ABSTRACT
The study was carried out in
Bayelsa State to investigate modalities for improving the funding of primary
schools by Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs). A descriptive survey
research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 540
respondents while the sample size was 224 Head-teachers and Education
secretaries selected through randomization. The instrument for data collection
was a researcher-designed questionnaire. This was face-validated by three
experts while Cronbach Alpha method was employed in computing the reliability
estimate. Four research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The
data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation while t- test was
used in testing the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The
findings show that LGEAs to a great extent fulfill their statutory roles in the
funding of primary schools through submission of total estimate, annual account
and monthly returns to SUBEB amongst others. The findings also identified the
constraints to LGEAs in funding primary schools to include inadequate funding of
the education sector as well as poor statistical data while the effect of the
constraints include poor supply of infrastructural facilities, delay in payment
of salaries and allowances amongst others. The findings also identified
increasing of budgetary allocation in education, active private sector
participation and collaborative efforts of the three tiers of government in
developing education and establishment of endowment funds. The researcher in
general recommended that Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) and other private
groups should join hands in providing funds for effective running of primary
school education in the country.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education
is a social service engaged principally in manpower development for the nation
and enhancing knowledge for social and economic development. Consequently, most
nations of the world strive to devote a sizeable proportion of their Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) to develop the education sector. However, it should be
noted that Nigerian education sector has consistently received less allocation
than advocated for by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO). According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation, (UNESCO 2002), every nation of the world should
allocate at least 26% of its annual budget to education sector but Nigeria has
not met this recommendation. In Nigeria, between 2008- 2013 only 8.2% and 8.7%
of our annual budget was allocated to education (FGN, Annual Budget,
(2008-2013).
World Bank, (2003) stated that
the federal government expenditure on education seem to be below 10% of its
overall expenditure. It would have been more interesting to spell out what
proportion of this expenditure on education goes to primary education. This
issue of under-funding of primary education is so endemic that, it has
encompassed series of other problems of shortages of human and material
resources, (Iwuanyanwu and Anene, 2001). This current pattern of investment
within the education sector is such that the tertiary level gets the lion share
while the primary level gets the least, (Alabi, 2010).
In
Nigeria, there are other levels of education, such as tertiary education,
secondary education and primary education. All these levels of education play a
significant role in the socio-economic and political development of the nation.
Higher education as defined by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004: 36) in
her National Policy on Education is the education given in universities,
polytechnics, colleges of education and monotechnics after secondary
education including those institutions offering corresponding courses.
Historically,
the principal player in the Nigerian public tertiary education system has been
the government. The federal government through its various agencies, such as
National Universities Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of
Education (NCCE) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTC) provides
grants to universities, colleges of education and polytechnics. The States also
fund their public universities, colleges of education and polytechnics,
(Emmanuel, 2011). Apart from tertiary education, we also have secondary
education. Secondary school education according to Omonyi, (2000) refers to
full-time education provided in secondary schools usually for students between
the ages of eleven or twelve and eighteen years plus. Public secondary schools
in this country are solely funded by the federal and state governments in this
country.
The
other level of education is the primary education. The Federal Republic of
Nigeria in the National Policy on Education (2004: 14) describes
primary education as the education given in an educational institution for
children aged between 6-11 years plus. The policy states that since the rest of
the educational system is built upon it, primary education is the key or
failure of the whole educational system. Despite the preeminence accorded this
level of education in Nigeria, the sector is poorly funded.
Funding
according to Ogbonnaya, (2012), refers to a sum of money saved or made
available for a particular purpose. It can be called money or financial
resources. In other words, funding is the amount of money needed to fund an
on-going project or programme for future development. Investment in primary
education has become internationally recognized as instrument per excellence
for development. Primary education requires adequate public financing support
more than any other of the other levels in education since it is the foundation
level of any educational system. Gidado, (2000) asserts that primary education
has suffered tremendously in Nigeria from....
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