CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

Societies through ages have one form of education or the other, whether indigenous or western education. This is because education is as essential to man as life itself on this planet earth. Education varies from place to place and from time to time. In fact it is a very important means of developing any nation. The term education has not lent itself to any strict consensual definition as it depends on the perspective from which one views it. It can be considered as the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, interest, abilities, competence and the cultural norms of a society by people to transmit this life to the coming generations so as to enhance perpetual development of the society. History had it that long before the advent of both Islamic and western education. Nigeria has an indigenous type of education (i.e. education for the survival of the people subsistence education). However, modern influences, at about 300 years interval to each other, robbed the country of its indigenous education to a great extent. For instance, Christian education was later promoted by the colonial administration to suit its purpose of colonization (Abdul 2002).

Policies are actions taken or to be taken and actions not taken or not to be taken by government or private organizations. It specifies the line of action or proposed line of action in relation to certain activity areas. (Ikelegbe, 1996, p.2). Thomas Dye sees government policies as ‘‘whatever governments choose to do or not to do’’ (Egonmwan, 2009, p. 1) Government while discharging its constitutional responsibilities formulates and implements various policies in different areas of governance. These include: transportation policy, health policy, water resources policy, housing policy, agricultural policy, urban renewal policy and educational policy which is the focus of this paper. The importance of education to man and the society at large cannot be overemphasized. Education is one of the current inalienable rights that should be accorded to all human beings. A denial of the right to education is almost a denial of the right of existence of an individual and condemning of a society to the peril of under development. Due to the importance of education to an individual and the society at large, there are lots of International Human Rights instruments that provide for education as a fundamental human right. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981), and the Child Right Act. However, despite these instruments initiated for the provision of basic free and qualitative education to individuals, it has become a common experience that there are inequalities in access to education and achievement as well as high levels of absolute deprivation of education in most parts of Africa. In the past three decades, government funding of education has continue to decrease despite the fact that there are new reforms on education by government of different countries across the continent. These reforms are premised on the fact that in the 21st century, countries in Africa conterminously realized the fact that they have to model their education system to meet with the challenges of globalization, occasioned by their need for industrialization and technological development thrown at the doorsteps of the countries in the continent. It was in recognition of this that the Nigerian government reformed its educational system by introducing the 6–3–3–4 educational policy in the early 1980s. A critical examination of the type of formal education in Nigeria before and after independence shows that educational policy was inadequate and unsatisfactory to the nation’s aspirations. In the opinion of Fafunwa (1982); the education was parochial, elitist and irresponsive to the need and aspirations of the Nigerian society. In a bid to check this anomaly, the then federal government of Nigeria adopted education as an instrument par excellence for effecting national development. The then federal government thereafter made efforts to formulate educational policy that best suited Nigeria’s developmental needs. Hence the formulation of “6– 3–3–4 system of education” According to Omolewa (1986), the history of 6–3–3–4 system of education dated back to 8th September 1969 during the International Literacy Day when the Federal government inaugurated a conference which formulated the ideas leading to the 6–3–3–4 policy. The broad aims of education under the 6–3–3–4 system as outlined in the NPE document are to hasten the political, economic and technological development of Nigeria so that the country would be a strong, self-reliant, free and democratic nation.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The importance of education to man and the society at large cannot be overemphasized. Education is one of the current inalienable rights that should be accorded to all human beings. A denial of the right to education is almost a denial of the right of existence of an individual and condemning of a society to the peril of under development. Due to the importance of education to an individual and the society at large, there are lots of International Human Rights instruments that provide for education as a fundamental human right. Amidst the importance and relevance of education in the society; effective implementation of educational policy and system has been worrisome. It is on this note that the researcher intends to investigate the economic implication of the 6–3–3–4 system of education in Nigeria.

1.3      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to ascertain the economic implication of the 6–3–3–4 system of education in Nigeria. But for the purpose of the study; the researcher intends to achieve the following objectives;

i)             To ascertain the economic implication of the 6–3–3–4 education system in Nigeria.

ii)           To investigate the relationship between the 6–3–3–4 education system and the academic performance of students

iii)          To ascertain the role of the government in the implementation of the 6–3–3–4 education system

iv)         To ascertain the impact of the 6–3–3–4  education system in the deve

development of Nigeria educational sector.

1.4      RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher

H0:  the is no significant relationship between the 6–3–3–4 education system and students academic performance

H1: there is a significant relationship between the 6–3–3–4 education system and students academic performance

H02: the government does not play any role in the implementation of the 6–3–3–4 system of education

H2: the governments play a significant role in the implementation of the 6–3–3–4 system of education.

1.5      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of this study, the findings will be useful to the federal government as the study tends to proffer solution to the problem of implementation of the 6–3–3–4 system of education in Nigeria. The study will also be useful to the federal ministry of education because

 the are the once saddle with the responsibility of developing and implementations of educational policy, study will also be beneficial to researchers who intends to embark on study in similar topic as the study will serve as a guide to their study. Finally the study will be beneficial to academia’s students and the general public schools.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers the economic implication of the implementation of the 6–3–3–4 system of education in Nigeria. However, in the cause of the study, the researcher encounters some constraint which limited the scope of the study;

(a)Availability of research material: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.      

(b)Time: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.      

(c)Finance: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Education

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research

Policy

A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of or senior governance body within an organization where as procedures or protocols would be developed and adopted by senior executive officers.

Government

It sets and administers public policy and exercises executive, political and sovereign power through customs, institutions, and laws within a state. Agovernment can be classified into many types--democracy, republic, monarchy, aristocracy, and dictatorship are just a few.  

1.8 Organization of the study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion and also recommendations made of the study.

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