RESOURCE MOBILISATION THE SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNIVERSAL BASIC
EDUCATION (UBE) SCHEME IN NIGERIA
BY
DR. (MRS.) RHODA OLAPE ODUWAIYE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN
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RESOURCE MOBILISATION IN THE SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNIVERSAL BASIC
EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
By way of introduction, this paper traced the history of
Universal Education in Nigeria. The Universal Education in the
West and East in 1954-1958 and subsequent Federal U.P.E. failed
because of factors such as improper planning, inadequate supply of
teachers and instructional materials and fund. This paper went
further to discuss the need to mobilise resources like human,
physical and material and also fund for the successful take off and
implementation of the Universal Basic Education. The paper
concluded by offering useful suggestions on the mobilization of
these resources for the successful implementation of this gigantic
scheme, the UBE.
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RESOURCE MOBILISATION IN THE SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION IN
NIGERIA
INTRODUCTION
Universal Education is not new in the history of Nigeria. There
was Universal Primary Education in the Western Region under the
leadership of Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. There was an upsurge
of enrolment of pupils in 1956 to 908,022 from 456,000 pupils in
1954 (Arikewuyo 2000). The Eastern Regional government also
launched Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1956 but
unfortunately the scheme ran into problems from inception, which
eventually led to its collapse in 1958.
The Universal Primary Education (UPE) was first launched in
the country in September 1976. The scheme covered the whole
federation and the Federal Government was responsible for its
finance and control with some support from state and local
governments. Like the Western Region, there was a great upsurge
of pupil enrolment. The projected population according to
Arikewuyo (2000) was 2.3 million children in primary one but by the
time the scheme took off 3 million pupils enrolled.
The U.P.E. schemes at Regional and Federal levels were
partially successful and they were faced with many problems which
were actually marred with some difficulties which included
inadequate planning, lack of data, dearth of infrastructural facilities
as well as acute shortage of trained and qualified teachers (Ajayi
1989). The situation was compounded in the Eastern Region with
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intraparty crisis of the then NCNC and the strong opposition of the
Catholic Mission, who were the proprietor of over sixty percent of
schools in the region at that time. In the 1976 Federal UPE the
projected data was inadequate. There was shortage of teachers.
Half-baked and untrained teachers came on the scene, retired
teachers were also employed. Classrooms were in short supply and
Ajayi (1989) summed up the problems like this:
The scheme was hurriedly launched without
proper planning in 1976. This hurried
launching, coupled with the failure to precede
the scheme by evaluation study of the
antecedents, also contributed to the failure of
the UPE scheme. Infact there was a shortage
of everything except pupils.
There is the need to know these antecedents so as to have
proper planning for the present Universal Basic Education (UBE)
which was again launched in September 1999, ironically by the
same president who was in 1976 the Military Head of State. This
UBE, unlike previous schemes, covers the junior secondary schools
(JSS). Since this scheme is larger in scope covering the first nine
years of education and adult literacy, it is necessary that no room
should be given to failure. Proper planning should be done and
implementation should also be closely monitored.
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Scheme
The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic states that:
Government shall strive to eradicate literacy
and to this end, Government shall as and
when practicable provide.
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(a)
Free, compulsory and Universal Primary education;
(b)
Free secondary education.
(Section 18. sub-section 3 a-b)
In response to this section of the constitution, President
Olusegun Obasanjo then launched the Universal Basic Education in
Sokoto on 30th September 1999, this is barely four months in office.
Incidentally, it was the same person, the same place that the
scheme was launched. The UBE makes the first nine years of
education to be free, universal and compulsory. The scheme also
caters for adult literacy courses as well.
The goals of the UBE, according to the blue print are:
To universalize access to basic education,
engender a conducive learning environment
and eradicate illiteracy in Nigeria within the
shortest possible time.
Other objectives are to:
(a)
develop in the entire citizens, a strong consciousness for
education and a strong commitment to its vigorous
promotion;
(b)
reduce drastically, a drop-out rate from the school
system through improved relevance and efficiency.
(c)
provide free, compulsory and Universal Basic Education
for every Nigerian child of school-going age
(d)
cater
for
drop-outs
and
out-of-school
children/
adolescents through various forms of complementary
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approaches to the provision and promotion of basic
education; and
(e)
ensure the acquisition of the appropriate levels of
literacy, numeracy manipulative and life skills needed for
laying the foundation for life-long learning.
The introductory part of this paper traced the history of
universal education in Nigeria and its problems. The problems
encountered would be a warning against the recently launched
UBE. Both the president himself and the Vice President Atiku
Abubakar agreed that inadequate planning in terms of funding and
inadequate schools and teachers were responsible for the failure of
the UPE launched in 1976. Adesina (1982) also noted earlier that
for any UPE or UBE as it is now called to be successful in Nigeria,
consideration must be given to the issues of physical facilities
funding and teachers training and motivation.
To what extent has the government taken care of the lapses in
the previous scheme? And how prepared is the government
towards taking off in October 2000? The issue of resources is the
major concern in the planning and implementation of the scheme. It
is sure that the only and sure resources on ground are the pupils.
Other resources like material, human and financial have to be
effectively mobilized to make this scheme a success.
HUMAN RESOURCES
It is well known that the state of human resources in Nigerian
schools is appealing. Most schools lack teachers in many areas like
the pre-vocational subjects, sciences, mathematics and Nigerian
languages. The dearths of teachers have also been the reason for
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the failure of many educational programmes like the UPE and the 63-3-4 system. The consequence of this shortage of human
resources is that teachers productivity is affected and also students
academic performance. It is not only that, teachers would be
provided in adequate number but the available ones would be
motivated. The present attitude of teachers would have to change.
Before there can be effective implementation of UBE the job
attitude of teachers and school managers have to change. This can
come about through motivation. Adequate attention has to be paid
to teachers’ welfare.
From the pages of Newspapers one gets hints on the
preparedness of the government towards the take off of UBE in
October 2000. The Nigerian Tribune on Monday 15th May, 2000,
gave the indication of the news release published on the World
Bank web page showed that the UBE scheme will focus on training
of teachers and school managers. To be able to do this and other
resources the World Bank has given its financial support. Also in
the Nigerian Tribune of Wednesday 17th May, 2000 also disclosed
that 30,000 teachers would be trained yearly to ensure the success
of the scheme. In the implementation and supervision of the
scheme, the personnel in the Federal Ministry of Education,
Inspectorate Division would be revitalized as the paper revealed
that N800 million would be released to that Division in the next two
years.
Apart from the preparedness of the Federal Government for
the take off of UBE, each state is making some planning towards
the take off of this scheme in October 2000. The table below shows
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the statistics of the human resources needed in Kwara State for the
take off of Universal Basic Education (UBE) in both and junior
secondary schools.
TABLES I
VITAL STATISTICS ON THE TAKE OFF OF UNIVERSAL BASIC
EDUCATION (UBE) PRIMARY SECTOR IN KWARA STATE
1. Population of school age children based on population 415,850
census
2.
Total number of Public Primary Schools
1,071
3.
Total pupils enrolment
35,515
4.
Number of children out of school
64,335
5.
Number of classrooms available
8,613
6.
Number of classrooms in good condition
861
7.
Number of classrooms needing renovation
7,752
8.
Additional classrooms required
1,787
9.
Number of classroom teachers available
8,491
10. Number of other teachers
4,672
*
11. Number of additional teachers required
1,787
8
*
Other teachers include:
(i)
Head Masters/Mistresses
(ii)
Religious (I. R. K., C. R. K.) teachers
(iii)
Special subject (Maths, Science, Home Economics, English)
Teacher.
Source: Kwara State Primary Education Board.
TABLE II
STUDENTS ENROLMENT STAFF POPULATION AND NO OF
CLASSROOMS FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN
KWARA STATE
S/N
L.G.A
NO OF STUDENTS ENROLMENT
SCHO
OL
STAFF STRENGTH
MALE
FEMALE
TOTAL
M
F
TOTAL
NO OF
C/RO0M
JSS
1
ASA
12
1129
738
1867
223
111
334
50
2
BARUTEN
6
1323
347
1670
147
68
215
38
3
EDU
9
1216
424
1640
185
98
283
51
4
EKITI
11
956
822
1778
124
91
215
35
5
IFELODUN
34
2886
2048
4934
344
224
568
148
6
I/EAST
22
7434
3434
10868
627
474
1101
174
7
I/SOUTH
13
4028
3816
7844
355
222
577
162
8
I/WEST
17
6845
6198
13043
533
407
940
221
9
IREPODUN
37
3979
3713
7692
469
366
835
223
10
ISIN
10
812
788
1600
136
111
247
47
11
12
13
14
15
KAIAMA
MORO
OFFA
OKE-ERO
0YUN
2
12
13
11
17
509
1600
2977
1100
2725
327
1045
2927
930
1974
836
2645
53
221
371
191
281
45
131
269
107
195
98
352
640
298
476
14
64
120
54
97
9
16
PATIGI
TOTAL
9
215
1214
41233
773
30304
126
4386
89
3008
215
7394
33
1551
Source: Kwara State Primary Education Board
From these tables, it is believed that there is proper planning
and adequate statistics for the take off of UBE in Kwara State.
Careful implementation is what is needed to make the scheme a
success.
PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL RESOURCES
It is not easy for teachers to perform any meaningful work
without the necessary tools to work with. Both the physical facilities
and instructional materials have to be in place. Unfortunately, the
physical and material facilities are nothing to write home about in
Nigerian schools. The shortage of classrooms in many areas is so
acute that as many as eighty to one hundred secondary school
students are packed in a classroom and the situation is not different
in primary schools especially in the urban areas. The inadequate
number of classrooms as in 1976 scheme where the schools
resorted to temporary accommodation in town halls, churches,
mosques and even under the shades of tree (Taiwo 1980) should
not come on the scene in the present UBE. Apart from the shortage
of classrooms, other facilities like libraries, books and writing
materials, furniture, laboratories and workshops are grossly
inadequate in Nigerian schools and these need to be put in proper
shape. It would be disastrous if the UBE in year 2000 will witness
pupils writing on their laps as in the UPE of 1976.
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In the year 2000 UBE, adequate supply of instructional
materials should be available for teachers’ use. Modern, scientific
teaching aids should be supplied to make teaching challenging to
the teachers as well as interesting for the learners. Teaching aids
like the overhead projector, film slides, audio and video tapes,
computers. The science laboratories should have the basic
chemical, and equipment to provide the foundation for the pure
sciences in the senior secondary schools. The introductory
workshops should have the basic tools and machines to work with.
These and many others are necessary for the successful take-off of
UBE in October. From the World Bank news release from the web
page on the 75m dollars aid towards UBE quoting from the Nigerian
Tribune 15th May 2000 says:
The fund will also be used to improve the
availability and quality of instructional materials in
schools and of distance learning materials for
teachers.
It is belief and hope that the money would be strictly used for the
purpose for which it is meant for. Also in the Nigerian Tribune of Friday
19th May 2000 Japan also promised to build and rehabilitate primary
schools in the country in her support of the UBE programs. A lot of hop
is being raised that since the scheme is getting so much support from
different parts of the world necessary aids for physical and material
resources are on the way to make the scheme a success.
Kwara State is adequately armed with statistics of the physical and
material resources needed for the successful take off of the scheme.
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VITAL STATISTICS ON THE TAKE-OFF OF UNIVERSAL BASIC
EDUCATION JUNIOR SECONDARY SECTOR IN KWARA STATE
GENERAL STATISTICS
TABLE III
S/N
REQUEST
TOTAL
1.
NO OF SCHOOLS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
235
2
EXPECTED POPULATION OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
153,918
STUDENT
3
TOTAL STUDENTS ENROLMENT
127,454
4
POPULATION OF CHILDREN OUT OF JUNIOR SCHOOL
5
NUMBER OF CLASSROOMS AVAILABLE
6
NUMBER OF CLASSROOMS IN GOOD CONDITION
7
NUMBER OF CLASSROOMS NEEDING RENOVATION
8
ADDITIONAL CLASSROOMS REQUIRED
9
NUMBER OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS AVAILABLE.
3,697
10
NUMBER OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS EXPECTED
5,640
11
NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL TEACHERS REQUIRED
1,943
26,464
1,551
78
1,473
881
BOOK REQUIREMENTS
TABLE IV
(1)
Text books
Mathematics
English
Social Studies
Primary Science
Teacher’s copies for all the
subjects
Teachers’ Guides for all the four
core subjects
Exercise Book for pupils
415,850 copies
415,850 copies
415,850 copies
415,850 copies
N249,510,000
N249,510,000
N249, 510,000
N249, 510,000
60,000 copies
60,000 copies
N36,000,000
N36,000,000
415,850 copies
N124,755,000
Registers
Record of work Books
15,000 copies
15,000 copies
15,000 copies
Sources: Kwara State Primary School Board.
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N3,000,000
N3,000,000
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
It is obvious that UBE to be a success it has to be adequately
funded. The Federal Government has definitely increased the budget
allocation for Education in the 2000 Budget. Education has the largest
share, all because of the UBE scheme. Foreign aids are being sort. The
World Bank has given a total funding of 75 million dollars.
The UBE blue print specifically states the funding system of UBE,
which intends to be shared by the three tiers of government: The federal,
state and local governments. The training of teachers at primary and
junior secondary school levels will be undertaken by federal and state
governments, while that of adult literacy would also be borne by federal,
state and local governments. Federal government would however bear
the cost for nomadic education. The detail of the funding system
according to the blue print is as follows:
- primary schools - local government
- Junior secondary schools - Federal and State Government
- Adult literacy - Federal, state and local governments.
- Nomadic education - federal government
The blue print also provides for the funding of infrastructure i.e.
classrooms and learning centres as follows:
- Primary schools – federal government 75 percent and stage
government 25 percent.
-
Junior secondary school – federal government 25 percent and
state government 75 percent.
- Adult literacy - federal government 25 percent, state government
50 percent and local government 25 percent.
- Nomadic education - federal government 100 percent.
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On institutional and learning materials, the blue print provides as
follows:
- Primary school - federal government 100 percent
- Junior secondary schools - federal government 50 percent and
state government 50 percent
- Adult literacy - federal government 25 percent, state government
50 Percent local government 25 percent.
-
Nomadic education - federal government 80 percent and state
government 20 percent.
This funding system is quite commendable on paper. The Federal
Government being the initiator of the scheme may be committed and
therefore provide the necessary percentage of the funding on their own
side but the question is how committed are the state and local
government towards the success of the scheme? Are they ready to
release that own percentage of the funding? It then means that the
funding of the scheme will differ from state to state to state, depending
on the commitment of the state and local governments. The federal
government should have a way of monitoring state and local government
participation in the scheme. Each tier of government should strike their
own side of the bargain to make sure that the scheme is properly
funded. Apart from providing the fund, the prudent management of the
fund should be supervised.
Fraudulent practices that may arise with huge capital projects like this
must be checked. Fund meant for this scheme should not be diverted by
either state, local governments or even individuals that are concerned
with the scheme. Successful implementation should be the target of all
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those concerned. The scheme cannot afford to fail as in the past, proper
monitoring is the answer.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Even though, the Universal Basic Education (UBE) seems to be
hurriedly launched i.e. four months into this democratically elected
government, one whole year is left for the proper planning of the scheme
before the take-off in October 2000.
Towards the successful
implementation of human, material and financial resources in the UBE
scheme it is therefore suggested that:
1.
No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers
National Policy on Education (1981). Therefore, there is need to train
conscientious, intelligent, skilful, knowledgeable and competent teachers
to teach in primary and secondary school levels. It is not only supplying
the adequate number but the quality of the teachers supplied will
determine the quality of the education that the country will possess.
While the aim of the scheme is mass literacy for all, quality education
should not be given for quantity.
2.
It is not enough to provide the number of teachers needed and
train them adequately for the job, the issue of job satisfaction of teachers
need to be seriously addressed. It is the teachers that would translate
the curriculum into practical terms. If teachers are supplied, equipment
and materials are in place and teacher’s welfare is neglected, there
would be job dissatisfaction and the success of the scheme would be at
stake. There is the need for the government to pay teachers salaries
regularly, provide some inconvenience allowance for teachers in the
rural areas and give the welfare of teachers an utmost attention.
3.
While providing the necessary and adequate material resources in
the primary and secondary, the materials should be properly managed. It
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has been found from the 6-3-3-4 educational policy experience that a
huge amount of money spent on material resources were wasted
because resources got lost, stolen, damaged when left outside, hoarded
or just not used (Teacher and Parents, 1999).
The responsibility for
managing these resources no doubt rests with the school administration.
The resources allocated should be properly managed, kept safe in
locked up stores to avoid being carted a way after supply and above all,
they should be put to use.
A physical and material resource committee cam be constituted in
every school so as to properly manage the available resources in the
school. This committee must ensure all resources are returned to the
main resource centre when not in use, show the new staff the resources
available and encourage them to share resources. There must also be a
resource centre at every State Ministry of Education. They should create
awareness among staff of the available resources and train them in
established borrowing procedure.
4.
It is evident that the Federal Government is going to commit a huge
sum of money to the UBE scheme. The state and local governments
must also be well committed to the scheme. The state and local
government must also be well committed to the scheme. Fund meant for
the scheme school not be diverted. There should be prudent
management of finances. Dishonest contractors should not find their
way into this scheme. This is not the days of emergency contractors who
will go away with go away with governments mobilisation money meat
for execution of projects. Proper monitoring from the federal to the grass
root level is necessary and should be maintained.
5.
Despite the federal, state and local government involvement in the
UBE scheme in funding, private enterprises philanthropists and other
interest groups in education should be encouraged in helping to fund
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education through the provision of buildings and other infrastructural
facilities. The local communities should also be carried along in terms of
suggestion and the scheme.
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REFERENCES
Adesina, S. (1982). Planning and Education Development in
Nigeria. Lagos Board publication Ltd.
Ajayi, K. (1989). Educational Development and Management
in Nigeria since Independence, Ibadan; Vantage Publisher (Int.)
Ltd.
Arikewuyo, M.O. (2000). Strategies for Achieving Productivity
in the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. A Paper
presented at the National Association of Educational
Administration and Planning (NAEAP) conference at University of
Ilorin, January 2000.
Federal Government of Nigeria (1999). Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 18 sub section 3 a-b.
Federal Government of Nigeria. (1981). National Policy on
Education revised Federal Government of Nigeria.
Federal Government of Nigeria. (1999). Blue print on the
Universal Basic Education: Federal Government of Nigeria.
Taiwo, C.O. (1980). The Nigerian Education System: Past,
Present and Future, Lagos: Thomas Nelson (Nig) Ltd.
The Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, Money 15th May 2000.
The Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, Wednesday 17th May
2000.
The Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, Friday 19th May 2000.
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