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Lastly, the majority of the stakeholders interviewed agreed that Nigeria could adopt teaching
and learning practices from other countries that have been successful in the field of education.
However, a third of the respondents identified the USA as the potential country example,
followed by the UK and Ghana. The reference to the USA, despite its poor performance in
internatoinal student assessments, highlights the strong influence of USAID in shaping the
staekeholder views in Nigeria. While USA and Ghana may not have best the edcation system in
the world, their schools, along with the UK schools, are very popular among Nigerias and are
also considered to have better education management and quality than Nigeria (Da Coster,
2011; Adesulu, 2015).
3.4.7. Conclusions
Nigeria and her international partners have invested enormously in diverse strategies and
intervention programmes that have been directed at ensuring universal access to education.
These strategies are commendable but their impact has been relatively limited due to
multifaceted factors. First, the many stakeholders identified lack of funding and, inadequate and
poor state of facilities as significant barriers to quality education in Nigeria, which was linked to
underperformance among schools. Globally Nigeria ranks very poorly in terms of spending on
education (Jones et al. 2014; Ogbonna, 2016). Financial shortfalls and poor management tend to
affect the supply, maintenance and retention of both human and material resources that are
needed in the provision of quality education. The inability of some states to access the UBE fund,
effectively manage the available resources and prioritize resource utilization contributes to
weaken the government capacity to provide quality education equitably. The stakeholders
stressed on the need for more spending on ICT infrastructure in rural schools. Similar
observations were also made in the literature.
Second, there exists a serious income gap in terms of access. A significant percentage of children
across the country remains out of school and the country has maintained an unbeaten record of
the highest number of out-of-children in a single country for many years. Regional and gender
imbalance in education that have been the central focus of the UPE and also the UBE remain
pervasive. Different categories of children such as the almajirai are yet to be fully integrated into
the country’s education system. The need for more scholarship for children from poor families
was perceived as important to improve education quality in case of primary and secondary
education where there is universal coverage. This can be explained by the fact that poverty is
still widespread in Nigeria and remains a major barrier for children’s education, particularly in
rural locations.
Third, Nigeria has a very robust inclusive, access and quality education policy and strategies but
challenges lie in the effective implementation of these strategies. International Development
Partners’ led initiatives appear to be more successful that the government led strategies, albeit
both externally and locally led initiatives are affected by local socio-political and economic
environment. The provision of 2% of the government’s consolidated revenue fund for financing
of the universal basic education (of which 50% is directed towards the provision of educational
infrastructural facilities) is strategic but the outcomes have been limited. Similarly, various
strategies, such as the Integrated Almajiri Education Programme and Girls Education
Programme are very relevant but reports of their implementation and outcome (such as 2012
ICAI report) suggest they have made minimal impart. Cultural practices and strongly held values
contribute to hinder effective social transformation and the existing interventions appear not to
be very effective in dealing with them. Low political will and commitment also tent to contribute