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IMPACT OF
FREE EDUCATION POLICY ON PUBLIC JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
The study
was carried out to examine the Impact of free education on public junior
secondary schools in education district IV. The purpose of the study was to
investigate how tuition fee payment, provision of textbooks, adequate qualified
teachers influence the quality of education. Three research questions and three
hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study. Relevant literature were
reviewed in line with the variable of the study. The research design adopted in
the study was descriptive survey research design. A 20 item Likert type
structured questionnaire was used for data collection. A sample of 210 teachers
were used in the study. Data obtained were analyzed using chi-square
statistics. The Findings of the study shows that: there was a significant
influence of payment of tuition on quality of education in public junior
secondary schools (X2cal16.67>X2crit9.49), there was a significant influence
of provision of textbooks on quality of education in public junior secondary
schools (X2cal28.35>X2crit9. 49). There was a significant influence of
recruitment of qualified teachers on quality of education
(X2ca124.52>X2crit9.49). It was
recommended among other arrangements should be made to adequately cater for the
large number of pupils that enroll in the scheme so as to avoid having
over-crowded classrooms, and that efforts should be made to pay teachers'
salary as at when due so as to avoid disenchantment among the teachers.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The concept
of the universal basic education may not be a new idea totally. From all
indications, the Universal Basic Education can be regarded as an offshoot of
the Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme, which was launched in the country
in 1976, As usual with Nigeria, the scheme was abandoned mid-way (Aluede,
2006). The fact that the Scheme i.e UPE had something to offer perhaps led to
the re-introduction of the programme in another name and concept known as
Universal Basic Education in 1999.
Free
education policy is a document of agreement in accordance to the removal of
every constraint to sound and quality education .Free education means the
establishment of various kind of schools and expansion of school curriculum to
help each child develop according to his or her ability, age, interest and so
on. It means the establishment and provision of library facilities, technical
and vocational equipment, recruitment and retention of qualified and adequate
manpower. It means tuition free, free feeding, free books, free accommodation,
free transportation, free uniform and other personal uses of the learner. Free
education also means the removal of every socio-cultural impediments to the child’s
education. The sum total of all these, makes education free. The partial
implementation of the above can never qualify the system as free because the
presence of any one of the above constitutes constraint to the child’s ‘access
to free education.
The Universal
Basic Education (UBE) is a policy reform measures of the Federal Government of
Nigeria, aimed at rectifying distortions in the basic education. UBE is
conceived to embrace formal education up to age 15, as well as adult and
non-formal education including education of the marginalized groups within the
Nigerian society.
The National
Policy on Education, 2004 section 3 defines basic education as a type of
education comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior
secondary school. The policy stipulates that education shall be free and
compulsory. This scheme shall include adults, and non -formal educational
programmes at primary and junior secondary school levels for both adults and
out-of school youths. The UBE has three main components-Universal, Basic, and
Education. Universal here means the programme is for everyone irrespective of
tribe, culture or race and class. (Aluede, 2006; EddyAkpan 2009).The term basic
depicts that which is a fundamental or essential thing that must be given or
had. It is also on this factor that every other thing rests on. Without it,
nothing may be achieved. It is the root of acquisition of any knowledge (Eddy
and Akpan, 2009) Hence, UBE can be seen as that type of education that every
individual must have. It should not be a privilege but a right and it should be
the sum total of an individual’s experience.
The policy
also placed education on concurrent legislative list between the federal,
state, and local governments. Consequently, one of the registered political
parties in the country then (i.e Unity Party of Nigeria) inaugurated “free
education at all levels policy“ as one of its cardinal objectives. The states
under the control of the party (Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Bendel and Ogun) implemented
the policy at the primary and secondary levels but could not do so at the
tertiary due to its heavy cost implication and inadequate fund. The situation
however led to the provision of free tuition, textbooks, equipment, automatic
promotion from primary to secondary schools, as well as abolition of all forms
of levies in secondary schools. Even though the free education policy suffered
from inadequate funding, there was significant upsurge in the number and
enrollment in primary and secondary schools as a result of its implementation.
The
situation thus placed the affected States ahead of others in terms of education
development in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the growth in the number and enrollment
of schools without corresponding provision of adequate infrastructure,,
facilities and teachers , led to adecline in the standard of education. The lopsidedness in the
implementation of Free Education Policy in the’ LOOBO States’, necessitated its
suspension in 1983 by the military government.
The quality
of education takes into account their determinants (especially if the ambition
is to improve quality), i.e the various means
such as the provision of
teachers, buildings, equipment, curriculum, textbooks, and the
teaching-learning process, e.t.c, so therefore, the general concept of quality
of education is composed of three interrelated
dimensions ; the quality of human
and material resources available
for teaching (inputs), the quality of teaching practices (process) and
the quality of the results (output and outcomes).This action was based on the
argument that ‘Free Education Policy’ was unrealistic and cosmetic and that its
continue implementation will not give room for provision of quality education while the financial implication will be too heavy for Government to bear. Between 1983 and 1999 when military
government was in power, the issue of free education took a back seat among
government’s policies priorities. During this period, various levies were
introduced to generate funds for the sustenance of education. With the assumption of power by another
civilian government in 1999, another era of free education emerged in the
South-west zone, which was coordinated by Alliance for Democracy (one of the
registered political parties in the country) in control of the States.
This
inadequacy in terms of population data has also affected the provision of
instructional materials such as textbooks, laboratory equipment’s, audio-visual
materials, etc which in themselves constitutes another major challenge to
successful implementation of the UBE programme. Many of the schools do not have
this materials and were available, they are inadequate and outdated.
United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization {UNESCO, 2004; Oni,
2000; Dare et al, 2008;). The overall problem regarding general inadequacy of infrastructure, teaching materials and
amenities in the Nigerian educational system is well captured by Ezekwesilli
when she said; the physical infrastructure is below standard and gross
insufficient…….the basic amenities such as water and light are seriously
lacking (Ogunjimi et al..2009).
Another
challenge of the UBE scheme is the drop-out rate in primary schools considering
the aims and objectives of the scheme, which is the education for all school
age children. The demographic and health survey (DHS) conducted in 2003
revealed the only 60.1% of all the
children of primary school age were
attending primary school at the time of the survey. In particular, boys had a
higher Net Attendance Rate (NAR) of 63.7% as against that of the female which
was 56%. Similarly, discrepancy is also noticeable in the children’s attendance
rate in school of the urban areas and the rural areas. In the urban areas, the
NAR was 69.5%, while in the rural areas, it was 55.7%in other to show the drop-
out rate, it was revealed by Ogunjimi et al (2009) that out of the 42.1 million
children below 14 years of age, only 25.8 million representing 61.2% of the
total population was in school. At the secondary school level, only 30% of the
population that should be in school was in school in Nigeria. Primary school
net enrollment/ attendance between 2000 and 2007 was 63%. The drop-out rate for
the girl-child was 44% while that of the boys in secondary school was 39.3%.
(Olanrewaju and Folorunso; 2009).
Universal
Basic Education (UBE) programme, is to
provide free basic education for children, having observed anomalies in its
provision in the past, at present, in many States in Nigeria, partial free
education is implemented just like the case of the South-west; zone.
This is in
the area of payment of Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), Junior
School Certificate Examination (JSCE) fees and the development levy. The
Universal Basic Education programme has as one of its implementation
strategies, the provision of free meals for pupils at the primary level.
Nigeria as a nation has not practiced ‘free education ‘since the history of
Western education started in 1842. Rather, at one time or the other, programmes
have been introduced which abolished the payment of school fees, in part or in
full at one particular level or the other. The removal of school fees or other
related levies does not make education free because there are still other
constraints in the child’s access to education. Some of such constraints have
already been addressed. When obstacles to acquiring quality and standard
education are removed, granting access to every child to receive education
according to age, gender, interest, ability then we say that there is free
education. Tuition-free education, but not free education. Free education does
not operate in part but in full
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The essence
of free education policy is to reduce the burden of parents spending on
education, since it is regarded to as instrument per excellence to effective
national development. In accordance to this notion, the government has tried as
much as possible to cater for the funding and needs of students to acquire
knowledge and sharpen their intellectual capabilities.
The
government ensures to cater for students under the criteria of this policy in
terms of tuition- free, payments of external fees and provision of textbooks.
It should be noted that this is not favorable enough to enhance quality of
education. That is, it provides unequal opportunities to all students in the
country, which means not all students were enrolled in schools based on this
policy.
The general
out-cry in the falling standard of basic education and a sharp depreciation in
the morals of primary school children brought about the introduction of the UBE
. The UBE challenged with the problems facing basic education in Nigeria before its introduction include;
Dearth of facilities, inadequate
supervision, shortage of personnel, lack of funds, high prices of
textbooks, incoherent implementation of the curriculum and drop-out rate.Denga
(2000).
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The general
purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of free education policy on
the quality of education. Specifically, the study sought:
1. To determine how tuition-free policy
influence the quality of education in some selected public junior secondary
schools in Education District IV of Lagos State.
2. To investigate the extent at which
provision of textbooks influence the quality of education.
3. To determine the extent at which
recruitment of qualified teachers influence the quality of education.
1.4 Research Questions
This study
provided answers to the following questions;
1. What is the impact of payment of tuition
on the quality of education in public junior secondary schools?
2. What influence does provision of
textbooks have on the quality of education in public junior secondary school?
3. How does recruitment of qualified
teachers influenced the quality of education in public junior secondary school.
1.5 Research Hypothesis
1. There is no significant influence of
tuition fee payment on the quality of education in public junior secondary
schools.
2. Provision of textbooks has no significant
influence on the quality of education in public junior secondary schools.
3. Recruitment of qualified teachers has no
significant influence on the quality of education in public junior secondary
schools.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study is
beneficial to students, teachers, educational administrators and planners,
parents and to the society at large. To students, it enables them to remain
focused in the acquisition of knowledge through free education policy provision
in order to build their self-esteem, instill confidence in them to be able to
compete with their counterparts. To the teachers, it enables them to improve in
their teaching pedagogy with the use of instructional resources in accordance
with the free education policy objectives. It will also help the educational
planners to give feed back to the government concerning the loopholes in the
educational system. To the parent, the study is beneficial to them because it
lessen their burden of tuition fees and provision of necessary student’s needs.
To the society at large, the output of the education system will be able to
promote national development through quality education.
1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study
The study
covers free education policy and quality of education which involves
tuition-free policy, provision of textbooks policy, recruitment of qualified
teachers and their impact on the quality of education. It involves the teachers
in some Junior secondary school Education District IV of Lagos State.
1.8 Operational Definition of Relevant Terms
Education:
This is the process of imparting knowledge and skills through training to
enable the child or individual develop positive attitude to adjust to the
society to which he/she belongs.
Basic
Education: This is the education given to children in primary school to junior
secondary school.
Primary
Education: This is the first level of education organized in the formal school
system offered to a child usually age (6-11) years in Nigeria.
Secondary
Education: It is the type of education given in an institution for children
aged normally (12-14) for junior secondary schools.
Experienced
Teacher: This is one who taught a particular subject in his/her area of
specialization continuously in a school over a period of time.
Free and
compulsory Education: This is the education given to a child of school going
age freely from primary level to junior secondary level.
Tuition:It
is the payment made to acquire knowledge and personal development of a child.
Universal:It
means existing everywhere or involving everyone
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