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HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA – Development Since 1960 Till Date & Before Independence

Development and history of education in Nigeria since 1960 till date and before independence – You see when you talk about Education In Africa, Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world, located in West Africa, bordered by the Republic of Benin on the west, Niger on the north, northeast by Chad and east by Cameroon, Nigeria been the giant of the nations in the shore of Africa continents, it is essential we discuss the History Of Education In Nigeria. For any nation to strike a balance between infrastructural development and human development, it is imperative to invest in education, and education in Nigeria how does it start? What was happening in the early 19th century that was a bedrock to the current educational standard? What are the things that were in place during the early development of Nigeria and also serve as a pedestal for educational roots in Nigeria today, all of these will be treated as we move on to write on the Development Of Education In Nigeria.

History Of Education In Nigeria Since 1960 Till Date And Before Independence

• What Is Education?

Before furthering to write about the history of education, it is crucial we learn the concepts and precepts of the term Education. Over the years, it is one of the issues that keep lingering in the educational arena to find common ground or particular definition for the term Education generally all over the world; some scholars defined education as the phenomenon that happened to man since the day he was born to the day he will die. Some other authors defined education as what a man sees in his societies, put into practice to guide his day-to-day activities, some also see education as transferring cultural heritage from one generation to the other.

To find common ground to all of these definitions, I defined education as initiation processes that started from the day a man can react to stimuli to the day he stops reacting to stimuli.

• History of education in Nigeria

Education as we have rightly defined, can be in three forms, we have formal education, we have semi-formal education, and we have informal education, all of these started from informal education to formal education.

The history of education in Nigeria could be traced down to the early days before the colonization of Nigeria by the British Colonial Master. Our for-fathers have been practicing a form of the educational system is known as informal education, this type of education does not need a skilled facilitator, it is usually done by observation, instruction and it is a type of education that is hands-on type education. The father is responsible for the male education, the male child will be trained on how to farm, basic principle and responsibilities of men are being passed across to the male child through his father, the female child is directly trained by her mother, she will be taught how to sweep, how to cook, how to greet the elderly ones and other responsibility of women in the societies.

Generally, the king and the societal leader will teach everyone staying in a particular location the basic rules of the society, what the dos and don’ts are will be listed and will be passed across to the younger generations, the issue of Taboo was rampant in Nigeria as at then which is one of the ways the younger generation are initiated into the society. Prior to the arrival of western education in Nigeria, education has been informal majorly from the family and immediate society, where children are taught about culture, social activities, and work. These educational activities made up for the majority of what the upcoming ones learn.

The entrance of the Europeans into Nigeria, brought along European western Education in the 1840s. In the western part of the country, western education was encouraged by the Missionaries. In the Northern part of Nigeria, majorly populated by Muslims, western education was prohibited giving way to an Islamic school that focused primarily on Islamic education. Prior to Nigeria’s Independence, Only two Established Post Secondary institutions were available, Yaba Higher College (Now Yaba College of Technology founded in 1934) and the University of Ibadan, founded in 1948. Post-Independence brought about the major development of education in Nigeria, with an increase in the number of primaries, secondary schools, teachers colleges, Polytechnics, and Universities. The cost of Tertiary education is constantly on the increase and the educational system is in need of improvement and innovation to move it forward from the current state.

Development History of education In Nigeria Since 1960 Till Date

• History of Informal Education and Formal Education

As colonization of Nigeria began in the Early 19s, Nigerian were trained on basic hand work, such as Blacksmith, Carpentering, Brick layering, and others, as these began, it open ways for Semi-informal education which is more formalized than the Informal form of education, the men are trained on handworks while the female counterparts were trained on crafting, all of these were the basic form of education that was rampant in the early 19s, but as Missionaries from other developed countries began to migrate to Nigeria to spread the Gospel, Churches were built, schools were attached to the churches so as to teach Nigerians on how to read and write, the primary aim of the schools was to train Nigerians who were converted on how to read and write, they will be able to read the bible and they will understand for themselves, this continues for long not until 1980 when the first educational ordinances was passed into law by Nigeria government, and education were fully financed by the federal Government, and ever since then, various educational bodies were established to see to full supervision of education, educational qualities were tested and were been supervised by the established institutions, ever since then, there has been paradigm shift from what education used to look like to a new era of education, the traditional form of education see to make man functional in their given societies while the modern form of education aims to improve man ways of living by doing research on a better way to handle every sector in the country.

Ever since the advancement in the educational system in Nigeria, there has been a noticeable growth in terms of development and ways things are been done before colonization.

Development Of Education In Nigeria

• Importance of education In Nigeria

The importance of education cannot be overemphasized, for any nation to develop, the need for a standard form of educational it’s imperative so here are the benefits of Education

Quicken Development: education have been a tool in most advanced countries to sharpen and fasten the rate of development in the countries, without education research would have been difficult, conservation of old knowledge would not get to a younger generation, so education plays a vital role in the development of any country.

Improve Standard of Living: the usual practices that has being affection the standard of living of most citizens in a particular country are disarmed by modern ideas and knowledge, innovations are at a higher rate, tools that could help man overcome difficult tasks were invented on daily bases, technology keep improving to help man sustain and live well.

System Of Education In Nigeria

Nigeria is blessed with a lot of ethnic groups; Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo being the most recognized The system of education in Nigeria (Primary) is called Universal Basic Education (UBE) which is a replacement of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) in order to improve the first nine years of schooling. which include the 6 years of primary education and The formal education system in Nigeria includes: 6 years of primary schooling 3 years of junior secondary schooling 3 years of senior secondary schooling, and 4 years of university education, finally directing toward a bachelor’s level degree in the majority of the subjects. The annual term of school in Nigeria is ten months and is sectioned into three ten- to twelve-week periods, each at the pre-primary, primary, junior, and senior secondary stages.

Problems of Education In Nigeria

For every sector in any given country, there will always be a problem-posing a threat to such sector, Educational sector is not exceptional in this case, there are some militating factors against the educational system, and they are;

• Lack Of Fund: most educational agencies, educational ministries were either underfunded or were not reimbursed at all this will hinder the discharge of duties, will hinder research processes, and may put a lot at stakes, this type of challenge is common in Africa Nation especially Nigeria, most schools and university are in a deplorable state, no government parastatals have been set up to fund the schools this has left many ideas unexplored in Nigeria and some ideas were under explore based on in availability of funds.
• Lack Of Technical Facilitators: most schools in Nigeria were short of staff, schools that have enough staff, the crews were poorly trained and may lack the modules Operandi to bring about effective teaching and learning processes, getting to some schools in Nigeria, you will notice the level of deplorable teachers that were still using old ways and ideas of education in the modern societies, this is one of the reasons while Nigeria still wallows in the shackles of underdevelopment.

A Brief Social History of Education in Nigeria

• First Online: 29 April 2020

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• Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob 3 &
• Margee Ensign 3  

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Schools in Nigeria have not always been very different from learning at home. Over time, however schools became the institutional instruments for the separation of education from home and from the society within which it was originally situated.

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Jacob, JU., Ensign, M. (2020). A Brief Social History of Education in Nigeria. In: Transactional Radio Instruction. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32369-1_1

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The Evolution of Education in Nigeria: How has it Impacted Ordinary Nigerians from Pre-Independence till Present?

• Published 31 January 2017
• Education, History
• International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies

45 References

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History of Education in Nigeria

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Originally published in 1974, a comprehensive history of Nigerian Education, from early times right through to the time of publication, had long been needed by all concerned with Education in Nigeria, students, teachers and educational administrators. No one was better qualified than Professor Fafunwa to provide such a book, and in doing so he gave due emphasis to the beginnings of Education in its three main stages of indigenous, Muslim and Christian Education.

Nigerian Education had been considered all too often as a comparatively recent phenomenon, but this book points out from the start that ‘Education is as old as Man himself in Africa’ and that both Islam and Christianity were comparative newcomers in the field. A historical treatment of these three strands which have combined to make up the modern Educational system was vital to a clear understanding of what was needed for the future, and most of the first half of the book is concerned with these Educational beginnings.

The imposing of a foreign colonial system on this framework did not always lead to a happy fusion of the systems, and the successes and the failures are examined in detail. There was no shortage of documentary evidence in the form of reports and statistics during the decades prior to publication, but this evidence was frequently scattered and inaccessible to the student, so that the author’s careful selection of key evidence and reports, often drawn from his own personal experience, will be invaluable for those wishing to trace the development of Education in Nigeria up to the early 1970s.

A knowledge of the history and development of the Nigerian Education system, of the numerous and intensely varied personalities and beliefs which have combined and often conflicted to shape it, is indispensable to all students in colleges and universities studying to become teachers. It is this knowledge that Professor Fafunwa set out to provide, drawing on his wide experience as teacher writer and educationalist.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 | 35  pages, traditional african education, chapter 2 | 23  pages, muslim education in nigeria: past and present, chapter 3 | 19  pages, the coming of the missionaries, chapter 4 | 36  pages, the beginnings of modern education (1882–1929), chapter 5 | 38  pages, educational expansion (1930–1950), chapter 6 | 15  pages, the era of self-determination in education (1951–1970), chapter 7 | 25  pages, the nigerian educational system, chapter 8 | 5  pages, contemporary issues.

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History of Education in Nigeria, Structure and how it Works

In this article, you will learn the history of education in Nigeria, the current education system and the policy that governs the educational system in Nigeria.

As such, if you’ve been wondering about how education began in Nigeria, pay attention and read through. Before then, what is the literacy rate in Nigeria?

History of Education in Nigeria and Literacy Rate

According to UNESCO, the adult literacy rate is estimated to be  62%  among Nigerians aged above 15 years. What does this show?

This shows that the average Nigerian possesses the ability to read and write. However, this is so even if that may not be fluent.

While evaluating the history of education in Nigeria, note this. The education system in Nigeria influences the literacy rate of its citizenry.

Interestingly, education in Nigeria grew over the years after the Methodist missionaries introduced formal education in Nigeria.

History of the Nigerian Education System

The history of education in Nigeria is tied to what you are about to read. Methodist missionaries started the first primary school in Nigeria in 1843. Thankfully, they introduced formal education in Nigeria.

A few years later, in 1854, some Christian missionaries started CMS grammar school in Lagos. This became the first secondary school in Nigeria.

However, once Lord Lugard had amalgamated the northern and southern parts of Nigeria in 1914, there was a growing demand for schools in Nigeria.

The rapid growth in education led to the establishment of the University of Ibadan in 1948. Amazingly, this was the first Nigerian university.

As years went by, individuals and groups in the private sector took the responsibility. They established private schools in addition to public schools.

Thus, the educational sector in Nigeria has both government and private schools across all levels of education.

History of Education in Nigeria in Statistics and Facts

According to statistics,  7.2 million children enrolled in early childhood education programs in Nigeria. In contrast, 22.2 million children aged above 6 years enrolled in a public primary school. And 5.5 million children registered in a private primary schools.

For secondary school enrolment, the pattern was clear. The survey revealed that the enrolment rate in junior secondary school was 54.4%. And those for senior secondary school was 68.6%.

A 2017 university census revealed that the total number of undergraduate students was 1.7 million. And the number of postgraduate students (students carrying out either a master’s or doctorate degree) was 234,000.

History of Education in Nigeria and the Educational Policy 

As you research the history of education in Nigeria, note. The national policy on education is legislative guidelines from the federal government.

This sets standards, procedures and implementation plans that ensure educational development and delivery of qualitative education in Nigeria.

The first national policy on education was published in 1977. However, it has been revised several times by successive stakeholders in the federal ministry of education. And this is because of growing changes in education delivery.

• School of nursing in Nigeria
• Best state Universities in Nigeria

Interestingly:

As you research the history of education in Nigeria, note. The 2014 edition of the national policy on education stipulates that the government handles formal basic education, which is compulsory and free to all. The basic education covers:

• 1-year pre-primary education.
• 6 years of primary education.
• 3 years of junior secondary education.

Also, new objectives and curricula were highlighted in the national policy on education. And this was to guide and regulate educational activities across all levels of education, both in public and private schools.

How Education in Nigeria Works

The government and private stakeholders such as non-governmental organizations and private individuals manage educational facilities. And this is as stipulated by the national policy on education.

However, the federal ministry of education regulates public and private educational institutions.

Nigeria has 3 government levels:

The federal government and statement government manage public tertiary and secondary level institutions. And the local government oversees public pre-primary and primary level institutions.

Structure of the Nigerian Educational System

As you research the history of education in Nigeria, note. The Nigerian educational system was formerly structured using the 6-3-3-4 formula.

This means 1 year pre-primary, 6 years primary, 3 years junior secondary, 3 years senior secondary and 4 years tertiary education.

Thus, tertiary education covers universities, polytechnics and educational colleges. However, in 2008, the federal government introduced the 9-year basic education curriculum. And this was to achieve the goals of the universal basic education program.

Thus, the Nigerian educational structure became 9-3-4, which means 9 years basic education, 3 years senior secondary school education and 4 years tertiary education.

The structure of the 9-year basic education curriculum is:

• Lower basic education curriculum- Primary 1-3
• Middle basic education curriculum- Primary 4-6
• Upper basic education curriculum- Junior secondary 1-3

The 9-year basic education program, together with the recent curriculum changes, was implemented in 2014 across various schools in Nigeria. As you research the history of education in Nigeria, note the above.

More Details in the Educational Structure in Nigeria

The Nigerian formal educational structure is divided into:

• Basic education
• Senior secondary school education
• Tertiary education
• Basic Education

The 2014 national policy on education stipulated that basic education covers early child care and development education (crèches, daycare). And covers pre-primary education, and primary and junior secondary education.

As you research the history of education in Nigeria, note. Basic education provides formal education training to children aged between 0-15 years. The age group distributions for sub-level of basic education are:

• Early child care and development education – 0- 4 years
• Pre-primary education (1-year duration) – 5-year-olds
• Primary education – 6-12 years
• Junior secondary education – 12- 15 years

Also, as we look at the history of education in Nigeria, note. English is the official language of instruction at the basic education level, but they may adopt indigenous languages depending on the location.

For instance, educators in a particular geopolitical zone of Nigeria may choose to teach primary school students in their local languages, such as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba.

Schools use the national policy on education guidelines to decide on the curriculum and subjects to teach. Also, they give a student that successfully completes primary education a primary school leaving certificate. This is to progress into the junior secondary school level.

Also, a basic education certificate is awarded to successful students that pass the entrance exams into senior secondary school education.

History of Education in Nigeria and the Senior Secondary School Education

As we look at the history of education in Nigeria, note. The current secondary curriculum prepares students to have vocational skills apart from their formal education training.

Vocational training empowers senior secondary school students to gain skills such as:

• Hairstyling.
• Fashion designing.

The formal education curriculum offers core subjects such as:

• Mathematics.
• Civic studies and entrepreneurship.

Interestingly, this cuts across the different fields of study which include:

• Technology and business.

For senior secondary school students to progress into the tertiary level of education, note. The student must pass the senior school certificate examination prepared by the West African examination council (WAEC) and national examination council (NECO).

The WAEC exams are usually taken every year in May. And they only expect senior secondary school students in the last class to sit for this exam.

Also, successful students are given a senior school leaving certificate upon completing senior secondary education.

For instance, for students to gain admission into a Nigerian university, the student must pass both the West African examination council (WAEC) or national examination council (NECO) and the unified tertiary matriculation exam (UTME).

The joint admissions and matriculations board prepares the UTME as a uniform admission test. And it is for all eligible senior secondary students, regardless of location.

However, in 2016, because of some irregularities in the conduct of the UTME, some universities now conduct their internal exams to screen students further before admission.

History of Education in Nigeria and the Tertiary Education

As we look at the history of education in Nigeria, note. Nigerian tertiary education covers universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The National University Commission is the governing body that regulates the activities of accredited universities in Nigeria.

The university curriculum is structured to prepare university graduates to contribute to national development. And it aims at developing entrepreneurs to create employment opportunities.

It is believed that these entrepreneurs will boost economic growth. And this is by creating more jobs and reducing unemployment. Also, this will reduce crime rates among unemployed youths.

Colleges of education are training centres for preparing young students interested in the teaching profession. And these colleges prepare their students to become competent teachers in society.

Additionally, polytechnics provide specialised technical training and skill acquisition for students. And this is so they can contribute to the industrial and economic developments in Nigeria.

Final Thoughts

As we look at the history of education in Nigeria, note. Education in Nigeria has developed over the years after the initial introduction by Christian missionaries. And this is because it is one of the major sectors in Nigeria that contributes to nation-building and economic growth.

The federal ministry of education regulates education in Nigeria. And the national policy of education sets standards and guidelines that educational institutions follow. And this is to ensure students are prepared for national building and development.

The current educational system in Nigeria follows a 9 years of basic education, 3 years of senior secondary education and 4 years of tertiary education.

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History of Education in Nigeria: True Origin of Nigerian Education System

• Post author: Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka ACMC
• Post published: August 8, 2021
• Post category: Scholarly Articles

History of Education in Nigeria : Without question, Education is the most integral part of Civilization in any society or country. The act of teaching and learning is a lifetime process that cannot be easily compared to other activities in the world. It has existed since the creation of man and has evolved over time according to the times and the continuous development of human affairs.

For Nigeria, the origin of education is similar with the rest of the world. This article will be discussing on the history of formal education from the pre colonial era to contemporary times. The historical account of Western education in Nigeria is basically the same with most if not all African countries which were ruled by colonial governments.

It is important to know how education was before the arrival of the westerners, the progress of education, the challenges associated with education and general appraisal of the educational system in Nigeria from that period to date.

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Table of Contents

Pre-colonial Educational System in Nigeria

Long before the arrival of the British Government into the African soil, Nigeria (as it was later called) had two major types of education:

1. Islamic Education: This type of education was only afforded to members of the Islamic religion across all Muslim communities. The scope of education was limited to teaching students about the Qur’an and the Arabic alphabet.

This form of training was an extension of the teachings in the Mosque specifically for young muslim children who would have a more basic education regarding their religion.

2. Indigenous Education: Students were exposed to the realities of society and trained how to apply practical skills in adding significantly to the progress of their society. In addition, they learned more about the customs and traditions of the community as well as engaged in community activities such as sanitation and farming.

This was the traditional training at the pre colonial era which is still in practice today. The involvement of the students in basic and specialized trainings was dependent on the age of the students and their genders. During this time line, there was no formal education in terms of reading and writing neither on arts or science.

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Colonial Education System in Nigeria

Around the 1840s, Western education was introduced into Nigeria by Christian British missionaries . The first missionary school was established by the Anglican Church Missionary in 1842. In the process of time, the colonial government rendered financial assistance to the missionaries and began establishing primary and secondary schools.

This was achieved through an Ordinance promulgated in 1882 declaring the establishment of formal education in Nigeria. This was a significant progress and the beginning of the gradual development of the Nation. By the year 1914, 11 secondary schools, 91 missionary schools and 59 Government elementary schools (inclusive of private schools) were already established.

However there was need for advanced learning in various fields of study to be made for the students. In order to be in par with the global trends (which is proportional to the holistic development of a country), the need to establish an institution for advanced studies was of paramount consideration. This was the ideology that pionerred the creation of universities. So in 1948, the first Nigerian University, University of Ibadan, was established which can be traced to the Eliot Commission in 1943.

Also see: Best Secondary Schools in Nigeria and Why

Post Colonial Educational System to Present Times

At this time, primary and secondary schools and the first University were established  across the country. The second University was established by the Eastern Region, the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) in the Independence year of 1960. Around the year 1970, the Midwestern Region established the University of Benin which is located and currently operated under the government of Edo State.

More universities and schools in general were being established but only the tertiary institutions were mandatorily meant to be established by the Federal or State Government. There were no private universities until the late 1990s. Some expert writers have classified the establishment of universities into four categories:

1. First generation Universities: From 1960 to 1970

2. Second Generation Universities: From 1975 to 1980

3. Third Generation Universities: From 1980 to early 1990s

4. Fourth Generation Universities: From 1991 to present date.

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Final Appraisal: Notable Challenges and Recommendations

Looking at the birth of Western Education to the present day system, it is clear that as far as the education sector goes, Nigeria has been doing quite a commendable job in raising the bar for neighbouring countries and beyond. Obviously, there are myriad of challenges the country needs to deal with in the aspect of education. One of which is the lack of uniformity of education in Nigeria.

There are regions/states that are definitely occupied by highly literate individuals and it reflects in national examinations, outstanding global recognitions and the like. This is because of the value those states/regions place on education. Research can be made to the conclusion that some States are not exactly advanced in education. Just a small percentage of people from those areas perform beyond expectations.

Notwithstanding,  the government has worked laboriously to push for Mass education and reduction of illiteracy. It is recommended that these actions should remain consistent. The measurement of a qualified candidate for any key administrative or elective position (amongst other things) should be based on higher standards of education for the value of education in Nigeria to be justified.

It will also help that better learning environments, ICT facilities and other learning apparatus should be created. These were not available during the colonial period and even after then but fortunately there are resources to materialize all of these.

Similarly, government should not marginalize education for those who can afford it. Schools in rural communities should be developed as well in order to encourage young ones to acquire knowledge and build a better future for themselves no matter where they may be.

Also see: Cheapest universities in the United States for international students

So far, there are over 20,000 secondary schools and 170 Universities in Nigeria. It’s no wonder why some of the top professionals in the world are from this fatherland. There is opportunity and potential to elevate the standards to compete with the top academic institutions of the world.

Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.

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Nigeria’s 1969 Curriculum Conference: a practical approach to educational emancipation

Cadernos de História da Educação

After Nigeria got her independence on 1 October, 1960, the general consensus was that there was the need for educational emancipation through decolonization of the academic contents of education; to make education relevant to the needs of the individual and the society at large. This led to the organisation of the 1969 Curriculum Conference which had far-reaching effects on the curriculum contents, purposes, goals and objectives of education in Nigeria. However, what obtains in the education sector today makes it to look as if there was no initial proper planning for educational emancipation. This paper, therefore, focuses Nigeria’s 1969 Curriculum Conference (CC) as a practical approach to educational emancipation in Nigeria. In the conceptual framework of the globalisation of education, Cookey’s (1972: xxv) observation during the conference that, “education then tends to produce children who can read and write and pass examinations and which qualify them for employment only as cle...

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Nigeria as a nation came into being in the year 1914 through the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates by Sir Frederick Lugard. After this amalgamation, and prior to independence, there was no education policy clearly defined by the colonial government; instead, several educational ordinances were promulgated. However, the 1920 Phelps-Stokes Commission awakened the colonial government to the need for improvement. The 1951 regionalisation of education laws that later emerged and their implementation also focused on mass literacy and theoretical education. The exposure to higher education by few Nigerians, however, led to the agitation for independence, which was eventually granted on October 1, 1960. The independence invested Nigerians with the right to take their destiny into their own hands, including the formulation of education policies for the total emancipation of the citizenry. Hence, the 6-3-3-4 system emerged, and the first National Policy on Education (NPE...

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Philosophy has taught me to question. To question the solution and the problem, the victim and the assailant. This paper calls into question the educational curriculum in most of Africa, however Nigeria will be the selected case study. Is it possible to create an educational curriculum that is completely African in its perspective? Such questions is what i seek to answer in this paper. Unlike most decolonization themed papers, this one seeks to question mostly the victim (the colonized).

There is a widened western educational gap between the north and south of Nigeria with the predominantly Muslim areas of the north lagging behind due to some historical antecedents. In the colonial era the British educational policy did not address the aspirations of the people leading to a clamour for change in the post-independence era resulting in the first indigenous National Policy on Education in 1977. Changes have resulted in three revised editions of the national educational policy. This paper reviews the educational policy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 1944, highlighting specific issues on the disparity between educational policy and the implementation in context of the wider socioeconomic and political development process. This is a case study of the peculiarity of educational policy development in a pluralistic society and developing country, with unity and developmental concerns.

International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies [IJELS] , Abayomi Alase

This article looked at the maturity of the Nigerian educational system from independence until now. As a comprehensive and historical review of the educational system/standard in Nigeria, this article examine some of the educational issues/shortcomings confronting the Nigerian people, and their inability to anticipate and strategically plan a course of action to handle the stressors. Additionally, this article also discussed the effects of globalization and how it has transformed/reshaped the fundamentalism of educational practices in Africa. As such, the problem with the Nigerian educational system is that it is lacking in many educational areas. It is recommended that the Nigerian government facilitate the development/construction of new infrastructures. For any society to grow/function properly, economically, developmentally, and/or fundamentally it needs certain infrastructures in place, i.e., standardized and structurally sound school buildings. Keywords: Nigerian educational system, UPE in Nigeria, UBE in Nigeria, Public and private universities in Nigeria

JEP|eJournal of Educational Policy

Prof. Babatunde A . ADEYEMI

There is no doubt that Nigeria as a nation had witnessed a series of Educational Systems since its birth in 1914. Immediately after independence in Nigeria, there were a lot of ills and shortcomings in Nigerian educational system as it was based on the British educational system which did not pave way for yearning needs, interests and aspirations of Nigerian society. This gave birth to 1969 curriculum conference that focused on Nigerian children in Nigerian society with National policies on Education in 1977, 1981, 1998 and 2004 respectively (FRN, 1977; 1981; 1998; 2004), all with the prime purpose of improving the quality of Nigerian Education. For the purpose of this paper, emphasis was on four educational systems in Nigeria. These are: 6.3.3.4 (Fabunmi, 1986) system of education, Nomadic education, Distance and Open Learning Education and Universal Basic Education. Their strengths and weaknesses were examined and conclusion made.

Great changes are occurring in the global world, and the educational system must respond to these changes or become obsolete and irrelevant. There is evidence in Nigeria which over the year has shown that government investment in education has not achieved the desired results, goals and objectives. The failure of the educational sector has increased the incidence of poverty and deprivation of the vulnerable groups. Education in Nigeria is said to be an instrument "par excellence" for effecting national development. The country's educational goals should be clearly set out in terms of their relevance to the needs of the individual and those of the society, in consonance with the realities of our environment and the modern world. For the educational system in Nigeria therefore to be relevant to the needs of individual and the society, there must be radical changes in our educational system in terms of curricular content, methodology and instructional materials. It is onl...

Suleiman Alhaji umar

M.sc Thesis

Onikoyi Adekunle

ABSTRACT The question of educational development in the Nigerian post-colonial state has been established as an historical issue that could only take an historical examination to expose the foundation causes of the problems that characterized the phenomenon. This study explores the pre-colonial, character of education in those geographical areas that later become Nigeria with general findings that most communities have their mode of education prior to colonialism which are particular about moulding men and women for their collective societal growth based on cultural specificities. Our study thence reveals that the advent of colonial education which is a product of the colonial state that birthed the Post-colonial Nigerian state made Nigerian education to lose it touch of Nigerianess and subsequently made education in Nigeria to be neo-colonial education due to the fact the Nigerian post-colonial state is as well of neo-colonial character without any concrete effort to revolutionized it. This study further observed the defects of colonial education to include excessive focus on examination, discontinuity in moral learning, infusion of spirit of materialism and individualism, extension of western cultural hegemony. The work also shows that colonial education is not absolutely of negative effects, some of it fortunes were considered to be introduction of a unified medium of communication, development of native languages into writings, mass literacy ,introduction of western technologies and innovations among others. However, the comprehensive effects of the Nigerian post-colonial state on her educational development were seen from cultural/ideological, political, historical and economic perspectives. On the cultural/ideological basis, this study exposes how the kind of education received manifest on the fashion sense, consumerist orientation, religion and social relationship of the people with details analysis of how these issues found in the educational system are products of the post-colonial characterization of the Nigerian state. Having utilized the dependency theoretical-approach, this study concluded that for Nigerian education to achieve it intended objectivs,e her curricular and philosophy have to de-link from the euro-western infiltrations. This study therefore recommends compulsory consideration of African history, literatures, science,philosophy and religion,Integration of pre-colonial educational curricular, practical-oriented model of teaching, scrutiny of international aids on education, encouragement of local production and contextual domestication of western ideas.

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Education & Science

Education in Nigeria - Statistics & Facts

Primary school, secondary school, upper-secondary and higher education, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Female adult literacy rate in West Africa 2018, by country

Literacy rate in Nigeria 2018, by area and gender

Expenditure on education in Nigeria 2015-2019

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of universities in Nigeria 2024, by ownership

Per capita consumer spending on education in Nigeria 2014-2029

Educational Institutions & Market

Real GDP growth of the education sector in Nigeria 2022

Further recommended statistics

• Basic Statistic Literacy rate in Nigeria 1991-2018
• Basic Statistic Expenditure on education in Nigeria 2015-2019
• Premium Statistic School completion rate in Nigeria 2020, by educational level and gender
• Basic Statistic Out-of-school rate in Nigeria 2018, by education
• Basic Statistic Mean age when starting school or work in Nigeria 2021, by area

Literacy rate in Nigeria 1991-2018

Literacy rate in Nigeria in selected years between 1991 and 2018

Allocation to education sector as share of total Federal budget in Nigeria from 2015 to 2019

School completion rate in Nigeria 2020, by educational level and gender

School completion rate in Nigeria in 2020, by educational level and gender

Out-of-school rate in Nigeria 2018, by education

Out-of-school rate in Nigeria in 2018, by educational level

Mean age when starting school or work in Nigeria 2021, by area

Mean age when starting school or work in Nigeria as of 2021, by area (in years)

Early education

• Basic Statistic Children in early education in Nigeria 2018, by gender and school ownership
• Basic Statistic Public pre-primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by area
• Premium Statistic Classrooms in pre-primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership

Children in early education in Nigeria 2018, by gender and school ownership

Number of children participating in pre-primary or Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE) in Nigeria in 2018, by gender and school ownership

Public pre-primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by area

Number of public schools for Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE) in Nigeria in 2019, by area

Classrooms in pre-primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership

Number of classrooms for Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE) in Nigeria in 2019, by school ownership

• Basic Statistic Number of elementary schools in Nigeria 2019, by state
• Basic Statistic Number of primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership
• Basic Statistic Number of nomadic primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by state
• Basic Statistic Number of elementary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state
• Basic Statistic Children in enrolled in private elementary school in Nigeria 2019, by age and gender
• Premium Statistic Children in enrolled in public elementary school in Nigeria 2019, by area

Number of elementary schools in Nigeria 2019, by state

Number of primary schools in Nigeria as of the school year 2018/2019, by state

Number of primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership

Number of elementary schools in Nigeria as of 2018/2019, by ownership

Number of nomadic primary schools in Nigeria 2019, by state

Number of nomadic elementary schools in Nigeria as of 2019, by state

Number of elementary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state

Number of primary school teachers in Nigeria as of the 2018/2019 academic year, by state

Children in enrolled in private elementary school in Nigeria 2019, by age and gender

Number of children enrolled in private elementary school in Nigeria as of 2019, by age group and gender

Children in enrolled in public elementary school in Nigeria 2019, by area

Number of children enrolled in public elementary school in Nigeria as of 2019, by area

• Basic Statistic Students in enrolled in public and private middle school in Nigeria 2019, by age
• Basic Statistic Number of junior secondary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state
• Basic Statistic Number of public lower secondary schools in Nigeria 2019, by area
• Basic Statistic Gross enrollment ratio in upper secondary school in Nigeria 2012-2018
• Premium Statistic Completion rate for upper secondary school in Nigeria 2013-2020, by gender
• Basic Statistic Number of senior secondary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership
• Basic Statistic Number of senior secondary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state

Students in enrolled in public and private middle school in Nigeria 2019, by age

Number of students enrolled in public and private lower secondary school in Nigeria as of 2019, by age

Number of junior secondary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state

Number of junior secondary school teachers in Nigeria as of the 2018/2019 academic year, by state

Number of public lower secondary schools in Nigeria 2019, by area

Number of public junior secondary schools in Nigeria as of 2019, by area

Gross enrollment ratio in upper secondary school in Nigeria 2012-2018

Gross enrollment ratio in upper secondary school in Nigeria from 2012 to 2018

Completion rate for upper secondary school in Nigeria 2013-2020, by gender

Completion rate for upper secondary school in Nigeria in selected years between 2013 and 2020, by gender

Number of senior secondary schools in Nigeria 2019, by ownership

Number of senior secondary schools in Nigeria as of 2018/2019, by ownership

Number of senior secondary school teachers in Nigeria 2018/2019, by state

Number of senior secondary school teachers in Nigeria as of the 2018/ 2019 academic year, by state

Tertiary education

• Basic Statistic Number of universities in Nigeria 2024, by ownership
• Basic Statistic Largest universities in Nigeria 2019
• Basic Statistic Number of university students in Nigeria 2019, by gender and course of study
• Basic Statistic Undergraduate enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline
• Basic Statistic Master enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline
• Basic Statistic Diploma enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline
• Basic Statistic Ph.D. enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline
• Basic Statistic Number of university professors in Nigeria 2019

Number of universities in Nigeria as of 2024, by ownership

Largest universities in Nigeria 2019

Largest universities in Nigeria as of 2019

Number of university students in Nigeria 2019, by gender and course of study

Number of university students in Nigeria in the 2018/2019 academic session, by gender and course of study

Undergraduate enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline

Number of undergraduate students at universities in Nigeria as of 2019, by gender and discipline

Master enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline

Number of master students at universities in Nigeria as of 2019, by gender and discipline

Diploma enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline

Number of postgraduate diploma students at universities in Nigeria as of 2019, by gender and discipline

Ph.D. enrollment at Nigerian universities 2019, by gender and discipline

Number of Ph.D. students at universities in Nigeria as of 2019, by gender and discipline

Number of university professors in Nigeria 2019

Number of university professors in Nigeria as of 2019, by gender

Further reports

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