Impact of Government Expenditure on Standard of Education in Junior Secondary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
Research Objectives
- To determine the relationship between federal expenditure on education and standard ofjunior secondary
- To determine the relationship between macroeconomic variables such as per capita income, population growth, workersโ remittances and standard of junior secondary
NIGERIAโSย EDUCATIONย SECTOR
Introduction
Nigeria has a population estimated at 160 million people, and with an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). The country is the second-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and the most populous in Africa (World Bank, 2014). There are thirty- six states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and seven hundred and seventy-four local government areas. The Nigerian economy relies on oil for 75 percent of its revenue and 95 percent of its export before the fall of oil prices in 2014 (The Economist, 2014). The recent hit on revenue as a result of the decline in oil prices coupled with insecurity in the Northern and Niger Delta regions of Nigeria has worsened the economic situation. With such declining government revenue, social services (one of which is education) spending is likely to be affected.
Education is seen as an important tool to achieve national development in the country. As aย result, it is a sector requiring huge government spending but the current decline in revenue forย the government will raise challenges around the effort to sustain the provision of education toย Nigeriaโsย teemingย population.
After achieving independence in 1960, the realization of the need for federal expenditure onย education was forefront in policy making discussions. Since independence, there has been aย major need to restructure the education system passed down by the colonial governmentsย (Moja, 2009). This drive led to the first National Curriculum Conference of 1969 and theย institutionalization of the National Policy on Education in 1977 (Akudolu, 2012).ย A numberย of reforms beyond the National Policy on Education of 1977 have come to define what theย education sector is in Nigeria today and the major concern of every reform is the financing ofย the sector to achieve the set goals of ensuring a highly educated populace which will drive theย nationalย development plan of theย country.
Thus, it is evident that Nigeria has always considered education as an important social serviceย but frequent review of reforms show that the government has not been consistent in its effortย to provide adequate funding from the national budget. The funding provided also has not beenย able to sufficiently increase standard of view of the high population. Understanding theย history of the countryโs education sector will explain some of the complexities involved in theย relationshipย betweenย financingย andย theย standard of junior secondaryย school.
Developmentalย Phasesย inย theย Educationย Sector
The Nigerian education sector has been throughย two major phases regarding development.ย The first stage between 1950 and 1980 witnessed significant expansion regarding governmentย spending, standard rates and the number of school buildings. The second phase was one ofย reduced spending and rise of private involvement in the provision of education, and this wasย betweenย theย year 1981ย and 2009.
1950-1980ย Period
Rapid access to education was one of the most significant aspects of the initial stage ofย development in Nigeria’s education sector. Primary school attendance increased from 626,000ย to 2,912,619 between 1954 and 1960 (Aigbokhan, 2005). Government education policiesย during this period enabled the increase in school building projects and grant-in-aids to schoolsย owned by churches thereby increasing access to education. At this phase, churchesย wereย actively involvedย inย theย educationย sectorย beforeย the earlierย years of independence whenย governmentโs commitment to education increased with the aim of fading out the colonialย master’sย systemย toย achieveย aย self-sustainingย educationย systemย focusedย onย providingย theย expertiseย required to nurtureย the newlyย independent Nigeria.
Atย theย initialย stageย ofย educationalย development,ย aย particularย emphasisย wasย placedย onย structuring curriculum with the objective of achieving long-term development of the country.ย The curriculum during the colonial government administration placed emphasis on numericalย skillsย developmentย andย generalย knowledgeย building.ย Theย onlyย Universityย beforeย independence,ย Universityย College,ย Ibadan,ย atย thisย time,ย lackedย theย humanย resourceย andย facilities for technical skills acquisition. Post-independence regional governments establishedย andย fundedย theย Universityย ofย Nigeria,ย theย Universityย ofย Lagos,ย Universityย ofย Ife,ย theย Universityย ofย Beninย andย Ahmaduย Belloย University,ย Zariaย betweenย 1960ย andย 1970.ย Theseย ledย to a significant rise in access to tertiary education and simultaneously an improvement in theย junior secondaryย education which areย pre-requisite to tertiaryย education.
CHAPTERย THREE
RESEARCHย METHODOLOGY
Researchย Approachย andย Strategy
Theย researchย methodย usedย isย theย caseย studyย approach.ย Thisย approachย allowsย forย theย exploration and understanding of particular complex issues, particularly when a holistic andย in-depthย investigationย isย required.ย Throughย analysisย ofย casesย underย investigation,ย reconstruction, and keen observation we explain the outcome and process of education issuesย asย regardsย allย otherย variablesย likeย standardย rate,ย perย capitalย income,ย inflation,ย urbanย population that is affecting it. This research strategy adopts a regression analysis approachย utilizing time series data collected on a yearly basis over a thirty-two year period, 1981 andย 2013. The use of yearly data helps estimate dynamic causal effects and a period of thirty-twoย yearsย isย inย lineย withย theย useย ofย regressionย analysisย whichย requiresย thatย theย numberย ofย observationsย is manyย to produceย reliable results.
Modelย Specification
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The model is an improvement of Anyanwu and Erhjiakhor (2007)โs model which did notย account for population growth rate and workersโ remittances in Nigeria. The introduction ofย these variables is applicable in the case of Nigeria given the high number of Nigerians inย diaspora, volume of remittances received annually and the population of the country as theย large.
Erย = fย (ย Gs, GDPPCI, WR, P)
Where Erย is the gross standard rates of secondary and primary schools (dependent variable),ย Gsย is government spending on education as a percentage of GDP (independent variables).ย Control variables are GDPPCI is gross domestic product per capita income, WR is workersโย remittancesย and P is population growth rate.
CHAPTERย FOUR
RESEARCHย FINDINGSย AND ANALYSIS
ย Introduction
Using econometric methodology, this chapter discusses the findings of whether government expenditure on education influences the human capital development in Nigeria. To achieve these objectives, section 5.1 of this chapter focuses on the descriptive statistics of data employed in this study. In section 5.1 the descriptive statistics results are interpreted, 5.2 and
5.3 presentย diagnosticย tests,ย correlationย analysisย is carried out to examine the degree ofย association among the variables. The econometric analysis and interpretation of the result areย carriedย outย in sectionย 5.5,ย is theย lastย section, summarizesย theย main findingsย ofย thisย study.
CHAPTERย FIVE
RESEARCHย CONCLUSIONSย &ย RECOMMENDATIONS
Researchย Conclusions
Increasing government expenditure on education is a major discussion amongst policy makers and stakeholders in Nigeriaโs education sector. The empirical literature on this subject is not comprehensive enough to justify actions required and the expected impact. This paper conducted a quantitative research and provides further clarification on the relationship between government spending and standard rates considering other explanatory variables such as per capita income, workersโ remittances, and population growth. It supports government increasing spending on education. The evidence is stronger in the case of primary education.
The study reveals that education funding in Nigeria experienced a significant increase at the transition to democratic government and during past civilian rule before 1999. The result of empirical analysis conducted supports literature that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between government spending on education and primary school standard rate. A negative relationship exists between federal expenditure and secondary school standard rate. This is explained for by the governmentโs emphasis on the free primary education program and lower conversion rate into secondary schools due to higher interest in informal education and apprentice over continuing education. Beyond the interest in apprenticeship, secondary school standard rates decline with increasing government spending as a result of the fee- paying system. The increase in government spending on education majorly goes towards higher salaries as more qualified staff is required in secondary schools over primary schools and as a result, fees are collected to support federal expenditure.
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