Addressing the Factors Responsible for Schooling without Learning in Primary and Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Abstract

The most often debated topic among stakeholders in education and the generality of Nigerians today is the issue of decline in the quality of education at all levels (primary, secondary and tertiary institutions). To substantiate the foregoing debate, a new World Bank Report (2018) warns of learning crisis in Nigeria and other developing countries which face moral and economic problems because primary and secondary schools fail to equip students with the right education to succeed in life and that without learning, education would fail to deliver on its promise to eliminate extreme poverty and create shared opportunity and prosperity for all. Despite the establishment of Universal Basic Education (UBE) in 1999, which is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the acquisition of the appropriate levels of literacy, manipulative and life skills as well as the ethical, moral and civic values needed for laying the foundation for lifelong learning for children, have continued to be a mirage. In view of the foregoing, this study examined the factors responsible for schooling without learning in primary and junior secondary schools. Those factors include insuffiient budget allocation to education, lack of adequate infrastructure, lack of qualified teachers and poor remuneration package, and corruption. In addressing the aforementioned factors, this study used World Bank’s (2018) solutions which have four steps. The fist step is to find the truth from facts; the second step is to assess the learning so that it become a measurable goal; the third step is to make schools work for all children and the fourth step is to mobilize everyone who has stake in learning. In addition, recommendations were provided to ensure that the rising case of schooling without learning is eradicated.