ABSTRACT

The decline in the quality of public education in Enugu has been attributed to political
decision makers who have focused too much on quantitative expansion to the detriment of
quality.

Against this background, this research work is set out to investigate the politics of
funding education in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.

A total of 400 (four hundred) questionnaires were used for the study. The researcher also
extensively consulted documents and statistical records. Also strategically placed personnel in
both educational and non-educational sectors were interviewed.

From the information gathered, we discovered that the expansion of education system in
a disorganized manner without corresponding proper financing as a result of political factor has
affected much the planning and administration of education at all levels in Nsukka Local
Government Area of Enugu State.

Consequently, we made some recommendations which we believe are capable of

reducing the problems. Government as the chief provider of all social services has a lot to spend
and should welcome and encourage participation of the beneficiaries of education in funding
education.

1
EDUCATION AND POLITICS

Man as a social and political animal seeks power, recognition and representations. Te
school is part of body politics of the society and has to be organized along that line for instance
where the government has taken over school control, course contents or what should be taught
are usually determined by the government has taken over school control, course contents or what
should be taught are usually determined by the government.

Furthermore, membership of Boards of Governors or appointment of principal is dictated by

political considerations sometimes on quota basis. Similarly a country, political philosophy like
democracy or socialism often determines its educational system. So political considerations
usually determine how much can be spent on education, like member of schools, location,
Infrastructures etc.

On the other hand education influences politics. It is in schools particularly Universities

that learners often come into contact with political ideas and events. Education is being used now
in Nigeria to promote national unity through the establishment of federal Government colleges.

2
 CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The chapter of the review of related literature is organized under the following sub-
headings:

Historical perspective of funding education, colonial government’s intervention in funding

education, private sector participation in funding Education, the role of the Federal
Government and private enterprise after 1960, politicization of education in Nsukka Local
Government Area Enugu State, summary of literature review.

2.1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF FUNDING EDUCATION

All levels of education in this part of the world were the brain child of Religious
missionaries. The different church denominations involved were: The church missionary society,
the Roman Catholic Mission, the western-Methodist missionary society, the united Presbyterian
church of Scotland, the Qua Ibo mission, the primitive Methodist missionary and the Basel
missionary which firmly established them in southern Nigeria.

(Fafunwa 2012) The era of colonial establishment and funding schools can rightly be termed as a
period when the church missionaries monopolized education in Nigeria especially in Southern
Nigeria. The missionaries without exception used the school as a means of conversion and each
found that children were more valuable for this purpose than adults, although adults were not
ignored in their evangelical programme. In addition to book learning, vocational training was
added to the programme. (Ezeocha 2015). During the period, some of the church organizations
set up management boards to help regulate the curriculum, teachers’ salaries, conduct and since
their home churches funded all their activities, they had to dictated what should happen in
education.

In 1987 the educational work of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) started in the
Eastern states of Nigeria, starting in Onitsha under the leadership of Rev. Samuel Adjai
Crowther. They established a mission station in the town. In 1900 a catechist school was begun

3
and later transferred to Awka and renamed Awka College in 1904 which was a teacher training
college (Adinde 2012:43).

In 1846 the Church of Scotland mission arrived in Calabar and spread their activities
along the Cross River under the founder Rev Hope Master ton Waddel

The Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) entered into the scene in 1860 when the
missionaries started work at whydah. In 1867 it established a mission in Lagos. In 1875 Irish
fathers arrived in Nigeria and started a school in Badagry. In 1876 they built St Gregory’s
Grammar School, Lagos.

In the East, its influence started in 1885 under the Holy Ghost fathers led by Rev. Fr
Joseph Lute and settled at Onitsha. They made Onitsha a big Catholic centre and opened a school
there in 1892 from there that year the mission extended its activities to other areas far and wide.
(Adinde, 2012).

By 1906 mission schools and centres had been built at Aguleri, Igboariam, Nkwelle and
Obosi. The Catholics sounded the signal for education explosion for they made education
explosion for they made education ‘their sole means of proselytization’. The Roman Catholic
Mission under Bishop Shanahan within a short time out paced those who had worked for thirty
years before they entered the field of education in Nigeria. This was because they accepted
government aid earlier than the other missionaries and they offered medical services on a greater
scale than their rivals, to the people. All the missions lacked teachers. (Adinde’012).

4
2.2 COLONIAL GOVERNMENT’S INTERVENTION IN FUNDING EDUCATION

The colonial government established itself in the colony of Lagos in 1851. It did not then,
become interested in the provision of school education for the people. The provision of western-
type education was exclusively in the hands of Christian missionaries. (Fafunwa 2012).

From the early 1870s, the colonial government began to appreciate the work already
being undertaken by three missionary bodies namely: the church missionary society (CMS), the
Wedeyan Methodist mission and the Roman Catholic Mission. In 1872, the colonial government
proposed to spend as much as one thousand pounds (£1000) as grants to these missions. In the
end, it could only afford thirty pounds (£30) which was distributed among the missionary bodies
as grants.

Between 1874 and 1876 the colonial government had increased its colonial government
had increased its annual grant to each of the missionary bodies to one hundred pounds (£100).

In 1887 the annual grant to each of the three Christian missions was two hundred pounds (£200).
By this gesture, the colonial government gradually became involved in the provision of western-
type education in Nigeria. (Fafunwa 2012).

The government in Lagos between 1870 and 1876 saw the financial plight of the church-
related schools and made a grant of few hundred pounds to them.

Fafunwa (2012) observed that the 1882 education ordinance was enacted based on the
British Act of 1844. This education act established the following criteria for grants and teachers’
salaries:

a) Grants for organization and discipline, with special grants to school which obtained a
large percentage of passes and reaches high standards of general excellence;
b) A capitation pass grant for each subject;
c) Capitation grant in proportion to average attendance at the school.

The 1882 Education code aimed at the control of education by the Government, provided
for a Board of Education for West Africa.

5
 As a matter of fact, the beginning of government participation in education started in
1864 when the British Government set up a commission to look into the situation in British West
Africa and the commission came up and proposed that Government should share responsibility
for financing and control of education. The earliest effort by Government to have a share of the
financial border of Nigerian education was made in 1877 where it decided to give two hundred
pounds ($200 annually to each to each of the three missions earlier mentioned. This practice
continued until 1882. (Adinde: 1987) part of the function of the central Board of Education was
the establishment of Local Boards which were recommend the opening of government schools
and the receipt of grants by voluntary agency schools.

Fafunwa (1974) observed that it was in 1886 that the first purely Nigeria education
ordinance was enacted. This was the year that a sort of cooperation between a colonial
government and the mission in Nigeria began in the field of education.

The ordinance defined various levels of institutions-namely: infant, primary, secondary and
industrial schools.

This code was the first effective attempt by the government to promote education and
control the sporadic expansion of education by the missionaries. It provided for the following:

1) The constitution of a Board of Education comprising the governor, members of the

legislative council
2) Inspector of education
3) Grants-in-aid to schools and teacher training institutions
4) Power of the Board to make, alter and revoke rules for regulating the procedure for
grants-in-aid to schools.
5) The rates and grants-in-aid to schools to be based parthy on subjects taught and parthy on
the degree of excellence in the schools.
6) Safeguards as to religion and racial freedom.
7) Certificates for teachers
8) Admission into an assisted school of pauper and alien children
9) Establishment of scholarships for secondary and technical education, and
10) Power of the governor to open and maintain government schools.

6
 Government showed its interest also in another way: that was in the establishment of
government owned schools Government established first primary school in the century in Lagos
in 1899.

When the protectorate of southern Nigeria and the colony of Lagos were united they came
under the influence of the 1886 ordinance.

In 1903 the first department of education for the colony of Lagos was established. A director
of education officers were appoints. In 1906 the colony and protectorate of southern Nigeria
were established medium of instruction if the child is to develop a sound mind, good characters
and interest in agriculture and industry, the need for health education in terms of advanced
technical and agricultural education, teacher training, medicine, law and technology and
education for men, women, boys and girls.

The report of the commission led to significant efforts at improvement in Nigeria and
indeed African education.

As a result of the Phelps-stokes report of 1922, the 1925 Educational policy came out.
This was the first time that the government came out with a policy for the education in Africa
because it provided for cooperation between government and missionary bodies and any other
educational agencies.

However the following points emerged from the report.

1) Voluntary agencies should cooperate with the government in educational matters

2) Education should be adapted to local conditions. It should preserve culture and effect
progress
3) Religious training should progress along with secular education
4) A handsome share of the budgets should go to education and efforts should be made to
improve the conditions of service of education staff in order to attract the best available
men.
5) Vernacular should be effectively utilized.
6) Well qualified teachers should be employed.
7) Through supervision and inspection of schools

7
 8) Levels of educational institutions will include elementary and secondary education of
several types, technical and vocational education.

This guided, more than any other memoranda, Nigerian educational policy and development
from 1925 to 1945.

The 1925 memorandum was followed by the 1926 code aimed at curbing mushroom
development of assisted schools both by the mission’s and private individuals and groups.

In 1927, the first girls’ school, Queen’s college was established in Lagos.

The period 1930-1950 was an historic one. It was marked by a world-wide depression
between 1929 and 1935 and the Second World War was between 1939 and 1945.

This had a great effect on education. There was the amendment of the regulations by which
grants-in-aid became payable only to the limit of the amount voted in the annual budget and
could be reduced proportionately if the amount voted did not in fact allow for the full grants due
under the general provisions being paid.

On 19th January, 1934 the Yaba Higher College was officially opened. The college
suffered immensely during the Second World War and it was finally absorbed by the university
college Ibadan in 1947, 15 years after its establishment.

The colonial Government had in 1929 established two teacher training colleges, one at
Umuahia and another at Ibadan. However, in 1931, the schools. By 1960 the University of
Nigeria Nsukka was established by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Ahmedu Bello University was
established in 1962 followed by the University of Lagos.

The establishment of the Higher education followed recommendation of the Elliot

commission which was set up in 1934.

In January 1947, the Richards constitution came into effect and divided the country into
Regions: East, West and North.

In 1950 there was a conference at Ibadan which resulted in Nigeria adopting Federal
system of Government and the retention of the existing Regions. This was the base of the

8
Macpherson constitution. The representative government witnessed great changes in education.
A minister of education was established in each region under a minister who was responsible for
making policies.

Education became a Regional affair. Each region modified the general provisions to satisfy the
Local needs and tastes of the Region. Education laws were enacted to reflect these new
developments. Two significant events that took place during these decades were the Universal
Primary Education programme and the setting up of Ashby commission to prepare a report on
high level manpower for Nigeria.

The objectives of the commission were:

1) To upgrade Nigerians who are already in employment but who need further education.
2) To design a system of post-secondary education which will produce before 1970 the flow
of high level manpower which Nigeria surely needs.

Throughout these periods, funding of education was problematic because of poor funding
from the government through grants-in-acid, and our people were too poor to make extra
donations to education.

9
 2.3 PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN FUNDING EDUCATION

We cannot over-look the role of private enterprise in the provision of Western-type

education in Nigeria generally and Eastern Nigeria in particular professor Fafunwa (2012) is of
the opinion that the contributions of parents and relatives were almost as important as those of
the Christian missionaries. By the early 1930s most people in Eastern Nigeria had already begun
to realize the importance of western-type education.

This new type of education did not only offer those who had acquired it the opportunity
to obtain white collar jobs. It also bestowed social prestige on them; for this reason there was an
increase in the demand of the enterprising Nigerian business men and educators began to venture
into establishing schools.

The rise of African Nationalism was a factor which influenced many proprietors. It made
them realize that education was a means of emancipating the people from ignorance. It was also
felt that the existing mission schools perpetuated colonial mentality. There was then the need to
liberate the people’s mind so as to enable them to join in the struggle for African Nationalism.

Fafunwa (2012) recounts that in 1913 when the Baptist mission under Rev Griffith fell
out with Rev. Euba, a Nigerian teaching in the school; Revered Euba forestalled the move of
sacking him by resigning. He founded the Eko Boys High school Lagos thus becoming the first
Nigerian to establish a private school.

In Nsukka,

10
11
 Finally besides the efforts of the private proprietors, we had community schemes which
aimed at mobilizing community efforts for the provision of educational facilities. The
communities established secondary schools.

Cultural organizations and ethnic union through communal efforts established educational
institutions. Such educational institutions include the kalabari National College, Buguma
established in 1938 and Ibibio state college established in 1940. One may now fully appreciate
the fact that the provision of western-type education was not only the business of the Christian
was not only the business of the Christian missionaries. The effort really supplemented by the
colonial Government and the private enterprises.

12
2.4 THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
AFTER 1960

The development of Education after 1960 was based on the Ashby recommendations.
The report was a target of 25% of children of school age to be in school by 1970 (NCE/DLS
Course Book on Education: 1990).

Eastern Nigeria or Region was already achieving its universal primary education
programme. But problems were becoming enormous because of poor quality staff and falling
standards amidst the high cost of education. The East had to scrap its own UPE and direct its
attention to teachers training with a view to achieving high quality work in the schools.

The post independence development of secondary education centered on the following

problem areas:

1) The expansion in primary education created a high demand for secondary education.
2) The Ashby commission had called for increased number in the secondary school
population and a revision of its curriculum.
3) Some commissions appointed to review the educational system found at the content of
secondary school education as well as the methods of instruction in such schools were
inappropriate.
4) Other problems identified included over emphasis on book education in the secondary
schools. Pupils despised manual work. Science curriculum was poor. All these
contributed to the so-called falling standard in education.

Government sows the root cause of these problems as the poor quality and quantity of
secondary school teachers. The graduate teachers were in very short supply. Government
tried to have expatriate teachers meant very much on the lean resources of the regional
governments. And worse still, many of these hirelings stayed only for a term of two years or
three and refused to renew their contracts. More government schools were opened.

13
 By 1960, the Eastern Region had thirty three technical and vocational institutions of
various kinds. A college of technology now Institute of Management and Technology (IMT)
Enugu was established.

Also after independence, teacher education had two problems government granted the
provision of additional Grade II Training Colleges and extra streams to the existing ones.

However the Ashby recommendations for the establishment of Teachers’ Grade I was not
vigorously pursued. Eastern Nigeria established a science centre at Umudike near Umuahia
for the production of Teachers’ Grade I certificate in Education). The Advanced Teachers’
Colleges as they were called initially were built in Lagos and Ibadan in 1962, and in Owerri
in 1963.

When the University of Nigeria Nsukka was established, it took the lead in starting a new
teachers’ programme know B.A, B. sc and [Link] in education. (NCE/DLS COURSE BOOK
ON EDUCATION 1990).

Private enterprise continued to participate in the development and funding of education

after Independence. However in primary schools, private enterprise did not feature much.

This was left solely in the hands of the voluntary agencies and government. Some corporate
bodies like Universities tried to establish primary schools for the convenience of their staff.
University of Nigeria Nsukka was one of these.

In the secondary school sector, local communities and individuals helped the government
by establishing and running some secondary schools. Most of these private schools were not
grant aided from public funds and so turned to commercial and vocational subjects which
attracted students. This gave rise to numerous private commercial secondary schools which
were poorly equipped; but they supplied the secretarial staff which enabled the Nigerian
bureaucracy to stand when the colonial staff left in 1960. Roadside mechanics helped much
by training others who became mechanics and artisans.

In 1969, a cross-section of the Nigerian society attended curriculum conference to review

the old education and identity new national goals for Nigerian education. One of such crucial
areas was the identification of a philosophy of education for Nigeri

14
2.5 POLITICISATION OF EDUCATION IN NSUKKA LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AREA ENUGU STATE

In the Enugu Nigeria, the government of the Region in 1958 set up the Dike commission
to review its educational system. The report published in 1962 observed that the government
was already spending one third of its revenue on education and warned that it could not
spend all the government resources to introduce free primary education. It therefore
suggested a more moderate approach and concentrated on quality rather than quantity.
(Fafunwa (2012).

Government of the Region was not quite satisfied with the Dike committee’s Report
published in 1962. Consequently, it set up the Ikoku commission to review the progress of
education in Nsukka, Enugu state.

Fafunwa (2012) reported that the commission recommended the following:

1) Consolidation of primary schools and discontinuation of non-viable

2) Complete government control of primary schools.
3) Setting up of local schools and the involvement of local government councils in primary
education.
4) Reduction of the length of primary education from seven to six.
5) Improvement of teachers’ conditions of service courses for teachers.

The Dike and Ikoku reports result in the government of Nsukka Region modifying its
primary education plan. The system based on assumed local contribution (A. L.C). This
system remained in operation until the outbreak of the civil war which lasted from 1967 to
1970.

With the outbreak of the Nigeria civil war in 1967 and the collapse of the first Republic,
primary education was still a major problem to the entire regions of the federation.

However, the so made committee of 1969 recommended that the federal Government
should take over the responsibility of funding primary Education in Nigeria. This resulted in
the launching of universal free primary Education by the federal Government on 6 th
September, 1976, with a view to making it compulsory in 1979. Unfortunately from 1974 to

15
the end of the first two years of the scheme (1978) the federal Government had spent more
than N 1 billion of course this meant the collapse of the program.

Reasons for the collapse are not far to seek. Too often, Nigerians depend upon poor
planning and statistics.

In practice, the country condones higher incidence of corruption. These, together pricing
and invoicing rendered the federal Government incapable of financing the universal free
primary education in the country (NCE/DLS Course Book on Education cycle one 1990).

The federal Government then pushed back the financing of primary schools to state
Governments. Some state government’s budget up to 30% of their recurrent budget to
Education and the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries gulps a greater percentage of
the sectoral allocations.

The various state Governments have made many representations to successive Federal
Governments on the financial burden of the primary school education for this reason, the
Federal Government is planning to take another bold step over primary education. The
federal Government will soon start to absorb 65% of the recurrent expenditure of all the
primary schools in the federation. This is likely to lessen the burden of primary education on
the state Governments (NCE/DLS 1990).

Funding of primary education had been a problem to different UPE schemes of both
federal and state governments. However in 1989, the federal government established the
National Primary Education Commission (NPEC) NPEC is put in place to arrest the
progressive decay which characterized the nation’s primary education sub-sector. Prior to its
establishment which came twice (1989 and 1993), the sub-sector was replete with irregular
salaries for teaching and non-teaching staff, whose morale was at its lowest ebb, industrial
unrest was the order of the day, pupils spent more time at home than in classrooms and it was
not certain when a school year calendar would run its full course. Before the local
government councils were hurdling primary Education independently. This witnessed the
collapse of primary education delivery as there was lack of uniformity in standards and
salaries of teachers were epileptic and infrastructural development of primary schools was
left at the mercy of those who were in power in those councils. When the situation became

16
unbearable, the federal government established. NPEC as an interventionist agency to revive
the primary education sub-sector (Tell sept.28 1998).

In 1991, due to some extraneous considerations, the commission was scrapped by the
government and primary education delivery returned to the status quo. But in 1993, the
federal government re-established the commission through Decree 96 of the same year. By
the decree the commission is charged with the responsibilities of sourcing for and disbursing
funds to state Primary Education Boards (SPEBs) and the Local Government Education.
Authorities (LGEAs) for the purpose of the funding and management of primary education
for the funding of NPEC, it gets funds as follows:

1) Local government councils contribute 83% which goes largely into salaries, leaves,
grants etc.
2) State governments contribute 11%
3) Federal government contribute 6%

Local government councils and state governments’ contributions are received from the
federation account monthly totaling N 1.3 billion monthly. But the federal government
contribution is received quarterly. (Tell Sept 28 1998:24).

The federal government is now making efforts to re-introduce UPE now to be called
Universal Basic Education (UPE) to cover only primary schools.

The State Takeover of Schools

Immediately after the Biafra war, primary and secondary schools owned by voluntary
agencies in Eastern Nigeria were taken over by the government and became state schools.
The vast majority of such schools belonged to the missionaries. Although various altruistic
reasons were given, it was obvious that the action was a way of punishing the missions for
helping the Biafra with food and drugs during the war (Ocho 2013:6) were almost totally
suppressed during was short-lived and its policies were more or less similar to those
operating towards the light of colonial rule. There were, nevertheless, important political
developments. In general, educational expansion gained an even faster pace. So did inter-
regional conflicts and rivalry and even ethnic wrangling over education and job

17
opportunities. The three Nigerian college branches were handed over to their respective
regions. A Federal Government college was established at Okposi (later transferred to
Enugu). The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) was taken over by the federal Government
in 1973.

The success of an enterprise depends more than on factors. It government took over
schools (both primary and secondary) in Eastern states. That was when the educational
system started disintegrating with the take-over of power by the military. For one thing, the
military are not trained to rule. They are expected to be masters of war tactics and weapons,
intimidation and harassment. It is not surprising that under the military, education almost
totally collapsed because nobody gives what he has not. Subordinates usually like to initiate
their super-ordinates and so the looting propensity of the military became the accepted
method of government from the presidency to the local government. The looting of the
treasury still continues under the present civilian administration because a habit once formed
is difficult to break. The result is that in Enugu states salaries, pensions and gratuities are not
being paid.

While primary schools were expanding secondary schools followed with shortages of
everything from teachers, laboratories, accommodation, libraries, desks and so on, Teachers’
salaries have become irregular and teachers’ strikes have become irregular and teachers’
strikes have become inevitable. In the midst of this struggle for the bare existence of primary
and secondary schools for lack of funds, the Federal Government without adequate planning,
without convincing reasons without the necessary financial outlay embarked on a scheme to
establish seven new Universities of technology at Owerri, Minna, Bauchi, Abeokuta, Akure
and Yola in 1981 (Ocho 2003:7).

The unreasonable expansion of education at all levels adversely affected conditions of

service of teachers. The last educated in announcing the strike, Asuu said a reported by
THISDAY volume 8 No. 2808 of Monday December 20, 2002, the Federal Government
should be held responsible for provoking this avoidable action.

18
 A communiqué by Asuu-NEC made available to THISDAY at the end of its meeting at te
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi said the industrial action became necessary to
defend the educational system in Nigeria.

Asuu-NEC said having considered in detail the various violations by the federal and state
governments of the FGN-Asuu Agreement of June, 30, 2002, it noted that the funding of
education, which ought to approach the UNESCO minimum of 26 percent of the total annual
budget has worsened through government’s systematic reduction of budgetary allocation to
education from the paltry 11.12 percent in 1999 to 1.83 percent in 2003(as proposed).

Asuu-NEC also noted that the federal and state governments have unilaterally abrogated
the agreement on academic salary structure and demoted every academic staff by two steps
through reduction of basic salaries by about 15 per cent.

It accused government of sustained illegal and unconstitutional termination of

appointments and dismissal of more than 44 lecturers at the University of Ilorin, despite court
orders and all entreaties from Asuu and several well-meaning organizations and individuals.

Asuu-NEC also accused Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities
Commission (NUC) of brazenly misusing N 1.3 billion stabilization funds meant to
rehabilitate Nigerian Universities.

It also noted the federal Government of plotting to transform Universities to business and
commercial centre rather than centre for the production and dissemination of knowledge
through teaching, learning and research.

The researcher has earlier said that the success of any enterprise depends more on the
leader than on the factor. Otherwise why would a rich nation be so abysmally poor as to
anchor its economy on the tripod erected for what the world Bank and the international
monetary fund (IMF) refers to as the Highly indebted poor countries (HIPC)? What business
does Nigeria have with poverty? We have with poverty? We have the weather, we have the
human and material resources, we have able men and women ready to work, we have no
earthquakes, nature smiles at us in all directions. Tragically, on balance, the impacts of
military dictatorship on Nigeria and Nigerian proved to be far worse and more devastating

19
than even the most hostile earthquake. As a cure, it has proved to be far worse than any
conceivable disease it would have attempted to cure.

The government should ask such serious questions as: what is really the cost of funding
education? Who is to pay for what and who id to what? What time frames are we working
with? What is the role of the stakeholders in education and who are the stakeholders in
education? Etc.

Are the resources in Japan greater than those in Nigeria? If no, why is the education system
in Japan so sound, organized and adequate? Unfortunately the education system in Nigeria is
faced with a lot of problems most of which are linked with lack of funds or finance. For with
lack of funds or finance. For example, the 6-3-3-4 system of education of currently operated
in Nigeria has not taken off effectively. Most of the required equipment are yet to be made
available to schools due to the alleged poor financial position of the government. However in
fairness to the Nigeria governments, the money needed for the development of education in
any society will depend on the nation’s economic resources like agriculture, industry, mineral
resources, transport, and other segments of economy. This therefore means that education
cannot develop without a corresponding development of the nation’s economy.

As a result of the poor funding, most of infrastructural development is being carried out
by parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the schools especially in secondary schools in the
Nsukka.

The 6-3-3-4 Education system was established to solve the problem of self-reliance. By
this system, pupils are taught vocational skills at pupils are taught vocational skills at junior
secondary school level so that they can fit into the factory or work on their own they leave
school. In doing this education helps to mitigate or reduce the problem of unemployment
which has reached alarming stage in Nigeria. If most of the school leaves and graduates can
engage themselves based on the vocational training got through education, not many of them
will indulge in social vices such as stealing, robbery, rape, prostitution, drug abuse and drug
trafficking and so on. But in how many secondary schools are the vocation training and skills
acquired.

20
 Even through funding of education is not taken seriously generally in Nigeria, the 2013
Federal Budget took off on a good note because of 45% increase to #32 per barrel
(THISDAY December 30, 2012.4) #22 per barrel was the official selling price adopted for
Nigeria’s oil for the 2013.

Nigeria’s budget for 2013 had already been bolstered after the country’s official OPEC
quota was increased by 107,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.894 million bpd following an
upward review in OPEC output ceiling effective January 2003.

Federal Governments’ income for the 2003 fiscal year was earlier projected on revenue
of N 1.819 trillion, with oil accounting for N 1.20 trillion at a production quota of 1.788 bpd.

The upswing in oil prices was equally helped by the continued military build-up by the
continued military build-up by the US and Britain in build-up by the Gulf region, as time
runs out for Iraq to comply with disarmament demands (Oduniyi, Mike & Ifijeh Godwin
Thisday December 2002).

The military which ruled Nigeria uninterruptedly from 1966 to 1979 and from 1984 to
1999 appeared not to understand what education is all about. Unfortunately the civilian
administration which took over power in 1999 appears to be less concerned about education
than the military. This can be seen from education as a percentage of the total budget. The
allocation to education 9.33% in 1998; 10.46 in 1999, 6.67% in 2000 and 5.00% in 2001
(Vanguard, September 17, 2001:15).

21
CHAPTER THREE

Research Methodology

The chapter of the research methodology is organized under the following sub-headings:
design of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instrument of
data collection, validity and Reliability of the instrument, Administration of the instrument,
Method and Techniques of data analysis.

3.1 Design of the Study

The design of the study was a descriptive survey carried out ex-post factor. This is
because the events had already taken place and the researcher had no control over the
independent variables, which acted as factors affecting students’ performance in Senior
Secondary School Certificate Examination.

3.2 Area of the Study

The study is confined to the secondary schools which span across The Politics of Funding
Education in Nsukka Local Government of Enugu State with their numbers of teachers
shown in 3.1 under the population of the study.

3.3 Population of the Study

The population of the study comprised selected secondary schools in the local
government.

i. Community Secondary School Edem.

ii. Nsukka High School.
iii. Model Secondary School Nsukka.
iv. Graceland Academy (primary) Amaenu Edem.
v. Christ the Same Nursery, Primary and Secondary School Nsukka.

The records were supplied by the research and statistics unit of the Zonal Educational
Board, Nsukka.

22
 The method of personal observation as an insider was adopted to enrich and balance the
study especially our various Education administrators who sympathize with politics of
funding Education in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Also unstructured personal interview was conducted to find out relationship between
certain information collected in the questionnaire and as it affects the politics of funding
Education in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.

3.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques

The sample of the study comprise owing to constraint of time and high coast of
transportation. One hundred students in these five secondary schools and their teachers will be
selected by stratified random sampling techniques.

The teacher population was first grouped or stratified according to the five secondary
school

3.6 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

The instrument so constructed was given to the researcher’s supervisors and other
academics in the department of Education Administration and Faculty of Education for
necessary corrections in order to ensure face validity, content validity was also done in the
instrument by item analysis, and that ensure that each item sought the information that ensure
that each item sought the information that it was supposed to seek, that is to say that by item
analysis, the researcher ensured the representativeness or sampling adequacy of the content
the substance, the matter, the topic of the measuring instrument.

Therefore, some items were modified while some were defected and replaced with better
ones. Reliability of the instrument was also determined by the post-test method.

Both the pre-test and the post-test were tested for reliability and level of difficulty marks
of the two tests. The consistency of the deviation there proved reliable.

3.7 Administration of the Instrument

23
 The copies of the questionnaire were administered personally to the respondents by the
researchers and some trained research assistants. Personal administration of instrument
ensured a high return rate against the mailing system, which would not have guaranteed a
high response rate. It also helped to clarify some points in the questionnaire which appeared
difficult to the respondents to understand.

3.8 Method and Techniques of Data Analysis

Frequency distributions were used to answer the research questions.

CHAPTER FOUR

FINDINGS

4.1 SOURCES OF FUNDING EDUCATION IN THE NSUKKA LOCAL

GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE.

Financing education in the Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State is a critical
problem. This is because of the decreased attention on Education given to the states by the
federal Government: Nsukka LGA of Enugu States has tackled this problem by imposing
school fees but parents find it difficult to assume full responsibility for the education of their
children.

Labour unions have repeatedly quoted a recommendation of the United Nations scientific
and cultural organization (UNESCO) as having recommended that 26% of budgets of
developing countries should be devoted to Education. It is an established fact that Nigeria has
never allocated up to 26% of its budgets to education. In fact at no time has Nigeria given up

24
to 15% of its budget to education. This is why labour union insists that funding of education
has been poor over the years.

Government has never denied that it needs to spend more on education financing. It
always says however those just as those in education sector are calling for more money.
Governments often reply critics that its responsibility covers all aspects of national life.

This leads to the question of national interest and national priority. Labour unions have
told government to give education the priority it deserves. The idea of the labour is that
education is the foundation for all other sectors. It is easier for literate market women to
understand environmental sanitation in the market place than to deal with stark illiterates.

The major sources of revenue for operating schools which have been used in the past and
which might still be used in future are:

1. Federal Government

According to Ukeje (1980:31) the Federal Government paid a grant of N 46.00 (forty-six
naira only) per pupil to states for children registered in primary schools. This was in
addition to the provision of school buildings and the financing of Grade II Teacher
Training Colleges. They also finance federal schools and federal colleges and
universities.

With effect from the 2010/11 session and following the new revenue allocation
formula which gave increased statutory allocation to states Ukeje (2012) added that the
Federal Government stopped giving education grants to the states.

2. State Government
State government generates funds internally which are used for payment of staff
salaries and general administration of schools.
3. Local Government
Local governments run primary schools in Nsukka LGA of Enugu States as in
other parts of the country. They also generate funds internally. They, however,

25
 depend mainly on funds from the states and the federal government for the
operation of their services various forms of rates and licenses are imposed.
Property taxes which school districts impose in the United States of
America (USA) are not collected here.
4. School Fees
School fees are levied and these vary from state to state. In Nsukka Local
Government Area for example tuition fees are free from Jss 1 (Junior Secondary
School 1) to Jss Three. However students pay other fees. The other fees are paid
for library, laboratory maintenance, caution for fresh students, rehabilitation,
guidance and counseling, games and sports, equipment, examination, PTA etc.
apart from PTA, the other fees amount to N 1,350 (one thousand three hundred
and fifty naira only) for Junior secondary school.
In the senior, tuition which is 2,350= (two thousand three hundred and fifty naira
only) is paid. This is paid in public schools in Nsukka. However, other fees are
levied such as PTA levy which depends on amount parents can pay for a project
or projects. Above are for Government schools. Private schools have no fixed
rate.
In Graceland Academy (primary) Amaenu Edem they pay N 4500 termly.
Royal kids Academy Nsukka pay N 14,000 termly, Quest kids Academy Nsukka
pay more than N 80,000 termly. So there are no fixed fees for private schools in
Nsukka Local Government Area.
5. Special Education Rates
Special Education rates are imposed on all taxable adults in a state or local
government area for the operation of schools. Most of the people who pay as you
earn system (PAYE) whose taxes are deducted from their salaries before such
salaries are paid to them.
Others who are not salaried pay little or no money at all and only pay
when they engage themselves in partisan politics.
6. Parents/Teachers Association Levy
These are not different from school fees since the PTAs are sometimes form for
imposing levies by headmasters and principals. PTAs however discuss other

26
 matters that do not involve money such as disciplines and ensuring that the needs
of the communities are met.

3.5 Problems of Funding Education In Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State

Isiaka and Dacosla (2015) observed that as a result of the present economic constraints,
most educational institutions in the country have been plagued by a serious problem of
inadequate funding. Many schools are deficient of necessary equipment due to financial
limitations. Moreover, little available equipment cannot be early repaired because the technical
personnel, spare parts and machinery needed to repair them are not available.

Non-payment of teacher’s welfare and irregular salaries has been a source of continued
strikes. For instance in 2009 some school in Enugu State did not pay salaries for many months.
The National policy on Education (NPE) has become so weak in addressing this issue of salary
and allowances.

The University system has been under locks and key for the same reason and not much has been
done by the education ministry to reduce the crisis. In fact at Enugu State University of Science
and Technology (Esut) some lecturers and professors were retrenched. All these affect us
negatively.

27
 Olu (2012) stated that education is more seen as a complete private enterprise. According
to him, it has witnessed a progressive evolution in a complete and dynamic intervention. The
effects of non-payment of salaries and bursaries have led to sit down strikes.

The federal ministry of Education implemented the National Universal Basic Education
(UBE) but the impact is yet to be felt everywhere because basic education is now limited to
primary education.

Enoh (2015:6) states that the issue of under-funding of the education sector, one must be
bold to admit, cuts across all the subsectors. However in a situation where states depend almost
absolutely on the Federal Government for substance, sectors that fall under the ambit and control
of either of these levels of Government will experience huge contrasts in funding levels. During
the second republic, primary and secondary schools, then under the control of Local and state
Governments, experienced very deteriorating conditions and teachers were owed salaries for
upwards of ten months in a great majority of them. When it was time to ameliorate the problem,
this was only extended to the primary schools with the re-introduction of the National Primary
Education Commission (NPEC). Secondary education was left in the cold hands of unscrupulous
state governments who are always willing to juggle their finance to cover areas of immediate and
urgent need. The result is what we have today in several states of the federation:

Secondary schools are being owed salaries and allowances in the manner and tradition of the
second republic.

What is worrisome as a matter of fact, is the way policies are interpreted and
implemented just to keep secondary education at a disadvantage for instance, the federal
Government policy that every Nigerian child should proceed from the primary to the junior
secondary stage before deciding to proceed to the senior secondary level or undertake some form
of apprenticeship training clearly includes Junior secondary school as that is basic for all to have.
However official interpretation and implementation of basic education has been limited to the
primary level. The unfortunate consequence is that while primary education throughout the
length breadth of the country is experiencing great transformation, junior secondary schools
continue their downward movement toward degradation and decay.

28
 Enoh (2015) posits that if secondary schools are discriminated at the lower levels in
favour of primary schools, the same applies at the senior levels in favour of higher Institutions of
learning. This time, however, the discrimination does not offend any laid down policy, it only
items from the general feeling of relative irrelevance of secondary education to higher ones. And
the discrimination finds expression in the way secondary schools in general and forms six in
particular to all forms of preparatory programs are remedial in nature and ipso fact operates the
senior secondary school syllable. Regrettably, however, wide differences exist in the manner in
which attention is accorded to what is rightly the same level of students. Not only is it the
remuneration of teachers between them is a unimaginably wide divide, the number of such
teachers and other resources as laboratories and libraries have no basis for comparison and to one
is prompted many as five or ten physics teachers in a remedial department of a University when
the entire state has none or does it not amount to injustice where two equally qualified teachers,
teaching the same syllabus are treated so differently in term of their monthly wages and other
benefits?

Another problem of funding education in the Nsukka Local Government Area is lack of
resources (material and human). Enoh states that if salaries and other fringe benefit which,
according to Jibril Aminu, constitute the noisy area of academic expenditure, can be neglected
with such brazenness, it will not be difficult to imagine what the situation will be like with the
silent areas of such expenditure. For most secondary schools in the country, their total material
procurement does not go beyond chalk, dusters and registers. Laboratories and libraries have
either been converted into classrooms or the buildings permanently locked due to disuse.
Observations of the 47th meeting of the Nigerian Examinations Committee (NEC) of the WAEC
(West African Examinations Council) vividly buttress this point. As reported by Head of
Nigerian National Office.

The committee noted, among other factors that poor performance of the candidates was a
result of poor preparation in those subjects because of poor teaching and the dearth of
facilities.

It observed that in most states, candidates the laboratories only when their schools got
instructions for practical examinations from WAEC. In most cases, even the teachers of

29
the subjects did not have the use of laboratory equipment and chemicals until the
practical examinations.

It condemned the practice whereby schools borrowed laboratory equipment and teachers
when they were to be inspected for approval as examination centres by WAEC for such
subjects only to return them after inspection. It described such practices as fraudulent
and counter-productive.

The situation with availability of human resources is when more sordid. By and large,
whereas material resources can be dispensed with, teachers are almost indispensable. Yet,
it is a sad commentary that most state Governments in the Nsukka Local Government
Area of Enugu State since the inception of democratic rule in 2000, have not employed a
single teacher in their secondary schools. It is very disheartening to note that this scenario
is more typical of educationally disadvantaged states, especially in the critical areas of
science, mathematics and English language. All the schools lack teachers especially in
physics, chemistry, introductory technology, music, arts, History and Geography.

However, when financial joggling are being made and educational expenditure are being
made and educational experiences shortfalls, the first visible expression is the termination
of teaching appointments of all those teachers from educationally advantaged states under
the guise of their being non-indigenes, even when these are found in the areas of greatest
needs say physics and chemistry. The unpalatable consequence is what we have today:
some of these educationally disadvantaged states do not have a physics teacher and the
entire staff strength in these areas, for some of them, compares nowhere with that of a
department in a Federal Government Colleges.

A vicious cycle is inadvertently played up: because they are educationally

disadvantaged states, they do not have a requisite manpower to teach in their schools; and
not having political will to recruit from other states with relative surplus, educationally
disadvantaged states continue to perform poorly at this level and are consequently unable
to fill their quota in institutions of higher learning in the country Does simple reasoning
not tell us that if we are genuinely committed to achieving equal educational
opportunities and balanced development, the federal Government should take complete

30
control of secondary education as is the case with primary and higher education? For only
them can we have a fairer spread of necessary educational inputs essential for the
achievement of that goal?

The problem of inadequate infrastructural resources like that of funding. One

must admit, cuts across the entire educational spectrum. However the situation with
secondary school is peculiar, not just because it is the least funded as earlier highlighted,
but because of the particular policy demands that are made on it. The National policy on
Education stipulates a science to arts admission radio into regular universities of
Technology and Agriculture as follows 60, 40, 70:30 and 80:20 respectively (Enoh
2013). Thus for every 10(ten) students admitted into the university, seven are expected to
be science based and three should be for the arts. This, we know, must remain a pipe’s
dream as long as the paucity or science teachers in our secondary schools remain
unattended to secondary schools, it s now evident, are being asked to implement policies
they are not prepared for and we seem not willing to prepare them for such.

Another problem of poor funding is seen in unbridled expansion of schools. One

must commend the Federal Government policy of achieving 10 per cent transition rate
now from primary to secondary schools and the force with which it is being implemented
in several states. For we find everywhere secondary schools being established to absorb
the huge primary school leaving population. The manner in which these schools are
established remains, at any rate, an issue of great concern. Usually prompted more by
political considerations than educational expediency, a government official wakes up one
morning and pronounces them establishments in a state. He may even be on tour and,
desirous of showing government presence in the area announces the establishment of new
secondary schools. All these are done without reference to relevant departments or units
of the educational ministry which are now faced with the burden of implementation. This
is not all. The blanket pronouncement is almost certainly silent over the type of school
junior or senior and so full blown secondary schools of JSI to SSIII are created without
regard to feeder primary schools that should make them economically viable and
educationally efficient. (Enoh 2013).

31
 Now, if the procedure for the establishment of secondary schools on the whole
leaves much to be desired, their initial location offends even the most irrational mind. In
most states, these schools are temporarily located in one obscure building of a primary
school. The government official having made this pronouncement and gone with no hope
of returning to see to its implementation is no longer interested. And with no fund to back
such pronouncements, the ministry of education may have exhausted its task with the
forceful assignment of a primary school block and the posting of a newly appointed
principal and a few other staff if at all.

There is nothing particularly wrong with sharing school facilities, especially if

adequate organizational measures are put in place to forestall friction. A different
understanding is made possible when institutions of higher learning are being established
temporarily or permanently in secondary schools grounds as theater are asked to move.
This conveys only one meaning: secondary schools are not too different from primary
schools with which they can mingle but are too inferior to come close to higher
institutions of learning. This happens because secondary schools, unlike primary schools
and higher institutions of learning, are without powerful central authority that can protect
their interests and the scale of value attached to their relative to others by those in author
positions, as already highlighted.

This unbridled expansion of secondary schools in the face of light budgetary

allocation has led to the easy route to de-boarding without the least thought of the huge
price we pay as a result.

The boarding school system, which brings together children in their formative and
dedicate years of growth to interact with one another and develop thereby a feeling of
oneness, while limiting parochial and other sentiments which keep Nigeria permanently
polarized, is sacrificed on the altar of immediate economic gain. We never seem to
realize that just as well attracts good, so does evil attract its kind. An adolescent child
thrown into the evil influences of the society face great danger which is reinforced with a
very poor instruction and a wholesome learning environment both at home and school.
And with only 83 Federal Government. Colleges and 15 Federal secondary and

32
 Technical schools out of a total of 6, 141 secondary schools, the proportion of students
who receive meaningful education and who have the prospects of interacting with others
from different sections of the country is far too negligible to achieve the noble aim of
national unity, with an emphasis on the common ties that unite us in our diversity, as selt
out in the National Policy on Education (Enoh 2013). These factors no doubt collaborate
to induce all forms of deviance which mature into cultism, both in their present schools
and later in institutions of higher learning.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION’S

5.1 Summary

Politics is an inseparable part of Education because education is a key to enhanced

opportunity socially, economically and politically.

The irrelevance of the inherited colonial education the post independence perception of
what Nigeria should be led to the quest for a more realistic education to reflect the envisaged
socio-economic, political, cultural, scientific and technological needs and aspirations of Enugu
State generally and Nsukka Local Government Area in particular. To achieve these ambitions,
education was conceptualized in terms of investment in manpower development.

Findings and recommendations of such commissions as phelps-stokes of 2012, Dike of

2013, Ikoku of 2015 showed the weaknesses of the colonial education in relation to our
developmental demands. This led to massive expansions of education at all levels in the Nsukka
Local Government Area.

33
 The first, second, third and fourth development plans gave priority to education
expansion.

This expansion led to the neglect of qualitative and cost implications of expansion.
Constraints emerged.

These constraints are inadequate funding, poor provision or lack of essential materials
and other resources. Nut the most crippling constraint is inadequate and in effective funding. The
result is that in Nsukka Local Government Area.

Salaries, pensions and gratuities are not being paid. There are also shortages of teachers and
other staff, laboratories, accommodation, libraries and so on. There are always strikes.

This means that for education to achieve its goals there must be effective and aggressive
funding from the beneficiaries of education.

5.2 Conclusion

As discussed earlier, education should be treated as a private sector or a private cum

public sector or a wholly public sector activity.

In the Nsukka Local Government Area private institutions exist as primary, post-primary
and tertiary institutions and many more are being established by private individuals and
organizations.

This trend is noticeable form the fact that in spite of heavy government subsidies paid for
primary and post primary education, parents still prefer to send their children to private scools.

The prerequisite for evolving a strategy for financing Nsukka Local Government Area
education should be predicated on the development of an economic, political and social ideology
in fact for the whole country. For now, the Nigerian economic, political and social ideology is
not clear-cut notwithstanding the economic, political and social objectives stated in the
suspended 2010 Nigeria Constitution.

34
 The so called “mixed market economy” as practised in Nigeria was anarchical and a
complete negation of either fee enterprise or socialist approach to our economic, social and
political life. It is generally an indiscernible system.

Consequently, different states evolve different philosophies notwithstanding the existence

of the so called National Policy on Education. A clear-cut educational philosophy need be
followed. The existing national policy has done that but it needs to be ahead with little
differentiation.

The Nigerian social pattern is pivoted on the “extended family” structure. Our social
philosophy should also be based on that framework. In this regard government should take on the
functions of the family, although not exactly the same way as that of the socialist countries. The
Nigerian spirit of communalism should be developed into a social system.

Finally the greatest inhibitions to Nigerians funding pattern are lack of reliable data and
the fact that since a great deal of support components are involved in the provision of educational
materials, its cost cannot be pegged down.

5.3 Recommendations

The Nigerian public is becoming aware of the fact that no government can singularly
finance the country’s educational programmes even if the whole of the nation’s budget is given
to education alone. Thus such jingles as “free education at all levels” are gradually disappearing
and are gradually giving way to realistic programmes of assistance to educational system. In the
Nsukka Local Government Area a pattern is evolving in which only tuition is free while other
educational expenses are being necessarily shared with other parents in the educational system.
A line is being drawn between a tuition free system and absolutely free system in which
government is expected to pay for everything-books, meals, uniform, transportation and so on.

Given these circumstances that we now face today let us consider specific areas that the
private sector can come in.

1. Since the governments alone cannot foot the bill for the development of the Nigerian
educational system, the governments should initiate and encourage active private

35
 sector participation in the areas of bursaries, scholarships, endowments, grants and
establishment of high quality non-profit oriented institutions particularly at the
secondary level.
2. State governments should draw up specific packages of incentives to attract the
private sector to the development of education in their state, the same way that they
draw up incentives for industrial and technological developments in their states. In
doing so these governments should watch against those in private sector who mainly
wish to commercialize the system and identify those with genuine intentions who
intend to make own names by investing money in the training of the minds of he
nation.
3. Federal and state governments should allay the years of private sector investors in
education by not gagging them in their efforts to contribute positively to the
educational development. Governments should provide guidance that would make for
positives partnership.
4. In view of the persistent cries that the educational system is not well funded at the
state level, state governments should tell the public what they actually do with their
education budgets especially in the area of assisting students from their states
studying in secondary and post-secondary schools. Annual rhetoric’s on placing
emphasis on education by state governors is not enough.
5. There should be an Annual performance and Evaluation report (APER) on the
specific activities of state governments in the areas of educational development,
provision of instructional materials, maintenance of existing structures, equipment of
libraries and laboratories, payment of teachers salaries, students’ welfare and
maintenance of school buildings. The private sector would require this kind of
information to enable them to develop a package of assistance to the educational
system and identify areas of such assistance.
6. State governments and even local government should be well advised to de-
emphasize mere growth of the educational system in terms of numbers and think
more seriously of the actual development of the educational system responds to the
needs of the economy.

36
7. Educational institutions themselves should develop interest in the direct purchase of
stock and shares, bonds and other forms of private sector investments whose proceeds
can be used to finance their respective institutions. This is particularly true of
universities where there are numerous unprofitable and badly managed so called
revenue generating ventures which are gulping the institutions’ scarce financial
resources.
8. At the secondary level, the parents teachers Association (PTA), the old students’
association, voluntary organizations, the Rotary and Lion Clubs, benefactors of
particular institutions and other benefactors of the schools should emphasize durable
properties like stock and shares, buildings, funding of specific capital projects of the
institutions when assisting these institutions. There should be investment account in
which all forms of cash donations are kept and capitalized proceeds from these
investment account in which all forms of cash donations are kept and capitalized
proceeds from these investments are used to supplement the schools’ financial needs
annually. Publishers, printers, booksellers and authors for instance, can also
contribute to the equipment of school libraries with new publications or books that
will be useful to the schools.
9. The organized private sector can set aside a portion of its profits to award
scholarships, bursaries to students from the states of their active operations. Since
manufacturing and commercial establishments are located in all states, institutions in
these states should derive some benefits from their commercial activities.

Finally there should be improvement in data storage and retrieval processes.

37
 QUESTIONNAIRE

SECTION A

Dear Sir/Madam.

Would you please supply the information requested below. The information will
be used for academic purpose only and will be treated with the strictest care and
confidence.

Please tick ( ) appropriately

1. I am a school principal
2. I am a civil servant
3. I am journalist.
4. I am a school headmaster/headmistress
5. I am a public servant
6. I am businessman/woman
7. Others, specify

SECTION B

Each of the items in the questionnaire relates to politics of funding education in Nsukka
Local Government Area of Enugu State. Please indicate your degree of agreement or
disagreement with each item using the following scales.

Strongly agree (SA) 5

Agree (A) 4

Disagree (D) 3

38
 Strongly Disagree (SD) 2

Undecided (U) 1

POLITICIZATION OF EDUCATION

SA A D SD U

1 Politics is an inseparable part of education

2 Political problems of education were almost suppressed

during colonial rule

3 Colonial government’s education did not reflect eradication

of illiteracy

4 Serious politicization of education was buried in the past

because education was in the hands of the regions/states

5 The only way of stopping politicization of education is

privatizing education

6 Politicization of education involves who receives it. Who

pays for it, who provides it to what extent, access,
ownership, control, standards and rewards and how to relate
education to the world of work etc

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF FUNDING

EDUCATION

1 The government take-over of schools is the best thing that

has ever happened to the funding of education

2 Government’s take-over of schools brought disintegration in

39
 education system

3 National Primary Education Commission (NPEC) arrested

progressive decay, which characterized the nation’s
education sub-sector.

4 There is need for establishment of National Secondary

Education Commission (NDEC)

FUNDING OF EDUCATION IN THE NSUKKA

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

1 Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State can fund

education comprehensively.

2 Education as a consumer and a producer at the same time

has to fund by the beneficiaries of its services.

3 The funding of education should be the responsibilities of

the Federal, State and Local Governments only

4 Government should take the initiative of encouraging

participation of local communities, individuals,
governmental and non-governmental organizations in
funding education.

5 Corruption and deliberate sabotage by some government

officials necessitate a search for other sources of funding
education.

40
6 Educational system in the Nsukka Local Government Area
of Enugu State is expanding although in a disorganized
manner probably due to lack of proper financing

7 Education is the foundation of all other sectors and must get

lion’s share of the budget

8 Without adequate funding educational aspirations will

remain in the pipeline and affect other sub-sectors

9 Government as the chief provider of all social services is the

country should foot all the bills of education

1 Most educational institutions in the Nsukka Local

0 Government Area have been plagued by a serious problem
of inadequate funding

RATIONALE FOR PUBLIC FUNDING OF EDUCATION

1 There should be equal educational opportunities and equal

educational treatment to all children.

2 Education bestows benefits not only on the individual being

educated but on the wider society

3 In public schools, complete equalization of per pupil

expenditure will ensure greater efficiency.

4 Indigent but brilliant children will emerge through public

funding to the benefit of humanity.

ROLE OF PARENTS IN FUNDING EDUCATION

1 Parents should be more involved in funding education

2 Governments’ level of funding should be 90 percent.

3 Too much involvement of parents’ in funding education will

affect allegiance to patriotism.

4 Parents should be involved in undergraduates’ maintenance

41
and funding

5 The new generation of students feel that they have not

42