CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.1            INTRODUCTION

Education, which is acquiring new knowledge, skills, ideas or information, is a vital or fundamental tool for a meaningful development of man and his society in every aspect of life. Education for all that it is irrespective of age, gender, tribe and religion is not a privilege but a fundamental right for all human beings.  Development, which is used to measure growth in all human endeavours or economy, cannot be possible without acquiring knowledge from its scratch through to its various levels and also adopting the new methods, techniques and technologies that world civilization offer. It is in view of these worldwide developments especially outside Africa that women in Africa particularly Nigeria need to be educated to contribute their quota to the development of all sector of the economy not only the education sector.[1]

Education is a powerful tool for the social, political and economic integration of women into the larger society. It enhances their ability to exercise rights and responsibilities to participate more effectively in decision- making. The women as the first teachers to their children, when educated bring up responsible children and adults that enhance the development of the society. But neglect and lack of encouragements deny them that opportunity. Women had in most countries around the world been neglected in various aspects of human endeavours which had been their greatest challenge in contributing their quota to the development of their societies.[2]

Education was in the previous years informal that is, not westernized and therefore not organized. This form of education is acquired in the family. It trains the women in the traditional day to day running and managing of the home which will be useful for her when she gets married. In Nigeria, this form of indigenous education was also practiced for the women and the men, also in their own style. This system was later on replaced by the western system of education which is formal and in conformity with the western style as introduced by the European missionaries and later on colonialists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.        

Kaduna North has lagged behind in acquiring Western Education which was as a result of the Islamization of this part of the country.  Fafunwa (1974) Stated that the northerners had for long been resisting the intrusion of western education either from the colonial government or the missionaries.[3] Lugard met with leaders from the north to convince them that the education will not affect the Islamic tradition which is more paramount to the northerners.

However, over time Kaduna North has embraced Western Education in its entirety having realised the importance of it. To this end this work will investigate how Western Education has brought socio-economic changes in Kaduna North. It will also investigate the challenges in embedded in offering Western Education in Kaduna North and government interventions in making sure the Kaduna South receives quality education.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Education in Kaduna North has been generally neglected to the background for ages and this explains why they occupy a low place in the educational ladder in Nigeria. Kaduna North is underdeveloped due to the fact that its people have not seen the essence of education. As a result of non-receipt of western education our young ones engage in all kinds of vices and other anti-social behaviours. Trying to let our young ones know the importance of Western education and its transformation tendencies will go a long way in improving the morality of the society and gives it a new face-lift, especially the Kaduna North. 

1.3       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The justification and Significance of this study are:

1.     It will enlighten the Kaduna North people on the importance of Education.

2.     It will also add to the body of knowledge and existing literature on education in Kaduna North.

3.     To help the public to appreciate the socio-economic changes that Education can bring to the society.

4.     The outcome of this research will encourage youths to embrace Education in its fullest.

5.     It will serve a guide for policy makers and stakeholders in Education in Kaduna North.

6.     To aid academic research and scholarship

1.4        AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The Aim of this study is to investigate “Education and Socio- Economic Changes: A Case Study of Kaduna North Local Government Area (1976- 2015)” but the specific objectives will be to:

1.     To investigate the nature of indigenous (traditional) Education in Kaduna North Local Government Area.

2.     To examine the Impact of Education in Kaduna North Local Government Area.

3.     To investigate the challenges of Western Education in Kaduna North Local Government Area.

4.     To proffer solutions on how to improve Education in Kaduna North Local Government.

1.5       SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This project focuses on Education and Socio- Economic Changes: A Case Study of (1976- 2015.  The choice of 1976 is of historical importance because it was the period that Kaduna State was created, thereby making it a good starting point. Furthermore, the year 2015 was chosen as the terminating year (period) was a noticeable period when more schools were established in Kaduna State and also a period when more Universities were established in the Northern part of Nigeria. In the area of limitation of study, the researcher will face a challenge of travelling long distance to most parts of Kaduna North which is very vast. Moreover, the problem of limited finance at the disposal of the researcher will also be a hindrance. However, these challenges will be overcome by providing solutions to them as to make sure my research is completed.

Conceptual Clarifications

The concepts involved in this Study are Education and Socio- Economic changes

Education is the process of facilitating learning and the acquisition of knowledge, Skills, values, beliefs and habits that help one live well in a society. Education starts from birth and ends in death. It can be acquired through story-telling, research, training, discussion, teaching and observation. Education can be either formal or informal and it affects the way one thinks, feels, or acts. Education is basically divided into stages such as pre-school or kindergarten, nursery, primary, secondary, college and University.[4]

Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the attempt to studies how economic activities affect and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how a society progresses, stagnates or regress because of their local or regional economy, or the global. Socioeconomics is sometimes used as an umbrella term or various areas of inquiry. The term “social economics” may refer broadly to the "use of economics in the study of society"[5] More narrowly, contemporary practice considers behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social capital and social "markets” In the latter, it studies the relation of economics to social values.[6]

1.6       RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research is mainly a qualitative and historical one. In order to arrive at a successful research on Education and social changes in Kaduna North Local Government Area, there is need for a qualitative approach considering the nature of data required. The qualitative method of data collection can capture the people’s actions, views as well as provide information about the problems, challenges and effects that cannot be easily expressed. It can also provide information on relatively complex issues such as reasons for certain attitude and practices as well as explore issues to know how and why events occur. These sources will be carefully selected, critically analysed and scrutinized.

The sources to be used in the data collection will be based on primary and secondary. Primary sources are the historian’s raw materials for data collection and gathering. In this research therefore, the primary source as the first-hand account report by those who are witnesses or participants in the system will be vital which will be obtained through interviews and observation by the researcher. Secondary sources to be used in data collection will be based on published and unpublished materials such as newspapers, journals, magazines and books, articles. Also B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) Dissertations, M.A. (Masters of Arts) Thesis and documents from the National Archives Kaduna, Ministry of Education etc will be consulted in the course of writing this Dissertation. Relevant libraries and also internet materials will be consulted in the course of writing this research work.

1.7       LITERATURE REVIEW

A lot has been written on Education and socio-economic changes in the Northern part of Nigeria. The documentation of issues concerning education in Nigeria, particularly Northern Nigeria had received wide patronage by different researchers. These literatures deal with problems, challenges, impact and prospects of education since the colonial era as well as the post-colonial era. As the Northern part of Kaduna is faced with challenges educationally, various literatures had also been written but the researcher has not come across any document specifically on Kaduna North Local Government Area.  It is in view of this that the work shall depend more on related literature.  The few available literatures will be reviewed in order to corroborate the information therein to ascertain the realities of the issue.

It is no longer in doubt that education plays very significant role in the development process on human society. Recently, the need and importance of education has come on the increase in most countries, especially developing countries have stated to create an avenue through which most people could be educated. The world as a whole has also begun to recognize education and how important it has become.

Education is valued so much that it is looked upon as a prerequisite for all the short comings of the society as well as the surest means for nation building. According to Omegbe (1998), “education itself is the development of an individual through training, transmission of what is worth- while to the point that one is able to fit into his environment and contribute to the best of his ability, to the well-being of the society”.[7]

The eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is the focus of the 1st MDG. Women’s education is important for poverty reduction not only because of the income it generates but also because it helps break the vicious cycle of poverty (Tembon & Fort, 2008). Whether self-employed or earning wages, working women help their households escape poverty. Their returns flow not only to themselves but to other generations as well. In addition, educated women are more likely to send their children to school (Tembon & Fort, 2008).[8] Women education promotes per capital income growth. Dollar and Gatti (1999) report the findings of a study that indicated that increasing the share of women with secondary education by 1 percent boosts annual per capital income growth by 0.3 percent on average.[9] These works will doubt help the researcher in reconstructing the educational history of Kaduna North LGA. This is because the work will strengthen the Kaduna North LGA in act of poverty reduction as well as self-employed. Though the authors centred on a particular society, yet the researcher fids it helpful in the applying and reconstructing the educational history of Kaduna North LGA within the period of study.

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