Historical Analysis of Educational Policy Formulation in Nigeria: Implications for Educational Planning and Policy

This paper attempts a trend analysis of educational policy formulation in Nigeria and also examines the implication of Nigeria’s experience on both educational planning and policy making in the country. It traces the formulation of educational policies right from 1914 (when Lord Lugard amalgamated the Lagos colony, Southern and Northern protectorates, and his wife named the region Nigeria) up to 2004: the current moment. The British colonial administrators introduced an indirect rule policy in her colonies in West Africa. Indirect rule was an administrative system, which Lord Lugard introduced into Nigeria. It was a system of administration, which the tutelary power recognized the existing traditional, structure and used such for the administration of the Lagos colony and Southern and Northern protectorates. The policy restricted the spread of both Christianity and Western education to the Northern protectorate. This accounts for the gap in the level of educational development between the North and the South. This has implications for both planning and policy formulation in education. The colonial administrators adopted British form of education in Nigeria. The colonial educational policy did not address adequately the aspiration of Nigerians. Hence, the 6-3-3-4 educational policy was introduced. The policy sought to introduce a functional technology – based education, which could sustain the economy. The Nigerian experience has a lot of implications for planners, who should be conscious of our local peculiarities, particularly the heterogeneous nature of the Nigerian society and the gap in level of educational development amongst the different segments of the society. It is essential for policy formulators to begin to initiate policies that will promote unity, equity and even development of education in the country. Introduction Certain historical antecedents have impact on how educational policies are formulated and implemented in Nigeria. The Lagos Colony, Southern and Northern protectorates were British colonies, which were amalgamated in 1914 and named Nigeria. The territory remained a British colony till 1960 when it attained independence. The colonial administrators introduced an indirect rule policy. Indirect rule was an administrative system, which Lord Lugard introduced into Nigeria. It was a system of administration in which the tutelary power recognized the existing traditional administrative structure, and used such for the administration of the Lagos Colony, and the Southern and Northern Protectorates. The indirect rule policy recognized the Islamic education in the Northern Protectorate; hence the Christian missionaries were restricted from spreading both Christianity and Western education to the region. This accounts for the gap in the level of educational development between the North and the South. This has a lot of implications for the planning of education in Nigeria. Of recent, the Federal Government has put in place several educational policies (such as the quota admission, the educationally disadvantaged and less disadvantaged International Journal of African & African American Studies Vol. IV, No. 2, Jul 2005 areas policies etc.) with a view to reduce the gap in North-South level of educational development. The colonial administrators adopted British form of education in Nigeria, hence the following school systems: primary, secondary, sixth form and higher education were introduced. Consequent upon the attainment of independence, it was discovered that this system of education did not meet the aspiration of Nigerians; hence the current 6-3-3-4 educational policy was introduced in 1977. The policy sought to introduce a functional technology-based education, which could sustain the economy. The colonial administrators administered education through the use of certain education ordinances and education codes, such as the 1882, 1887, 1916, 1926, 1946 and 1926 Education codes, (Ijaduola, 1998 and Ogunu, 2000). These codes and ordinances were used as guidelines to administer education in the colony. They served as the basis for the modern day educational policies, education laws and techniques of educational administration in Nigeria. The Macpherson Constitution of 1951 put education in a concurrent list, hence both the central and regional governments could legislate on education. This has a lot of impact on the present arrangement. There are thirty-six state governments and the federal government in Nigeria, each of which could legislate on education. The 1882 Education Ordinance Education legislation began in Nigeria with the introduction of the 1882 Education Ordinance for British West African territories that is Lagos, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Sierra Leone and Gambia. It prescribed the following criteria: (i) Award of grants for organization and discipline, with special grants for schools, which obtained high percentage of, passes, and thus attained high standard of general excellence. (ii) A capitation grant for each subject (iii) A capitation grant in proportion of the average attendance at school. The other provisions of the ordinance are: annual evaluation of pupils, methods of granting teachers certificates, a system of grant-in-aid, and the establishment of a General Board of Education with the power to establish local boards. The ordinance also recommended that one-third of the salary of the inspector of schools for the Gold Coast should be paid by the Lagos colony. Lagos and Gold were jointly administered. The 1887 Education Ordinance Consequent upon the separation of Lagos colony from the Gold Coast in 1886, it became mandatory that a purely Nigerian Education ordinance be enacted. The Ordinance was enacted in 1887. It created an Education Board and also stipulated rates and conditions for the award of grants, standard of examination, classification of teachers certificates and the board’s power to grant scholarship for secondary education. The 1916 Education Ordinance The 1916 Education Ordinance and the Code were approved on 21 and 24 December, 1916 respectively. They were the results of Lord Lugard’s efforts to cater for the whole country as education was based on good character and usefulness to both the individual and the community. The ordinance tried to reorganize the school system in Nigeria. It also recommended that grant-in-aid be offered in the following percentages: (i) Tone of the school, discipline, organization and moral instruction – 30 percent. 2 International Journal of African & African American Studies Vol. IV, No. 2, Jul 2005 (ii) Adequacy and efficiency of the teaching staff – 20 percent (i) Periodical examination and general progress 40 percent (ii) Buildings, equipment, sanitation – 10 percent The ordinance paved way for increased financial participation by Government, fullcooperation between the government and the missions and asserted government’s firm control over education. The Amended Ordinance No. 8 of 1919 gave more powers to the inspector by allowing them to inspect any school, whether assisted or non-assisted and also empowered the Education Board, upon the recommendation of inspectors, to close nonperforming schools. The 1926 Education Ordinance In the month of March 1925, a memorandum on Education Policy in British Tropical Africa was dispatched to the colonies as the basis for the British colonial education policy. The need to provide a modus operandi for this memorandum and the necessity to stop the mushroom primary schools from operating in Southern Nigeria provided the impetus for this ordinance. The ordinance was a landmark in the development of education in Nigeria and an outcome of the recommendations of the 1920 Phelps – Stoke Commission on Education in Africa. Its terms of reference include:(a) To inquire into existing educational work in each of the areas to be studied; (b) To investigate the educational needs of the people in their religious, social, hygienic and economic conditions; (c) To ascertain the extent to which these educational needs were being met; and (d) To make available in full the result of the study. The report of this commission geared the British Colonial Administration to demonstrate increased interest in African education. It issued its first educational policy in 1925. The 1925 memorandum outlined guidelines for operation in the colonial educational system. This policy consisted mainly of the recommendations of the Phelps-Stoke Commission. These include the following:(i) Establishment of advisory boards of education that will assist in supervision of educational institutions. (ii) Adaptation of formal education to local conditions (iii) Study of vernaculars in schools (iv) Thorough supervision and inspection of schools (v) Education of women and girls (vi) Emphasis on religious training and moral instructions (Osokoya, 2002). While the recommendations of the 1926 Education Ordinance are:(i) Making registration of teachers a pre-condition for teaching in any school in Southern Nigeria. (ii) Disallowing the opening of schools without the approval of the Director of Education and the Board of Education. (iii) Authorizing the closure of any school, which was conducted in a way that was in conflict with the interest of the people or the host community. (iv) Specifying the functions and duties of supervisors or mission school inspectors. (v) Expanding and strengthening the existing Board of Education by including the Director and the Deputy Director of Education, the Assistant Director, ten representatives of the mission and other educational agencies. 3 International Journal of African & African American Studies Vol. IV, No. 2, Jul 2005 (vi) Regulating the minimum pay for teachers who were employed in an assisted school (Osokoya, 2002 and Fabunmi, 2003). The 1948 Education Ordinance The report of the Director of Education who was appointed in 1944 to review the ten years plan and that of Sir Sidney Phillipson on the