EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS TO THE EXPANSION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NORTH-CENTRAL GEOGRAPHICAL REGION, NIGERIA

EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS TO THE EXPANSION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NORTH-CENTRAL GEOGRAPHICAL REGION, NIGERIA   

ABSTRACT

This study on the Assessment of the Contributions of Non-Governmental Organisations to the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria was aimed at gathering information on the opinions of principals, teachers, Ministry of Education officials and Non-Governmental Organizations officials on the contributions of NonGovernmental Organizations in the development of secondary education. The study had seven objectives, which aimed to ascertain; teachers‟ capacity building, the provision of teaching facilities, the provision of learning facilities among others by Non-Governmental Organizations on the development of secondary education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria.  Seven research questions were asked while corresponding hypotheses were formulated. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. A total of 384 population comprising 82 principals, 172 teachers, 95 MOE officials and 35 NGO officials were used.  Respondents were randomly drawn from the population using simple random sampling procedure. The instrument used for data collection was self-developed questionnaire using modified five points Likert scale of measurement. The questionnaire was validated by the researcher‟s supervisory team and experts in research and statistics in the department. The instrument was found to be reliable through pilot study which was carried out in Federal Capital Territory.  All the seven hypotheses formulated were tested using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance.  The major findings of this research indicated that Non-Governmental Organizations played key role in staff capacity building through organizing and sponsoring various staff development programmes such as workshop, conferences, seminar; Non- Governmental Organization assisted in the provision of teaching facilities but do not provide flip chart, ICT facilities and textbook; Non-Governmental Organizations did not provide learning facilities except exercise books, pencils, erasers, mathematical set to Secondary Schools; Non-Governmental Organizations didn‟t under take Supervision of Instruction in Secondary Schools among others. Conclusions included that Staff capacity building by Non-Governmental Organizations like workshop, conferences and seminars for teachers, immensely in the development of secondary education in NorthCentral Geographical Zone, Nigeria because it is an effective method of increasing the knowledge and skills of teachers in order to teach more effectively, provision of facilities for Teaching by Non-Governmental Organizations such as flip charts and models for teaching, laboratories and workshops, computers and ICT facilities has immense contribution to the development of secondary education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria because available adequate and teaching facilities promote academic achievements, provision of adequate facilities for  Learning by Non-Governmental Organizations such as  classrooms, relevant text books has great contributions to the development of secondary education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria because  adequate and relevant facilities promote academic achievements, instructional Supervision has great contributions to the development of secondary education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria because it aims at improving practice, improving student learning achievement, reflection, and improving the overall school among others. Recommendations were made which include NonGovernmental Organizations should endeavor to increase their areas of coverage in terms of provision of capacity building programmes for teachers to benefit more, Non-Governmental Organizations should extend the provision of teaching facilities to schools in the rural areas so for the benefits to go round among others.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Education occupies a center stage in Nigeria's social and economic development as it serves as the spring board for social and economic change. Education is both a human right in itself and indispensable means of realizing other human rights. As an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.

The role of the NGO in education in Nigeria can be traced from the European missionaries The early stages of the missionary Non-Governmental Organizations were not only challenging but also lacked coordination and direction on matters of policy, particularly in terms of who participated in determining the standard and the relevance of curricula. Despite the fact that missionaries and government education providers managed to get organized and gave direction and support to each other, Nigerians were simply passive recipients of the education chosen either by the colonial government or the missionaries.

The self-concept development of the individual should be the primary purpose of education, which should involve the enablement and liberation of the individual from all forms of oppressions and inhibitions. Article 2 of the International Bill of Human Rights states that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human rights and fundamental freedoms…” The aim of liberal education is to enable man to be himself, to become himself. It is said that development has a purpose and education is an instrument of liberation, people‟s empowerment and social transformation, education means the ability to resolve contradictions. It should be a countervailing force applied for the purpose of checking the abuses of power by those who use it to oppress and hold the masses in bondage. By emphasizing independent and critical thinking, reflective analysis of events and openness to change, education can become a means of peoples‟ empowerment. It is not the dull, maintenance learning that can bring about the empowerment of people, but innovative learning which is person centered and equips the individual to make sound judgments and analysis of issues. The individual should develop the skill necessary to test contradictory values and situations, which exist in the society. Since these contradictions evolve within the context of values, a sound education is not only one that recognizes what is right or wrong in a given context, but that which makes an individual to take the appropriate action when action is called for. Genuine development and education involve the moral strength to expose and speak against oppressive forces and falsehood. Misuse and the conceit of power are probably the greatest threat to the survival and dignity of man in developing societies today (Williams, 1981).

Education sector of a country like Nigeria cannot be run solely by the government alone, this brings to bear the need for collaborative effort by well to do Nigerians and the NonGovernmental organizations both nationally and internationally. The Non Governmental Organizations (Non-Governmental Organizations) are important stakeholders who compliment the efforts of government in terms of policy implementation.

At the international level, the Non-Governmental Organizations between 1995 and 2001, in conjunction with the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) partnered with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on research development, community education projects, literacy provision, capacity development and pre-service teacher training for nomadic communities. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was involved in capacity-building and training, radio education, and the development of a model centre at

Kaduna from 2004 to 2005. The World Bank partnered with the NCNE on programmes related to radio education and capacity development from 2001 to 2004. UNICEF focused on maternal and child health in 1997 and 2000, and in 2003 on nomadic girl-child education; In view of this, some focus on training and re-training of teachers who are to teach the girlchild, while others focus on the provision of basic learning facilities in the form of textbook and efforts are being supported with adequate finance to take care of basic day to day needs of the girl-child in schools. On the other hand, majority of the Non-Governmental Organizations strongly believe in the use of advocacy to fighting the course of the girl-child within their policy framework of empowering parents and girl-child with the needed capital to sustain the family when the girl-child is away to school. It also funded research on out-ofschool nomadic children in 2010. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) partnered with the NCNE on capacity-building in information and communications technology (ICT), and in open and distance learning (ODL). The Pastoral Sector Intervention Project (PASEL) – established by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the UN‟s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – carried out exchange visits and study tours. Since 2006, the NCNE‟s partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat has focused on the sharing of experiences, best practices, capacity development, provision of quality and standard guidelines on nomadic education in Africa, assessing the levels of implementation of agreed recommendations at various fora and workshops, the creation of links and collaborations on NEP, quality assurance and field visits. This has helped to bring together researchers, educational practitioners working with nomadic groups, and the nomadic people themselves in order to synthesize the research, determine successful practices and share lessons learned (Malinga, 2009).

Non-Governmental Organizations are organizations that work in many different fields, but the term is generally associated with those seeking social transformation and improvements in quality of life. Development Non-Governmental Organizations are the most highly visible sector, and includes both international and local organizations, as well as those working in humanitarian emergency sector. Many are associated with international aid and voluntary donation, but there are also Non-Governmental Organizations that choose not to take funds from donors and try to generate funding in other ways, such as selling handicrafts or charging for services (Willets, 2012).

The emergence of the concept of participatory development, that is, development that is conceived not only as society-centered (Pieterse, 2001) but also as democratic and peoplecentered has also led to the redefinition of the role of the state and civil society in addressing national development priorities. The unprecedented upsurge of Non-Governmental Organizations and their role in facilitating participatory development has also invited some degree of scrutiny. Despite the importance that is increasingly attached to their facilitative role, there is very little understanding of how Non-Governmental Organizations actually engage their beneficiaries in the decision-making processes of identification, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects that affect their beneficiaries' lives.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Education is an investment that requires enough funds to run and as such a single entity or government alone cannot bear the cost. In this regard Non-Governmental Organizations do come in to lend support towards the development of education at all levels of the educational sector. This support could be in terms of research development, community projects, provision of functional literacy, capacity building of staff of the sector, provision of teaching and learning facilities and intervention projects. Education is a pillar of every country in the world. Through education, literacy levels go high, and human resources are enhanced. Because of the needs of the education sector, most governments engage with NonGovernmental Organizations in meeting their needs. This makes the process sustainable, by bringing together all the stakeholders, including Non-Governmental Organizations who are a source of expertise in the education sector since Non-Governmental Organizations are ran by people with professional skills and specialized people on board, they can use this capacity to empower the sector. In some cases, Non-Governmental Organizations establish colleges for teacher and other personnel that work in schools. This is a complement as most governments especially in the developing world experience high rates of shortage of teachers. By training teachers, Non-Governmental Organizations also help the government to cut down on its expenditure of either building more training facilities or outsource services.

Another way through which Non-Governmental Organizations take part in promoting secondary education is by developing teacher capacity through workshops, seminars or conferences, provision of teaching and learning facilities, provision of scholarship to students, provision of games and recreational facilities, provision of welfare facilities among others. Moreover, governments wish to get Non-Governmental Organizations because of financial support. Since resources are always scarce against unlimited needs, governments hardly have enough to take care of the education sector. Thus, they engage NonGovernmental Organizations to help in meeting the financial expenditures in the sector. For instance, an NGO can offer to build classes, buy textbooks in schools or pay teachers for a given period. All these agreements go a long way in cushioning the government from recurrent bills, bloated wage bill among others. Through such funding from NonGovernmental Organizations, the government can divert its initial funds to other areas that have inadequacies.

Non-Governmental Organizations are critical as they contribute to civil society by providing means for expressing and actively addressing the complexity of the global world that we live in today. “Non-Governmental Organizations increase social capital by providing people with opportunities to build trust in each other and the capacity to work together toward common goals. In recent years the presence and number of Non-Governmental Organizations has grown. However, the influence and importance of Non-Governmental Organizations differ depending on the national context in which they operate.

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is an association that works independently of government. The term normally applies to organizations that are neither a part of government, non-profit nor conventional profit business. They are usually set up by ordinary citizens. However, NGO‟s may get support from governments, foundations or business firms.

NGO‟s are highly diverse group of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities and they take different forms in different parts of the world. For instance, some have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption; others may be for political, religious or other interest groups like human rights, environment or development work.

Consequently, this study was set to assess the contributions of Non-Governmental

Organizations to the development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical

Zone, Nigeria. Also the study is set to ascertain whether the contributions of NonGovernmental Organizations will be able to promote access and equity in the system for

National development.

1.3    Objectives of the Study

The study was set to achieve the following objectives:

1. ascertain Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to Teachers Capacity Building in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical

Zone, Nigeria;

2. assess Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the provision of Teaching Facilities on the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical

Zone, Nigeria;

3. find out Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Learning Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical

Zone, Nigeria;

4. Examine Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Supervision of Instruction in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
5. ascertain Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Scholarship in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
6. Find out Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Games and Recreational Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-

Central Geographical  Zone, Nigeria; and

7. Determine Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Welfare Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central

Geographical Zone, Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

This study sought answers to the following questions:

1. In what ways do Non-Governmental Organizations contribute to Teacher Capacity Building in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?
2. What are the Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Teaching Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central

Geographical Zone, Nigeria?

3. In what ways do Non-Governmental Organizations contribute to the Provision of Learning Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?
4. What are the Non-Governmental Organizations contributions in the Supervision of Instruction in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?
5. What are the Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of

Scholarship in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?

6. What are the Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of Games and Recreational Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?
7. What are the Non-Governmental Organizations contributions to the Provision of

Welfare Facilities in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria?

1.5 Hypotheses

Based on the research questions, the following null hypotheses were formulated for the study:

    Ho₁: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Principals, Teachers, Ministry of

Education Officials and NGO officials on Teachers Capacity Building in the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

    Ho₂: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on the Provision of

Teaching Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations to the development of

Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

Ho₃: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on the Provision of

Learning Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations to the development of

Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

Ho₄: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on Supervision of

Instruction by Non-Governmental Organizations to the development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

Ho₅: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on the Provision of

Scholarship by Non-Governmental Organizations to the development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

Ho₆: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on the Provision of

Games and Recreational Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations to the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria; and

Ho₇: There is no significant difference in the opinions of Respondents on the Provision of

Welfare Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations to the Development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria.

1.6 Basic Assumptions

This study was based on the assumptions that:

1. Non-Governmental Organizations Provide Teachers with Capacity Building so as to enhance the development of Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
2. With greater participation by Non-Governmental Organizations in terms of Provision of Teaching Facilities, there will be greater Educational Development in North-

Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;

3. With enhanced Provision of Learning Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations, there will be better developed Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
4. Regular Supervision of Instruction by Non-Governmental Organizations, will enhance greater efficiency in terms of teaching in Secondary Schools of North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
5. Provision of Scholarship by Non-Governmental Organizations to Secondary Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria will enhance enrolment, retention and completion of secondary education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria;
6. The provision of Games and Recreational Facilities by Non-Governmental

Organizations will ensure greater participation by students in co-curricular activities, hence better performance by secondary school students in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria; and  

7. With provision of Welfare Facilities by Non-Governmental Organizations in Secondary Schools there will be effective and efficient teaching and learning, hence promoting educational development.

1.7 Significance of the Study

Education is a skill and wisdom which every society preserves. This research study on the contributions of Non-Governmental Organizations in the development of education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria will be of great significance to curriculum planners in determining the content, objectives, methodology and evaluative techniques of educational programs. Educational Planners and administrators will also find this research work useful in making policies that will bring about greater educational development hence, fulfilling the constitutional requirement of providing equal educational opportunities for all Nigerian citizens.

The findings of the study will be of immense benefit to various tiers of government such as local, state and federal government to whom the burden of educational development seems to have been left with. This study will show a clear picture of the contributions which non-governmental organizations play in educational development thereby serving as an appraisal report to the government. The findings of the study will be of immense benefit to school principals who have been the victims of inadequacies of resources needed for effective execution of educational programmes. Probably, suggestions on how other community based or faith based organizations can play one or more contributions towards the development of educational programmes in our schools in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria. Lastly, the result of this study will be of importance to future researchers who may wish to carryout studies relating to the problem under study.

1.8 Scope of the Study

This study focused on contributions of Non-Governmental Organizations on the development of Education in North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria.  This study covered

Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger and Plateau States in the North-Central Geographical Zone, Nigeria. The study exclusively covered Secondary Education sector because it is the level of education where career development of the child is determined. Hence, the respondents were the principals, teachers, Ministry of Education officials in the states that were covered.

 

EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS TO THE EXPANSION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NORTH-CENTRAL GEOGRAPHICAL REGION, NIGERIA   

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