Nigeria’s educational structure is based on the formula (1)-6-3-3-4, which stands for one year of pre-primary education, six years of primary school, three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education, and at least four years of university education.

Nigeria’s educational system is experiencing several challenges, including resource waste, infrastructure decline, and subpar working conditions. Almost 10 million youngsters are not enrolled in school in the nation. The highest in the world is that. About 27 million students are functioning really poorly in school. Several Nigerians just have a high school diploma, while more than 60 million, or 30%, are illiterate. Here are a few things you can consider in order to fix these issues.

Funding

The largest issue Nigeria’s educational system is facing is funding. The annual budget allocation for education is a pitifully tiny portion. Just 7.04% of the budget in 2018 went toward education. The 15% to 26% range proposed by UNESCO is much below this.

Poorer educational outcomes have resulted from Nigeria’s experience with the commercialization and neglect of government secondary and elementary school levels. Privatization is not the solution either; if anything, it will likely make the gap between the affluent and the poor worse. It will prevent many children from receiving an inexpensive, high-quality education, raise the prevalence of illiteracy, and lower academic achievement at the postsecondary level.

Tertiary education will become the sole domain of the wealthy upper class if the government continues to privatize government-owned colleges, as is currently the case with the growth of private universities with high prices. This is happening in a nation where more than 90% of people are now living in extreme poverty.

The government should stop spending money inefficiently. For instance, I would contend that the “school children feeding program” represents a significant resource drain.

Money for Research

In three ways, research suffers in Nigeria. Initially, especially in the fundamental sciences, researchers do their job unsupported. Almost all funding comes from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. The Trust, among other things, finances and sponsors research initiatives, awards grants for research, and funds lecturers for academic conferences. Yet, it has limited resources, and its activities are sluggish, extremely selective, and occasionally politicized.

Second, because the government isn’t dedicated to research-oriented development, study findings are frequently left on library shelves. Researchers lack the resources to publicize their study and conclusions.

Finally, because there are no reliable systems in place to monitor research output nationally, it is subpar and repeated.

Stop Incessant Strikes

To represent academic workers at Nigerian institutions, the Academic Staff Union of Universities was founded in 1978. Since then, there have been nearly yearly strikes that have interfered with the academic schedule.

The government must boost funding for the industry and uphold contracts made with the unions in order to end these yearly interruptions.

Strikes can only be ended if the well-being of all employees, from teachers to lecturers, is prioritized.

Nigeria’s educational system would be well on its way to realizing the commitment of the government to its own policies and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations if these goals are correctly executed.