A Brief Perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals

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WRITTEN BY: Asanya Boluwatife Ndidi The unanimous agreement of the 193 member states of the United Nations General Assembly to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in 2015 produced one of the most ambitious and inclusive global aspirations in history. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. Targeted at committing members states to ensure greater inclusivity, end poverty and push the world to a more sustainable path. The SDGs are broad and interdependent thus begetting the question as to how well these broad global aspirations are likely to result in implementable developments especially in developing countries. The inclusion of so many goals without a hierarchy of priority and without reference to inherent contradictions that are likely to result in conflict between the goals may have unintended negative consequences which may inhibit the timely/e
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KEY ISSUES FACING AFRICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: THE NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

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KEY ISSUES FACING AFRICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: THE NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

INTRODUCTION
Prior to 1960, the Nigeria educational system experienced marginal access to education. However, African modern educational system in Nigeria gained priority and continued to expand during the 19760s and 1970s. Despite the advancement of education in Africa especially in Nigeria, the African education sector continues to face serious challenges such as inequitable access to education, outdated and irrelevant curriculum, poor learning facilities, inadequate financing, lack of requisite skills and knowledge of teachers especially at the primary and secondary levels among others. 

This article highlights some key issues facing African Educational system with emphasis on the Nigerian educational system.


BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICAN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY
Education existed in Africa long before colonization. Knowledge, skills and attitudes were passed from generation to generation mostly through word of mouth in the African societies. The elders were teachers responsible for passing necessary survival skills to the younger generation such as hunting, trading, farming, pottery, leadership skills etc. Though pre-colonial Africa did not have schools in the modern sense, this did not mean that young people and children were not educated: they learnt by living and doing, which made their education essentially practical training.

 Modern Educational system in Africa can be associated with the advent of colonialism. The coming of missionaries introduced education into Nigeria with marginal access to education due to cultural and religious beliefs. Over the years, both locally and internationally conscientious efforts have been made to revolutionize the educational sector in Africa. Equitable and free access to education in Africa have been on the global agenda since the declaration of human rights in 1948.  Modern education in Nigeria continued to witness steady advancement in the educational system between 1960s and 1970s, however there was a decline in 1980s due to inadequate financing and poor educational facilities. 

 

KEY ISSUES FACING AFRICAN EDUCATION
Inequitable access: despite the global agenda to create equitable and free access to Education, young people in Nigeria especially within the rural areas lack access to good and quality education. According to the report by UNICEF, Nigeria records the largest number of out of school children.  “Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education.”

Inadequate financing: a major problem facing the educational system in Nigeria is poor funding. At all levels of government in Nigeria, education is not funded adequately, with less than 26% of the nation’s budget allocated to education.  UNESCO recommends that the government should commit 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the nation’s budget to education if we hope to reverse the decline trend. The budgetary allocation to the education sector, as approved in the 2021 budget, relative to the size of the budget and its population, is at 8.1per cent with UBEC and tertiary (TETFund) intervention. 

Inadequate Infrastructure/ lack of teaching Aid: over the years, schools and other vocational institutions have collapsed due to abject neglect by governments. With the continued dilapidation of public intuitions, public institutions at all levels lack the necessary infrastructure for conducive learning especially in the areas of science and technology and therefore resulting in the continued decline of our educational system. 

Furthermore, the absence of teaching aids such as audio devices, video, books, DVDs, Projectors, computers etc to enhance and classroom teaching experience are not provided for teachers thereby making learning difficult.

Archaic Academic Curriculum: it is no longer news that the academic curriculum in Nigeria ’s educational institutions – nursery, primary, secondary, and tertiary is older than the country itself and lacks the innovation and creativity to compete with global standards.  The over reliance on theoretical approach and paper based qualification as oppose to skills and practical learning continues to contribute to poor educational standards. 

Social-cultural norms: social-cultural norms and practices in different parts of the country continue to impede the advancement of education in Nigeria.  particularly in the northern part of Nigeria, social-cultural norms such as patriarchy, early marriage among others deprive young girls of having access to formal education. According to UNESCO states in the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school. 

Insecurity: the heightened case of insecurity in Nigeria impacts negatively on the educational system with school children at risk of losing their lives.  The abduction of the 276 chibok girls, the abduction of 344 male students from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, the abduction of 80 pupils of the Islamiyya School, Mahuta, Kaduna State,  the abduction 27 students from GSS College, Kagara, Niger State among others contine to threaten education in the country. 

 

CONCLUSION 
Nigeria’s underdevelopment has often been linked to lack of investment in human development and problems associated with educational reforms with a lot of challenges bedeviling the educational sector. The role of education in nation building is considered pivotal in national development and can only be achieved through proper educational reforms measured in qualitative terms. The Nigerian educational system requires a total overhaul and standardization in the light of the changing global tides. 



REFERENCES

1.     Albert-Enéas Gakusi, “African Education Challenges and Policy Responses: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the African Development Bank” (2008) available at https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Knowledge/30768682-EN-1.3.4-GAKUSI.PDF 

2.     Dama Mosweunyane, “The African Educational Evolution: From Traditional Training to Formal Education”, Higher Education Studies; Vol. 3, No. 4; 2013. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1079287.pdf 

3.     Available at https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/education 

4.     available at https://infoguidenigeria.com/problems-education-nigeria/ 

5.     “Education Fund: Leaving No Child Behind”. Available at https://yourbudgit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-Education-Budget-Analysis-1.pdf 

6.     “The Nigerian archaic academic curriculum and the need for a review,” Available at https://www.lbs.edu.ng/lbsinsight/the-nigerian-archaic-academic-curriculum-and-the-need-for-a-review/ 

7.     “Insecurity is crippling Nigeria’s education system — here’s what we must do,” available at https://www.thecable.ng/insecurity-is-crippling-nigerias-education-system-heres-what-we-mustdo#:~:text=According%20to%20available%20data%2C%2030,today%20are%20in%20Northern%20Nigeria. 

 

 



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