184
response to a widely reported failure of primary four examination by 21,780 teachers in Kaduna
state. However, this contradicts slightly the finding of the report of National Assessment of
Learning Achievements in Basic Education (NALABE) NALABE conducted in 2011, which shows
that that irregular payment of salaries and inadequate support/motivation from Government
were top possible factors for low teacher morale (UBEC, 2013).
Figure 3.4.12: Important Features Of An Effective School Principal And Teacher
Source: Authors’ calculation based on stakeholders survey data.
Participating stakeholders were also asked about their views on the main barriers to quality
education at the primary and secodnary level in Nigeria (Figure 3.4.13). In both primary and
secondary, lack of funding and facilities were described as the most important of all barriers. In
case of primary school, the lack of good and motivated teachers were the third and fourth most
common response. Nigeria has very diverse linguistic groups. While the language of instruction
was considered to be a challenge in primary education, it was not so in secondary education.
Other studies (e.g. Ezegwu, 2013, 2017; Humphreys & Crawfurd, 2014) show that language of
instruction remains a critical issue in the educational quality and learning outcomes in Nigeria,
especially in the rural areas. Possibly, because most respondents in the two states were drawn
from urban areas where confluence of languages result in English and Pidgin English becoming
major languages of interaction, might have influened this opinion.
In case of secodary school, there were noticable differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of
barriers. The lack of good teachers, school leadership and teacher motivation ranked as the
third, fourth and fifth most common response. Once again, none of the stakeholders recognized
the lack of autnomy as a matter of concern. This is consistent with the fact the majority of the
respondents also did not consider decentralization of school management as important for
improving school quality in Nigeria
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8
Well qualified/trained
Focused on professional development
Focused on improving teaching & learning…
Motivated
Promotes learning opportunities…
Robust and rigorous in self-evaluation
Ensures progress and personal…
Assesses and tracks pupil progress
Supportive of weaker students & provides…
Good at communication
Good at engaging w students, making a…
Secondary Primary