EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
| Date | 01 February 1976 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb009760 |
| Published date | 01 February 1976 |
| Pages | 270-278 |
| Author | NICHOLAS A. NWAGWU |
| Subject Matter | Education |
THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME XIV, NUMBER 2 OCTOBER, 1976
EQUALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
NICHOLAS A. NWAGWU
In Africa, there is a great desire to achieve social and economic development through a full
and proper education and utilization of the abundant human resources available. However,
great inequalities in access to education exist for different social classes and for different
parts of each African Country. Attempts to equalize opportunities include the introduction
of free universal primary education, and the building of boarding primary schools for
nomadic tribes; the reduction of secondary school fees; and the establishment or expansion
of Federal and regional scholarships, bursaries and loan schemes. There are also admission
quota schemes in favour of women and disadvantaged regions. Racial, private and church-
owned schools have been abolished or taken over by the government. Plans have been made
for the establishment of large numbers and varieites of educational institutions especially in
the rural areas and underdeveloped regions of each country.
INTRODUCTION
In developing countries of the world, there is a pre-eminent desire to
achieve social and economic progress through a full and proper utilization
of the abundant human resources in these nations. Material resources may
be scarce and undeveloped, but the best use of whatever is available will
depend very much on the quality of the manpower the country possesses.
It is because of this that the third world nations now attach great impor-
tance to educational expansion through a well planned programme of
change and reform. As has been rightly pointed out by Harbison,' no
developing nation is interested merely in the growth of its economy. All
aspire after social and political modernization. To them, national develop-
ment is a broad term which encompasses economic, cultural, social and
political development in the difficult task of building and maintaining
national identity and integrity, national unity, peace and progress.
Manpower and educational planning are related to national develop-
ment and modernization. Six major problems in human resource develop-
ment can be identified in the third world. The first relates to high rate of
population growth. This is tied to the second which is a high percentage of
illiteracy accompanied by a high degree of ignorance and low living stan-
dards.
The third problem is that of unemployment in the modern sector of
the economy, and a traditional agricultural system in which people are un-
NICHOLAS A. NWAGWU is the Senior Lecturer in Educational Administration at the
University of Benin, Nigeria. Dr. Nwagwu holds the degrees of B.A.(Nigeria),
M.Ed.(Leicester), M.A. and Ed.D.(Teachers College, Columbia University). He has written
extensively in the field of educational administration, his most recent book being Universal
Primary Education in Nigeria- Issues, Prospects and Problems (1976).
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