Alternative Sources of Funding Early Childhood Education for School Effectiveness in Nigeria.
| Author | Olubor, Roseline O. |
| Position | Forum on Public Policy |
Introduction
Childhood education is the period between birth and 13 years of age. In this age bracket are the babies and toddlers who are between birth to 2 years plus, are sent to day care centres or creches if there is nobody at home to care for them. Thereafter, at the age of 3 years children are expected to be registered in pre-primary schools. By the age of six years children ought to be in primary school. This is the age that is officially compulsory to be in school in Nigeria. By the age of 12 years, the child ought to be in junior secondary school.
The authors are particularly interested in the pre-primary level because this is the level that some visible learning of numeracy, literacy and social life skill commences.
At birth, the Nigerian child is cherished and flattered with names such as Omosefe which means a child is more than wealth; Omosigho which means a child is more than any quantity of money; Omosede which means a child is more than a crown in Bini dialect. Omoboriowo which means a child is greater than money and Omolabake which means a child is to be cherished in Yoruba dialect and Nwakaego which means a child is more valued than money in Ibo dialect. Because of the way the child is held and seen as the community's child, every child in the community is protected and catered for even in the absence of their parents.
This idea of cherishing the child succinctly fits into the human capital theory which rests fundamentally on the idea that a person's education is an investment (involves costs in terms of direct spending on education and the opportunity costs of students' time) in his/her human capital. This makes the individual more productive and accrues him/her a future stream of benefits (superior productivity, high wages and other non-monetary benefits to the individual and the society). To the Nigerian society, children are seen as guarantees and assets to take care of parents especially in their old age and also to bail out families and communities from poverty hence the child is seen as a community child. Wealth alone cannot do all these; there is the need for someone to be there to direct the affairs. The child is therefore in the best position to do that. With the advent of western education, the role of the child became expanded and further fits the human capital theory. He is viewed as a personality that can improve the fortune of the family and the community by caring for parents in their old age, caring for siblings and improving the condition of the community. All these he can do because he has the skills and so can be gainfully employed.
It was not therefore surprising that the extended family system in existence then helped parents to cater for their young children when they were away to the farm or market. However, with the advent of industrialization and the decline in the extended family system, coupled with the need for both parents to be gainfully employed in order to live above poverty level it became imperative for parents to look for a safe place to keep their children. The churches, non-governmental organizations, community societies and private individuals decided to set up day care centres and nursery schools. All the centers then were fee paying and founded in state capitals and local government headquarters inhabited by the elites who reside in these places and who can readily afford it.
In order to provide access to formal education and reduce illiteracy among the citizens of Nigeria, the government enunciated the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme in 1999 which Act was signed into law in 2004 at the Federal Level. With this, the UBE programme has been domesticated in all states of the federation for effective ownership and delivery.
The objectives of this paper are:
* to highlight the concept of pre-primary education in Nigeria
* expose the status of pre-primary education in Nigeria
* find out the funding situation in Nigerian pre-primary schools
* identify attempts by international, regional, national and local bodies in ensuring access to early childhood education
* suggest alternative sources of funding public pre-primary schools for delivery of efficient and effective early childhood education
Literature Review
Based on the objectives, literature will be reviewed under the following sub heads:
(a) the Concept of Early Childhood Education
(b) the Benefits of Early Childhood Education
(c) sources of Funding Early Childhood Education
(d) the Status of Early Childhood Education in Nigeria
(e) attempts by International, National and Local bodies in ensuring access to early childhood education
(f) the Concept of School Effectiveness
(g) conclusion and recommendations (Alternative sources of funding early childhood Education for school effectiveness)
a. The Concept of Early Childhood Education In Nigeria
In the current National policy on Education, early childhood education is labeled as pre-primary education. It is defined as the education given in an educational institution to children prior to their entering the primary school (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004). According to the national policy on education, the purpose of pre-primary education shall be to:
a. effect a smooth transition from the home to the school;
b. prepare the child for the primary level of education;
c. provide adequate care and supervision for the children while their parents are at work (on the farms, in the markets, offices etc);
d. inculcate social norms;
e. Inculcate in the child the spirit of enquiry and creativity through the exploration of nature, the environment, art, music and playing with toys, etc;
f. develop a sense of cooperation and team spirit;
g. learn good habits, especially good health habits, and
h. teach the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes, forms, etc, through play. The document listed a number of measures to be taken by government to ensure the achievement of the objectives of pre-school education. They include:
i. establishing pre-primary sections in existing public schools and encourage both community/private efforts in the provision of pre-primary education
ii. make provision in teacher education programmes for specialization in early childhood education
iii. ensuring that the medium of instruction is principally the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community. To achieve this, the orthography of many more Nigerian languages will be developed and textbooks in Nigerian languages will be produced.
iv. ensuring that the main method of teaching at this level shall be through play and that the curriculum of teacher education is oriented to achieve this; among others
v. set and monitor minimum standard for early childcare centres in the country
vi. ensure full participation of government, communities and teachers association in the running and maintenance of early childhood education facilities.
Pre-primary school education is largely a post colonial development. The forms of it during the colonial era were the kindergarten and infant classes which consisted of groups of children considered not yet ready for primary education. Grouping then was not age based, some children aged six or even more could be found in some of the infant classes.
With the phasing out of infant classes, some parents began to feel the need for nursery school. The need grew higher as a result of the increase in the number of working class--mothers and the level of awareness of parents in terms of education.
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme is meant to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty as well as stimulate and accelerate national development, political consciousness and national integration. The programme commenced in 1999 but was signed into a Bill in 2004. The UBE Act 2004 makes provision for basic education comprising of early childhood care and education, primary, junior secondary education and adult and non-formal education programmes.
The UBE programme has made provision for every public primary school to have a pre-primary school linkage to cater for children aged 3 to 5 years. This linkage will serve as a strategy for getting children ready for school.
Early childhood education evolved in Nigeria about two decades ago as a special field of focus for development emanating from the provision of international instruments and declarations such as the Convention of the Rights of the Child...
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