Page 1 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 494
Resources Management and Public Policy on Nigeria
Educational Sector: An Issue for Sustainable Development
Iliya Bawa1, Garba Ibrahim2 And Hussaini Mohammed Ndakwesu3
Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nigeria.
1EMAIL: iliyabawa84@gmail.com ;
2EMAIL: garbaibrahim2k2@yahoo.co.uk
3EMAIL: owuseni84@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Within the first two decades of
Independence in Nigeria Public Policies
concerning education were made and
there was rapid growth in educational
sector in nearly every direction and at
almost every level. As the sector operates in
a changing environment it faces challenges
such as: delays in disbursing funds, in
effective management of education system.
And shortages of learning resources
resulted to poor quality of graduates. The
data used for this study is based on
secondary data, information from these
sources are weighed and it was
recommended that it is not possible to
deliver effective education without some
level of relevant resources and the
resources must be drawn upon and put to
judicious use to enable them increase
wealth and public organizations including
educational institutions should develop
strategic plans as a means of enhancing
results based management and efficiency
in their operations.
Keywords: Education, public policy,
resource, management, funds, sector.
Introduction
Primary schools are the basic foundation
of the educational pyramid in Nigeria
(Fafunwa, 2001), meaning any serious
endeavour for sustainable development
in the educational sector as well as
manpower training must start with the
primary education. After the primary
school, one is expected to pass through
the secondary school. Efficient and well
motivated teachers must be trained via
colleges of education. Polytechnics
produce technicians and technologist
needed for direct employment in
industries (FGN, 2000). They are to
produce high and middle manpower,
necessary for agricultural, industrial,
commercial and economic development.
Universities on the other hand, are
established to advance learning in diverse
disciplines; promote the development of
high level manpower to meet the needs of
the Nigerian economy. They are also to
generate information through research
and disseminate such knowledge.
Universities are also established to
maintain and transform cultural heritage
of the country (FGN, 2000).
When policies concerning education are
defined or formulated, they are supposed
to be rational, strategic, backed by state
resources, and action, and pursued in the
best interest of the country as a whole
and not that of a small group of elites in
the metropolis. Education, in this context,
Page 2 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 495
means not just the acquisition of literacy,
and numerical skills, but also the ability to
pass down knowledge from one
generation to another. It is a process by
which values are transmitted inter-and- intra generationally. It encompasses
creative thinking and action that
stimulates cultural change (Theodorson
and Theodorson, 1969).
In Nigeria, within the first two decades of
independence, there was rapid growth of
educational sector in nearly every
direction and at almost every level:
primary, secondary, tertiary, science;
technical; vocational; planning,
administration and supervision; finance,
infrastructure and educational aids;
enrollment, reward and prestige. But the
problem of imbalance between north and
south, boys and girls, rural and urban
access to education-remain persistent.
The geographical imbalance in education
produced its most intense competition of
enrollment at all levels – primary,
secondary and tertiary. This led to the
rapid construction of schools and higher
educational establishments. This vote for
education in the first National
Development Plan period (1962-1968)
stood at 10.3 percent. It was among the
top five targets of the plan (Ayo, 1988).
But as physical structures increased,
along with enrollment figures, the work
force to deliver instruction and manage
the institutions lagged behind. This lack of
capacity made reliance on expatriate
hands inevitable. This was more so for the
northern Region than the rest of the
country which could also not escape the
temptation to hire the expatriate. The
second National Development Plan
(1970-1974) was to reflect the country’s
growing economic confidence. It made
bold declarations about building a strong
and united country: a just and egalitarian
society; a free and dynamic economy; a
land of opportunity for all citizens; and a
free and democratic society, these
philosophical aspirations were declared
under military rule. And education was
made the numero uno on the social scale
of the planned and actual public capital
expenditure attracted 11.4 percent (Ayo,
1988).
By the time the Third National
Development Plan (1975-1980) was
launched, series of second generation
universities were established. In addition,
Polytechnic and Monotechnics also grew
in number and spread. In just ten years
Nigeria had introduced the Nigerian
Enterprises Promotion Decree which led
to the establishmefnt of seven new
universities (at Calabar, Jos, Benin, Ife,
Ibadan, Lagos and Nsukka; and become
one of the biggest recruiting countries of
expatriate manpower in the world. The
general manpower needs of the nation
were so severe that...... anyone produced
by the educational system at virtually any
level of learning competence is
immediately employed. Scholarship of all
kinds and at all levels overseas are
automatically taken up (Arnold, 1977).
The National Policy on Education,
published for the first time a document in
1977, this document is currently in its
Page 3 of 11
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at
http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 02 Issue 8
August 2016
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 496
fourth edition. Despite series of
modification, the five main goals of the
national policy on education remain
intact. It declared Nigeria’s philosophy of
education as one that believes that:-
- Education is an instrument for
national development
- Education fosters the worth and
development of the individual...
- Every Nigeria child shall have a
right to equal educational
opportunities irrespective of any
real or imagined disabilities...
- There is need for functional
education for the promotion of a
progressive, united Nigeria...
These goals are amplified with the
declaration that “...education is the most
important instrument of change” and is
therefore fundamental to any
revolutionary “change in the intellectual
and social outlook of any society”.
Though these policy statement suggest
some key points of agreement on public
policy on education in Nigeria. But the
economic recession of the early 1980s
and the SAP that was to follow in 1986,
impacted negatively on the educational
sector. The state, as part of its adjustment
policy, withdrew subsidy from the social
sector. And education took a direct hit.
The recurrent financing per student in the
University declined by more than 30%
while student enrollment increased by
88%, revealing a wide gap between NUC
budgetary expectation and federal
government allocation to the University
system. Moreover, 80% (i.e 320,000) of
candidates seeking JAMB admission, out
of about 400,000 applicants are unable to
gain a place in the University system
(Moja, 2000, as cited by Abdulkarim
2013) Abdulkarim (2013) noted that the
number of public universities has grown
from 6 in the 1960s to 73 as at 2000 and
is rapidly increasing. In addition, new
universities are being established by
federal, state governments, private capital
and voluntary agencies. There is also
expansion in number of institutions,
programmes and enrollment at the
technical, vocational, college of education
and polytechnic levels of education. Yet
the demand for post-secondary education
is not relenting-even as funding has failed
to corresponding improve in real terms. It
is not possible to deliver effective
education without some level of relevant
resources. The importance of resources in
the management of education cannot be
over emphasized.
I. Statement of the Problem
The education sector in Nigeria operates
in a changing environment and it faces
challenges such as: delays in disbursing
funds, lack of teachers’ motivation,
ineffective management of education
system, the decline of staff quality is a
consequence of obsolete research
facilities. Laboratories are not well- equipped or are practically non-existent.
Most primary, secondary, and tertiary
institutions offer computer science
courses without computer laboratories,
let alone internet connectivity. Libraries
have become achieves of stale, archaic
and irrelevant materials. They hold out- of-date collections. These shortage of
