Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:43:25.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nigerian Primary School Teachers' Perceptions of Schooling During the Second Decade of Universal Primary Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Cynthia Szymanski Sunal ,
Dennis W. Sunal  and
Osayimense Ose
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1976 Nigeria committed itself to the provision of universal primary education (UPE) to its children. A basic, six-year level of education was seen as a means of creating unity between the many disparate groups making up Nigeria's citizenry. It was also seen as a means of working towards the equalization of educational opportunities throughout the nation by providing a minimum level to which all children would be educated (Ozigi and Ocho 1981; Adesina 1982). The national commitment to UPE was endorsed by many, although not all, Nigerians (Casapo 1981, 1983).

A large commitment of money and the endorsement of many Nigerians were not enough to prevent a multitude of problems as UPE was put in place. The program has been a success in that many millions of children have received a primary education. However, a low quality of education was noted as an accompaniment to quantity education (Bray 1981). A survey of inspectors responsible for primary schools completed a decade after the initiation of UPE suggested that conditions in primary education were continuing to be such that quality education was difficult to obtain (Sunal, Osa, Gaba and Saleemi 1989). While some data are available describing primary schooling under the UPE program, little data are available from the teachers involved in it. The experience of primary school teachers as they perceive and report it has not been documented.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , December 1994 , pp. 51 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adesina, S. 1982. Planning and Educational Development in Nigeria. Lagos: Board Publications, Ltd.Google Scholar
Bray, M. 1981. Universal Primary Education: A Study of Kano State. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Bricker, D. 1989. Classroom Life as Civic Education: Individual Achievement and Student Cooperation in Schools. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Casapo, M. 1983. “Universal Primary Education in Nigeria: Its Problems and Implications. African Studies Review 26/1:91–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casapo, M.. 1981. “Religious, Social and Economic Factors Hindering the Education of Girls in Northern Nigeria.“ Comparative Education 17: 311–19.Google Scholar
Chi, M., Bassok, M., and Lewis, M.. 1988. The Nature of Expertise. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Choy, S., Bobbitt, R., Henke, E., Medrich, E., Horn, L., and Lieberman, J.. 1993. America's Teachers: Profile of a Profession. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Education.Google Scholar
Clegg, A. 1991. “Games and Simulations in Social Studies Education.” In Shaver, J. (ed.) Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning, 523–29. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Copa, P., Hultgren, F., and Wilkosz, J.. 1991. “Critical Thinking as a Lived Activity.” In Costa, A. (ed.) Developing Minds, 188–92. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Google Scholar
Doyle, W. 1992. “Curriculum and Pedagogy.” In Jackson, P. (ed.) Handbook of Research on Curriculum, 486–516. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Fafunwa, A. 1982. History of Education in Nigeria. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Federal Government of Nigeria. 1981. National Policy on Education. Lagos: Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Fillmore, L. and Meyer, L.. 1992. “The Curriculum and Linguistic Minorities.” In Jackson, P. (ed.) Handbook of Research on Curriculum, 626–58. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
O'Reilly, K. 1991. “Infusing Critical Thinking Into United States History Courses.” In Costa, A. (ed.) Developing Minds, 188–92. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Google Scholar
Ozigi, A. and Ocho, L.. 1981. Education in Northern Nigeria. Winchester, MA: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.Google Scholar
Stallings, J. and Stipek, D.. 1989. “Research on Early Childhood and Elementary School Teaching Programs.” In Wittrock, J. (ed.) Handbook of Research on Teaching, 3rd edition, 727–53. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Stodolsky, S. 1988. “Is Teaching Really By the Book?” In Jackson, P. and Haroutunian-Gordon, S. (eds.) From Socrates to Software: The Teacher as Text and the Text as Teacher, Eighty-Ninth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part 1, 159–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sunal, C. S., Osa, O., Caba, B., and Saleemi, A.. 1989. “Status of Primary Education in Nigeria Following the Initiation Period of Universal Primary Education.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education 4/1:30–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Superka, D., Hawke, S., and Morrissett, I.. 1981. “The Current and Future Status of the Social Studies” Social Education 44/5:362–69.Google Scholar
Urwick, J. 1983. “Politics and Professionalism in Nigerian Education Planning.” Comparative Education Review 27/10:323–41.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. 1978. “Universal Primary Education, Nigeria: An Appraisal of Plan Implementation.” Canadian and International Education 7/12: 28–52.Google Scholar