Nigerians and Their Quest for Affordable Education

Vital literacy indicators reveal a deplorable condition in the Nigerian educational system. Indeed, the adult literacy rate is embarrassing, while the number of out-of-school children has reached an all-time high rate. Trailing the falling standard of education at all levels, is the ever-increasing rate of drop-outs today. With particular reference to the secondary and Tertiary levels of education, cultism, gangster ism and prostitution have become the popular choice for undergraduates and students in educational institutions across the states of the federation. Shortage of qualified teachers, lack of teaching aids, recreational facilities in schools and basic infrastructure are just a few among the sore points of schools in Nigeria. Of serious worry are the poor sanitation, overcrowding in classrooms, poor conditions of service for teachers, which has resulted in the poor quality of teaching and poor quality of classroom products. All put together, have become negative signposts of the school environment. Sadly, poor educational management, a reflection of the poor inter-sectoral allocation, multiplicity of agencies with duplicated functions and inadequate coordination, have all made education administration in most states questionable and fraudulent. The weak support for education by governments at all levels is a manifestation of the ineptitude of government officials. The government’s deliberate neglect of the management of the education sector may eventually result in the total collapse of the public education system. The shortcomings of government have heightened the stakes for private investors and made the education sector very lucrative. With the profit motive as the major emphasis and driving force, educational institutions are now germinating like pure water factories in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, while at the same time, such institutions are turning out educationally unacceptable products. With all these in mind, Nigerians are urgently asking : Can governments at all levels make education available, relevant, accessible and affordable to all Nigerians ? Can governments at all levels ensure immediate and long term social and economic returns from education ? Are public educational institutions, considering their present state, competent to produce a skilled workforce ? Answers to these questions are in the public domain for everyone to draw conclusions.