wear school uniforms. But while at the
nursery and primary school levels, pupils, irrespective of their sex, attend
mixed schools, boys and girls at the secondary school level are often sent to
separate schools (boys' schools or girls' schools). However, mixed secondary
schools are no longer a rare sight in Nigeria today.
The
first phase of the secondary education, which lasts for three years, is
provided at the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS). At the end of these three
years, students sit for Junior Secondary School Examination (JSSE) and the
successful ones are awarded the Junior Secondary School Certificate (JSSC). A
successful completion of the JSS is a prerequisite for the second phase - the
Senior Secondary School (SSS), which also lasts for three years. At the end of
this period, students obtain the Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSSC)
after writing and passing the final examination, which is the Senior Secondary
School Examination. The SSSC is equivalent to the former West African School
Certificate (WASC). As is the case at the primary school level, brilliant
students who wish to skip a class may be allowed to do so after due
consultations with their parents/guardians and their respective school
authorities.
At
the secondary school level, there are also the technical secondary schools and
commercial secondary schools which also offer courses lasting up to six years.
Both academic and specia- lised subjects are taught here. There is also the
vocational education offered at technical colleges. Students who want to
acquire specialised skills at the end of their studies may choose to attend the
technical/commercial schools. Mostly due to financial contraints, however, a
lot of poor children are forced to pursue their education at private business
centres and commercial schools, which offer low quality education and are far
from being government approved. On the other hand, there are some private
schools which can boast of well-qualified teachers and therefore provide
qualitative, but expensive education. And of course, there are also the most
sought Government Colleges, Federal Colleges and the Uni- sity Secondary
Schools, which are the crème de la crème in terms of secondary school
education. But to obtain admission into these schools, students must not only
come from well-to-do families, their parents/guardians must also have high and
powerful connections. The quality of education here is by far higher than what
is obtainable in normal secondary schools. In fact, it is a privilege to attend
such schools! All animals are equal, but Irrespective of which secondary
schools they attended, all students who wish to study at a university level
must have at least 5 credits (in not more than two exams) out of the subjects
they entered for in the SSS exam(s) or West African General Certificate of
Education - Ordinary Levels (GCE O/levels). These subjects must be relevant to
the courses they want to study and should include credits in English language
(especially in Humanities), Mathematics (especially if one wishes to study a
science course) and a science subject. In addition, they have to pass the
Universities Matriculation Examination (UME), which is conducted by the Joint
Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
However,
due to limited number of admissions - the so-called numerus clausus - some
applicants who did well in the UME are not offered admissions: their scores are
said to be below the cut-off mark set by their prospective departments. The UME
includes a compulsory paper for all the candidates - the almighty Use Of
English, and three other subjects which are relevant to their proposed courses.
All these subjects have to be passed with acceptable results. Although each of
the 36 states in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, now
has at least one institution of higher learning, tertiary education has
continued to elude many secondary school leavers.
Tertiary Education
Institutions
of higher education, or the tertiary institutions provide the last stage of
formal education, which takes a minimum of 4 years, completing the 6-3-3-4
educational system mentioned earlier in this article. Professional courses,
however, last longer; Medicine and Dentistry, for instance, last for 6 years.
Institutions offering higher education include universities (both Federal and
State universities), polytechnics (both Federal and State poly- technics),
universities of technology (owned either by the Federal or State governments),
universities of agriculture and numerous colleges of education.
Provided
that the candidates have fulfilled the formal entrance requirements mentioned
above, and depending on whether or not their parents/guardians can afford to
sponsor them, they can continue their education at a tertiary level. Direct
entry candidates for degree programmes spend three instead of the usual four
years for first degree courses in Arts, Social Sciences and Pure Sciences.
There are three stages of education at the univeristy level:
First Degree Programme
Master's Degree Programme
Doctorate Degree Programme
The
first degree programme leads to the award of a Bachelor's Degree, which can be
a Single Honour or Combined Honours. Students who graduate from the faculty of
Humanities are awarded B.A. (Single or Combined Honours) while graduates in
science courses are awarded B.Sc. The Master's degree programme takes one or
two years after the first degree while the PhD Programme lasts for two or three
years after the Master's Degree. Thereafter, Master's respectively Doctorate
degrees are conferred on successful students.
Polytechnics
and some other institutions of higher education provide education in two phases
of two years each. After the first two-year full-time programme, successful
candidates are awarded the Ordinary National Diplomas (OND). With these
diplomas in their pockets, students can now proceed to the second stage, which
leads to the award of the Higher National Diploma (HND). Apart from a
successful completion of the OND-programme, students are also required to do at
least one year industrial attachment before being admitted to the
HND-programme.
Colleges
of Education award the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) at the end of a
3-year programme. Most NCE-holders seek admission into univeristies with a veiw
to obtaining bachelor's degrees in education, the BEd, which could increase
their chances of teaching at the senior secondary schools or becoming
headmistresses/headmasters at primary schools. The higer institutions of
education also run sandwich courses to enable the working population further their
education or obtain the qualifications necessary for their present jobs.
Life
After Primary School Education
It
has become a well-known phenomenom that young university graduates in Nigeria
don't always find life easy, especially when it comes to securing jobs. But
having acquired a university education, they are better equipped to take their
destiny in their own hands. But what happens to those poor children who have
zero opportunity of going beyond primary school level? This section focuses on
the ordeals such kids are made to go through after leaving primary schools.
As
has been pointed out before, the educational system in Nigeria today allows
only a compulsory primary school education of six years for all children under
the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. With the introduction of the
Universal Free Primary Education (UPE) in 1976, the afore-mentioned UBE and the
State Primary Education Board (SPEB) in each state to liaise with the UBE, the
Nigerian government has continued to demonstrate its interest in reviving the
primary school education in the country. However, while some people laud
government's efforts to the skies, others, especially the critics, are still
very sceptical about these educational programmes and their set objectives.
Well,
be that as it may, the fact still remains that after the primary school
education, sending children to secondary schools, and later to institutions of
higher learning, becomes the sole responsibility of parents and relatives. For
children from poor families and poverty-stricken villages, their hopes and
aspirations to attain a reasonable academic standard in life are often dashed.
Having thus been forced to abandon the idea of going to school, some of them
take to street hawking and other menial jobs while the more desperate ones
among them resort to stealing and other misdemeanours as a means to an end.
Catering for themselves and their families early in life becomes a way of life.
In
most cases, this untold hardship leads to frustration and helplessness, and
having no one to turn to, these poor creatures, may end up committing felonies,
thus exposing themselves to more dangers. Such Juvenile delinquencies, which
are now becoming very rampant in Nigeria due to hopelessness, pose a serious
threat to the entire society.
Children
with bleak future abound in many Nigerian villages. Better Future Foundation
Amodu was set up to help create a better tomorrow, through education, for the
poor children from Amodu. BFFA relies on your donations to give these children
a better future.