Despite
spending so much more on education, learning outcomes of Nigerian
learners are behind those of other sub-Saharan African countries,
Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.
Delivering
a keynote address entitled: “Reforming Nigeria’s Education System:
Paradigm Shift” at the 2012 Isaac Moghalu Foundation (IMoF) Leadership
Lecture in Lagos recently, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala blamed the problem on lack
of transparency in the implementation of the budget.
She
said: “Nigerian students in grades four and six performed worst out of
22 African countries that participated in UNESCO’s effort at measuring
learning outcomes – the Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) assessment
- in 1996, behind countries like Niger, Togo, Gambia, Burkina Faso,
Mali and others in Africa.
“But
the alarming finding is that Nigeria’s position did not improve when the
test was taken again in 2003. Among fourth graders, only 25 per cent
(in 1996) and 35 per cent (in 2003) of answers that were provided on the
test were correct; only 32 per cent (in 1996) and 34 per cent (in 2003)
answers in the Mathematics test were correct. In national examinations
of primary school pupils in four main subjects in 2001 and 2003, only
20 per cent of fifth grade students could correctly answer over 30 per
cent of the test, and less than one per cent could correctly answer over
half of the test questions.,” Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said.
She
went on:“It is obvious that substantial inefficiency persists in the use
of education resources. Federal government allocations to the
education sector have averaged nearly eight per cent of the total budget
between 2004 and 2012. The 2012 education budget is N409.5 billion.
There is also the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TEFT) – a two per cent
tax on the assessable profits of all registered companies in Nigeria to
improve the quality of education in the country. TEFT raised N130.75
billion in 2011. There is also UBEC’s allocation of N63.12 billion.
“Yet,
the standard of education is not commensurate with the financial
outlay. According to a World Bank study in 2008, federal and state
governments aggregate spending on education, as a per cent of GDP, is
higher than the average of sub-Saharan countries, but on par with South
Africa and Kenya. Yet, learning outcomes in Nigeria are weaker than in
these two countries. Much of this inefficiency is the result of weak
budget management and accountability.”
She
added that until the problem of poor learning outcomes was addressed,
the impact of education on the development of the economy would remain
minimal.
“But
to yield sustained benefits at the national level, research shows that
education needs to be more about learning outcomes and skills
acquisition than just years of schooling. So regardless of the number
of years spent in the classroom, or the level of academic qualifications
a nation’s workforce attain, if they lack the right technical and
practical skills…the impact of such an education system on economic
growth will be very limited,” Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said.
The
Executive Director of IMoF, Mrs Maryanne Moghalu said the foundation
would contribute its quota to address some of these challenges by
enhancing access to quality education for underprivileged children in
rural areas through its scholarship scheme.
She
added that the foundation inaugurated in 2005, is shopping for N300
million to provide secondary and tertiary scholarships for 200 youths
and called for support in this regard.
“As
we face the future, we are determined to increase and maintain the
impact of IMoF. To achieve this, we need the partnership support of men,
women, and organisations with goodwill and a strong sense of social
responsibility.
“Our
immediate goal is to raise funds for N300 million to endow the Isaac
Moghalu Memorial Scholarships and put 200 youths on full scholarships
for secondary and university education, in the case of the latter, to
obtain qualifications in science and technology, the professions, and
entrepreneurial skills,” she said.
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