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Journal of Education in Developing Areas (JED A) Vol. 19, No. 1.

ROAD MAP FOR THE REALIZATION OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENTGOAL OF UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

By

Professor Benjamin A. Eheazu, mnae

Director, Nomadic Education Centre &Former Dean, Faculty of EducationUniversity of Port Harcourt

Abstract

Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations eight Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) the second of which (MDG 2) is Universal Primary /Basic Education. In reality, the country’s Universal Basic Education Programme (UBE) goes beyond the MDG 2 objective of ensuring “that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling” and includes such other educational programmes as adult literacy education, non-formal skills development and apprenticeship training for out-of-school adolescents. So far, considerable achievements have been made, but there are still some constraints on the UBE Programme implementation process.This paper discusses the achievements and impediments and suggests the way forward to meet the 2015 target date for the realization of MDG 2 in Nigeria.



March , 2011 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

w w w . j e d a - u n i p o r t . c o m Page 1

Introduction

In the context of the topic of this paper, the term road map is used here to refer to

an identification of the way forward, highlighting “milestones” to be covered in the

form of strategies to be adopted or adjustments to be effected for the

achievement, by 2015, of the objectives of the UBE programme in Nigeria as

determined by both national needs/vision and the United Nations’ Millennium

Development Goal (MDG) No 2.

The World Conference on Education For All (WCEFA) which was held in

Jomtien, Thailand from 5th to 9th March, 1990 and which was attended by 155

countries and 150 organizations, has proved to be the start of a powerful

movement rather than just another event, as it set a target of ten years to achieve

Education for All (EFA) with the conviction that people everywhere have basic

human aspirations and needs (WCEFA, 1990, Framework 8).

The Jomtien “movement” was kept alive by the International Consultative

Forum for Education for All (popularly referred to as the “EFA Forum”). The

Forum organized a series of worldwide meetings at which EFA partners could

discuss progress and matters of mutual concern. In April 2000, the forum met in

Dakar, Senegal to assess the progress made during the Jomtien 10 – year targetand to renew the commitment to achieve Education for All (EFA) goals. The

assessment by the WEFA which has been described as the most in-depth

evaluation of basic education ever undertaken (Muller, 2000), was conducted in

over 180 countries. The assessment took stock of the then current state of basic

education and evaluated the progress made during the ten-year Jomtien target

period. The assessment revealed that although some success had been recorded,

much of the EFA targets remained to be achieved (see for instance, WEFFramework 5; DVV 2000). The World Education Forum (WEF) recommitted itself

to a new target of achieving the EFA Goals within the Dakar Framework For

Action (cf. WEF Framework 7; in DVV, 2000):

In September 2000, 189 member states of the United Nations met and

made a Declaration which set out an agenda for international policy in the 21st

Century (millennium). The agenda laid down four interlinked areas for

programmatic action that are subordinate to the overall goals of ensuring future

global security as follows (Van de Sand, 2005; 69):





i. Peace, security and disarmament;

ii. Development and poverty reduction;

iii. Protection of the shared environment;

iv. Human rights, democracy and good governance.

In order to put the Millennium Declaration into effect, a working group

composed of the UN, the World Bank, the OECD (organization for Economic Co-

operation and Development) and other international organizations drew up a road

map in 2001, which UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, presented to the General

Assembly in September of that year. The presentation contained a selection of

eight internationally agreed goals set out in the chapter of the Declaration dealing

with development and the environment in 21st Millennium. The eight Millennium

Development Goals are broken down into 18 specific targets which can be

measured by means of 48 indicators (United Nations, online). The goals selected

are not intended to present a comprehensive vision of human development, but

serve rather as a yardstick from which it can be seen how much progress the

world is making towards realizing the “balanced globalization” that is called for in

the Millennium Declaration (Van de Sand, 2005). The eight MDGs are designed

to:

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Goal 2 : Achieve Universal Primary Education

Goal 3 : Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Goal 4 : Reduce Child Mortality

Goal 5 : Improve maternal Health

Goal 6 : Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

Goal 7 : Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Goal 8 : Develop a Global Partnership for Development

The MDGs highlight the reduction of poverty as the overarching task,

followed by the Achievement of Universal Primary Education, the main concern of

this presentation, as Goal No. 2. This appears to be the convenient point to make

some clarifications about the MDG No. 2.

The Concept of Universal Basic Education

It is noteworthy and should be pointed out ‘ab initio’, that from Jomtien (1990)

through Dakar (2000) to the MDGs (2000), there has been no ‘universal’ or global

definition of Universal Basic Education. In the case of Jomtien, the focus was not





on basic education as such but on basic learning needs. According to the Jomtien

Conference (Amman Report, 1996:8):

these needs comprise both essential learning tools such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy and problem solving and

the basic learning content such as knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions and to continue learning.

As basic education has not been a clear cut generally accepted concept, the

Jomtien Conference left it to countries themselves to specify what they

understood by basic education in their specific contexts. In consequence, most,

but not all countries took basic education to mean primary schooling, though to

the movement of Education for All it means the right of all people everywhere to

basic education, and education geared to all people’s needs and responsibilities

as learners. The overriding purpose of the global movement of Education for All is

no less than the achievement of a better life for all people, grounded in civilized

values and human rights and responsibilities (Skilbeck, 2000:11). The focus of

the Jomtien idea of Education for All was not on education systems but on

learning, learning in its broadest sense, learning that takes place everywhere and

at any stage of life or simply “throughout life”.

However, following some pressures from stakeholders, Jomtien accepted

that “an expanded vision of basic education was needed which would surpass

existing resource levels, institutional structures, curricula and conventional

delivery systems while building on the best current practices” (WCEFA

Declaration 2.1). Nonetheless, the fact that organized schooling provides, for most

people, essential foundations for learning over the lifecycle, led to the

identification of basic learning needs and primary schooling. The school

curriculum was presumed to meet these needs. This identification began in

Jomtien period. The “Vision of Jomtien” has, as the Mid-Decade Meeting of the

EFA Forum in Amman noted, “often been reduced to a simple emphasis upon

putting more children into school” (Amman Report, 1996: 9).

The expanded vision of basic education later supported by Jomtien as

indicated above was a result of an expanded negotiation process between the four





sponsors/organizers of WCEFA. While the World Bank’s focus was on primary

education, UNESCO favoured a rather broad concept of (basic) education

including adult education with literacy and non formal alternatives to schooling.

UNICEF stressed the necessity to include early childhood education. UNDP hadno particular point of view (Muller, 2000).

Nevertheless, the expanded vision did not appear to have permeated the

MDGs, hence the emphasis of Goal No. 2 is on Universal Primary Education to

ensure that “all boys and girls complete a full cause of primary schooling”.

The Nigerian Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme: Scope, Objectives

and Special Attributes

The Nigerian Universal Basic Education Programme which was launched on 30

September, 1999 by the then president of the country, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,

could be rightly described as a multifaceted programme which brings within its

scope the following:

1. programmes and initiatives for early childhood education and

development;

2. programmes and initiatives for the acquisition of functional literacy

numeracy and life skills, especially for adults (persons aged 15 and

above);3. special programmes for nomadic populations;

4. out-of- school children, non-formal programmes for updating the

knowledge and skills of persons who left before acquiring the basics

needed for lifelong learning;

5. non-formal skills for apprenticeship training for adolescents and youth

who have not had the benefits of formal education;

6. the formal school system from the beginning of primary education to the

end of the junior secondary school.

Accordingly, the objectives of the UBE progamme in Nigeria are as follows

(UBE, Office, 2002:3):

i. developing in the entire citizenry a strong consciousness for educationand a strong commitment to its vigorous promotion;

ii. the provision of free, universal basic education for every Nigerian childof school-going age;

iii. reducing drastically the incidence of drop-out from the formal schoolsystem (through improved relevance, quality and efficiency);

iv. catering for the learning needs of young persons who, for one reason or

another, have had to interrupt their schooling through appropriateforms of complementary approaches to the provision and promotion of basic education and

v. ensuring the acquisition of appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy,





manipulative, communicative and life skills, as well as the ethical,moral and civic values needed for laying a solid foundation for life-longlearning.

Given its scope and objectives, Nigeria’s UBE Programme, could be seen to

have the following attributes:

1. Inclusiveness, implying that persons in all manners and conditions of

physical, spatial, and psychological existence will benefit from the

programme;

2. Special attention to special groups, implying that the special needs of all

sectors of the population will be taken into account;

3. Encouragement for the provision of facilities for early childhood

education and development with due attention given to the needs of

specific social groups and geographical zones of the country, bearing inmind the need to lay a solid foundation for life-long learning right from

early childhood.

Structure of the Nigerian UBE Programme

The management structure of the UBE programme is usually referred to as a

model in co-operative and consultative federalism, involving all the three tiers of

government with respective management responsibilities clearly stipulated in the

UBE Information Brochure (UBE Office: 2000).

Statutory Instruments and Provisions of the UBE Programme

Two statutory documents legalize the establishment of the UBE programme;

namely, The National Policy on Education and the UBE Act (2004). Section 3 of

the National Policy on Education (Federal republic of Nigeria, 2004a:13) provides

as follows:

Basic education shall be of 9-years duration comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior secondary education. It shall be free and compulsory. It shall also include adult and non-formal education programmes at primary and junior secondary education levels for the adults and out-of school youths. The specific goals of basic education shall be the same as the goals of the levels of education to which it applies (i.e primary education, junior secondary education and adult and non-formal education).

The UBE Act, on the other hand, provides a legal framework for the

operation of a free, compulsory Universal Basic Education Programme in Nigeria.

The Act interprets “Universal Basic Education” (Federal Republic of Nigeria,

2004b:A121) as “early childhood care and education, the nine years of formal





schooling, adult literacy and non –formal education, skills acquisition

programmes and the education of special groups such as nomads and migrants,

girl-child and women, almajiri, street children and disabled groups”. The UBE

Act also provides for the establishment of the Universal Basic EducationCommission (UBEC) with an Executive Secretary to Head the Commission and a

Governing Board to oversee the Commission’s performance of its functions as

articulated in the Act (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004b: A 117 – A118):

Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education as a Millennium Development Goal

In the light of the objectives of the UBE programme in Nigeria (stated in the Act

referred to above) and those of the MDGs, it is obvious that, statutorily, Nigera’s

UBE programme goes beyond the achievement of Universal Primary Education

(MDG No 2) and includes the acquisition of the Junior secondary school

education. In its all inclusive stance, Nigeria’s UBE Programme also includes

aspects of MDGs 1, 3 and 6. To illustrate, in its Annual Report (2002), the UBE

Office (2002:34) noted that in its third year of existence, its department of social

mobilization “completed the following HIV/AIDS (MDGs) activities”:

Production of sample HIV/AIDS posters;

Critique meeting on HIV/AIDS posters;

Master trainers workshop on HIV/AIDS awarenesscampaign;

Bidding for HIV/AIDS posters.

Again, addressing newsmen in Abuja at a meeting of the 4th High Level

Policy Committee on development of the nine-year basic education curriculum,

the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and DevelopmentCouncil (NERDC) is reported to have stated as follows (This Day, April 5,

2006;48):

…the new (nine-year basic education) curriculum, which comes into effect the next academic session (2006/2007), focuses on strategic contents for the achievement of the country’s reform initiatives in value orientation, poverty eradication, wealth generation and job creation (MDG 1). The nine-year basic education structure, comprising lower basic

(primary 1-3), middle basic (primary 4-6) and upper basic (JSS 1-3) which integrates the primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) into a continuous system of schooling, was adopted by the Federal Government in response to the global





initiatives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).

Progress/Achievements made in the UBE Programme

Some indications of progress in the UBE programme are noteworthy here.According to the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education

Commission (UBEC), by 2006 (7 years after the inception of the UBE), progress

had been made in the following spheres ( Daily Sun, June 13, 2006:21):

The NERDC developed curricula for primary and juniorsecondary schools incorporating, Basic Technology andentrepreneurial skills;

Primary school enrolment which was about 12 million in1999, rose to 21 million by September, 2005. Again, 24

million children were registered in the Junior secondaryschool that same year. These increases came as a result

of the enrolment drive undertaken by the UBEC.

Furthermore, UBEC Annual Reports (2001, 2002 & 2005) have

documented the following among other achievements:

* Construction and equipment of thousands of classrooms, headteachers’ offices, stores and VIP toilets; general acceptance of the UBE programme arising from consultations with State

Governors and Local Government Chairmen;

* Training of over 50,000 additional teachers for the UBE programmethrough the Pivotal Teacher Training Programme (PTTP) at theNational Teachers Institute (NTI) Kaduna.

* Training of teachers in many States on the Effective use of English Language across the Basic Education Curriculum

(Basic Classes 4-6).

Constraints on the UBE Programme

A number of major constraints have been identified in the implementation of theUBE programme. These include: variations in the pace and extent of

implementation at the state level. In 2006, the Executive Secretary of UBEC was

reported as acknowledging the constraints in the following words (Daily Sun,

June 13, 2006:21): “In the design for implementation, we have given allowance

for three years for states to adjust properly. So by September 2009, we expect

every state of the federation to move fully towards the implementation of the UBE

programme”. What this “allowance” means is that by 2009 (nine years after the

inception of the UBE programme and six years to 2015 (the target date of the

MDGs), some states in the federation might just be queuing in for the UBE





programme.

Another, major constraint in the implementation of the UBE programme in

Nigeria is paucity of funds. States and Local Governments need adequate funds

to discharge the statutory functions assigned to them in relation to the UBEprogramme. As the UBE Executive Secretary has pointed out (Daily Sun, June

13, 2006:21). “The states need money to do a number of things – construct

classrooms, provide furniture, train teachers, provide instructional materials …

in both primary and junior secondary schools and other service centres”.

Furthermore, the monitoring and evaluation department of the UBE has a

number of constraints bordering mainly on inadequate numbers of staff and

transport. This key department of the UBE programme obviously needs amplecapacity and equipment to enhance its efficiency.

Apparent concentration on the nine-year (primary and junior secondary) aspects

of the UBE programme is another major constraint to the realization of other

aspects of the “all inclusive” programme, such as early childhood education,

nomadic education, mass literacy and so on.

The Way Forward: Road Map for Arrival at the 2015 target of the MDG 2

Nigeria’s multifaceted UBE programme which covers and indeed goes beyond

MDG 2 (ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary

schooling) is indeed an ambitious but important programme in the light of the

educational needs of the identified beneficiaries. All the same, the programme

poses enormous challenges, especially in the areas of funding and creation of a

sound policy environment.

Fortunately, the Federal Government has been making appreciable

attempts to respond to these two major challenges. For instance, the 2008

national budget earmarked, for the UBE programme, N39.7 billion (as against

N35.3 billion in 2007) or 13% of the total budget for Ministries, Departments and

Agencies. This was somewhat encouraging as the extra budget approval was

outside the education budget of N210.45 billion. Again, regarding the creation of

the necessary policy environment, it is elating to note that “Reform of the

Education Sector to improve skills and enhance standards” was part of late

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s 7– point Agenda for the Governance of Nigeria.

Considering the achievements and constraints of the UBE so far in the





light of declared objectives and the target date of 2015 (four years from now

(2011), a number of “milestones” would need to be attained, for the realization of

the UBE in Nigeria as an MDG. These should include:

1. Enactment of enabling bye laws and instrument to ensure effective linkagesamong the three tiers of government that handle the nine–year formal

UBE programme. There is also need to harmonize federal/state/local

government inputs;

2. Strict implementation of the provisions and interpretations of the UBE

Act, in relation to the fee-free and compulsory components of the

UBE programme as well as the concomitant sanctions for defaulters.

This will discourage non registration, truancy/absenteeism

among the school age children;

3. Clearly defined roles and funding provisions for the UBE supportive

institutions (e.g. NTI, NCNE, NMEC) that are expected to take charge of

pre-primary education, teacher training, education of nomads, mass

literacy and so on;

4. Genuine partnerships with civil society, the private sector and

international partners to enhance funding and capacity building in

the areas of education planning, data management, teacher

knowledge and skills enhancement;

5. Periodic stock-taking of achievements and lulls in the various components of

the UBE programme in order to regularly review priorities and readjust

strategies of implementation;

6. Annual production and publication of statistical information on the Basic

Education Programme to provide opportunity for assessments

and inputs from the Nigerian citizenry and international donor

organizations;

7. With the country’s endorsement of the Action Plan for EFA; MDGs and the

NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) documents, Nigeria

should further her case for qualification for the Fast Track Initiative

(FTI) of the donor partners. This may help to boost Nigerians funding

resources for the UBE.

Summary and Conclusion

Nigeria is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) one of which

is Universal Primary/Basic Education. Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education (UBE)

Programme goes beyond completion of primary schooling by all boys and girls by

the year 2015. It incorporates inter alia, early childhood education and

development, functional literacy, special programmes for nomadic populations,

non-formal education programmes for out-of-school children, non-formal skills

and apprenticeship training for adolescents and youths who have not had the





benefit of formal education, and the formal school system from the beginning of

primary education to the end of the junior secondary school.

The UBE programme in Nigeria is a product of the country’s past

experiences and the educational/learning needs of various segments of thecountry’s large population. It is also an off shoot of Nigeria’s efforts to uphold her

commitment to the promotion of basic education for all as required by a number

of covenants and protocols to which the country is a signatory.

Since its launching in September 1999, the UBE programme has

experienced a tripartite implementation, involving the Federal, State and Local

Governments in the country. Some achievements have been recorded in the areas

of increase in enrolments at primary and junior secondary school levels,curricular adjustments that promote development of scientific and technological

skills as well as entrepreneurial know-how among the Nigerian Youth. Many

teachers have been retrained and many have been employed.

These achievements notwithstanding, there are some notable constraints

experienced by the UBE programme in its eleven years of existence. The

constraints which include inadequate funding have been articulated in this

presentation. In view of the level of achievements so far, the constraintsexperienced, vis-a-vis the objectives of the UBE Programme, a road map has been

outlined here showing “milestones” that need to be covered in the effort to attain

full achievement of declared objectives in 2015, that is, about four years from

now.

By way of conclusion, it is the writer’s hope that with diligent response to

the obvious challenges that may be experienced in the coverage of the highlighted

milestones, much would be achieved in the implementation of the UBEprogramme in Nigeria, as a Millennium Development Goal, by the year 2015.

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Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004a), National Policy on Education (4 th Edition) Yaba, Lagos: NERDC Press.

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This Day, Wednesday, April 5, 2006, P. 48.

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