Upload
others
View
4
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
37
eg
Ekpo, Koko Okon Akpan, A Historical Review of Educa-
tion in Nigeria with Emphasis upon Secondary Education in
Cross River State. Doctor of Philosophy (Secondary
Education/Curriculum Studies), December, 1982, 321 pp.,
37 tables, 8 figures, bibliography, 161 titles.
The purposes of this study are to describe the past
and the present systems of secondary education in the
Cross River State of Nigeria; to examine the goals,
achievements, and failures of each with special considera-
tion for the period from 1970 to 1981; and to make
recommendations for improvement of the secondary educa-
tional system in the Cross River State of Nigeria.
This study is concerned with a concise but broad
historical review of secondary education in the Cross
River State of Nigeria. An analysis of the historical
evolution of the federation reveals that the forces
underlying Nigeria's educational problems include the
piecemeal acquisition and administration of different areas
of the country, and with fragmented and disorganized public
policy during the Colonial period. For instance, the
policy of restricting Christian missionary activity in the
North, while giving access to missionary initiatives in the
South contributed to uneven social and educational develop-
ment between the North and the South, and resulted in
additional inter-regional tensions.
The review of the related literature consists of three
sections. The first section discusses education as it
existed prior to the Colonial rule. The second section
concentrates on the development of secondary education in
Cross River State of Nigeria during the British rule.
The third section is devoted to secondary educational
developments in Cross River State of Nigeria from 1960
to the present. It identifies educational administrative
measures, inspection, finance, structure, and organization,
the education of secondary school teachers, and the educa-
tional problems which influenced the system during the
period.
The recommendations call for programmes that would
lead to industrial and technological progress.
©1983
KOKO OKON AKPAN EKPO
All Rights Reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS i*
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION 1
Statement of the Problem Purposes of the Study Research Questions Definition of Terms Delimitations of the Study Background and Significance of the Study Research Design Summary Chapter Bibliography
II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 25
Introduction Purpose and Value of Educational Planning Traditional Education in Nigeria Educational Developments During the
British Rule Educational Development after Political
Independence Summary Chapter Bibliography
III. TRADITIONAL EDUCATION IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA 65
The Curriculum of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
Purposes of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
i n
Teachers of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
Summary Chapter Bibliography
IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA: 1970-1981 83
Introduction Philosophy of Nigerian Education Objectives of Education in Cross River
State of Nigeria Structure and Organisation of the
Ministry of Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
Goals of Primary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
The Development of Primary Education System in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Enrolment in the Primary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria
Number of Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Universal Primary Education (U.P.E.) Scheme in Cross River State of Nigeria
Classrooms, Furniture and Equipment of U.P.E. Scheme in Cross River State of Nigeria
Fears About the U.P.E. Scheme Management of Primary Schools in Cross
River State of Nigeria Curriculum of Primary Schools in Cross
River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981 Academic Qualifications of Primary School
Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Criteria for the Selection of a Primary School Headmaster in Cross River State of Nigeria
Financing Primary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
In-service Education Programmes for Pri-mary School teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria
External and Internal Constraints in Pri-mary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
IV
Roles of Institutions of Higher Education in Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Future Plans in Cross River State of Nigeria for Expansion, Growth, and Improvement in the Primary Education Programme
Development of Secondary Education System in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Goals of Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
Number of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Enrolment in the Secondary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Number of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Goals of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria
Enrolment in Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Admission into Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria
Achievements of the World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria
Problems of World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria
Management of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
The State School Board Structure and Organisation of the State
School Board of Cross River State of Nigeria
Functions of the State School Board Campus Administration of Post-primary
Institutions in Cross River State of Nigeria
Curriculum of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Curriculum of Secondary Commercial Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
v
Curriculum of Secondary Technical/Trade Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Curriculum of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria
Academic Qualifications of Secondary School Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981
Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Teachers in Secondary Grammer Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Secondary Commercial Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Secondary Technical/Vocational Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria
Criteria for the Selection of a Secondary School Principal in Cross River State of Nigeria
In-service Education for Secondary School Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria
Methods of Teaching in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Guidance in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Instructional Spaces in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Equipment in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Laboratories in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Inspection of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Financing Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
External and Internal Constraints in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
Higher Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
Roles of Insititutions of Higher Education In Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria
VI
Future Plans in Cross River State of Nigeria for Expansion, Growth, and Improvement in Secondary Education Programmes
Summary Chapter Bibliography
V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 207
Summary Findings Conclusions Recommendations to the Government of
Cross River State of Nigeria Recommendations for Future Studies Chapter Bibliography
APPENDIXES .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
250
308
vix
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
I. School-age Population and Actual Enrolment in Primary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1978/79 School Year 99
II. Number of Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1978/79 School Year 106
III. Number of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria by Division: 1970-1976 138
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. The General Organisational Patterns of All the Ministries of Education in Nigeria . . 101
2. Organisational Structure of the Cross River State School Board 169
3. Recommended Administrative Structure for Each Independent School District in Cross River State of Nigeria 170
4. The Administrative Structure of Secondary, Technical, and Commerical Institutions Including Teachers' Training Colleges in the Ministry of Education of the Cross River State of Nigeria 171
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria lies within the tropics between latitudes
4° and 14° north of the equator and longitudes 3° and 14°
east of the Greenwich Meridian (21, p. 1). It is bounded
on the west by the Republic of Dahomey, on the north by the
Niger Republic, on the north-east by the Chad Republic,
on the east by the Republic of Cameroun, and on the south
by the Atlantic Ocean (21, p. 1). Nigeria, well watered
by the Rivers Niger and Benue and their tributaries,
has an area of 356,669 square miles [26, p. 459], an
area equal to one-ninth of the United States or Texas
and California put together, or France, Belgium,
and Great Britain combined (10, p. 1). The population
of Nigeria is believed to approach 100 million (16,
p. 2). Its climate varies from tropical at the coast
to sub-tropical further inland. There are two well-marked
seasons: the dry season lasting from November to March
and the rainy season from April to October (21, p. 1).
Temperatures at the coast seldom rise above 90°F, but
humidity is high. The climate is drier further north
where extremes of temperature are more common, sometimes
reaching as high as 110°F and falling to 50°F.
The political entity known as Nigeria came into
existence in 1914 (21, p. 1). Prior to this date the part
of the Sudanic belt which it occupies had a history that
was essentially of the movement and fusion of peoples, the
rise and fall of empires and the slave trade. Thereafter,
the history became that of the establishment of Fulani
rule over the Hausa communities of the north in the early
19th century and the gradual imposition of British rule,
which commenced from the south with the Cession of Lagos on
August 6, 1861 (21, p. 1). Nigeria came into being in its
present form when the two protectorates of Northern and
Southern Nigeria were amalgamated by Frederick Lugard (6,
p. 21). Flora Shaw, who later married Lugard, first
suggested in an article for the London Times that the sev-
eral British protectorates on the Niger be known collec-
tively as Nigeria (17). Any country is, in a sense, an
artificial creation. In the case of Nigeria, however,
union was so sudden, and included such widely differing
groups of peoples, that not only the British, who created it,
but the inhabitants themselves have often doubted whether it
could survive as a political entity (6, p. 23).
Nigeria, the most populus black state in the world,
became a sovereign state on October 1, 1960. Independence
from Britain was achieved through nationalistic
struggle—strikes, agitation, and mass protests.
There was no armed struggle (28, p. 1895). The civilian
administration that ushered the country into political
independence was elected through democratic elections held
in 1959 (28, p. 1895). That government handed over power
to a military government in January, 1966, after some
sections of the Nigerian army had mutinied in reaction to
widespread political unrest and violence in parts of the
country.
At that time, Nigeria was a federation led by a prime
minister at the centre and four regional premiers. The
general officer commanding the Nigerian Army took
power as head of the federal military government and
supreme commander of the armed forces. He tended to steer
the country towards a unitary form of government. This
was an unpopular move and after six months his government
was overthrown, and he and one of his military governors
and some army officers were killed (28, p. 1895).
Nigeria's second military government lasted nine
years. During this period, a civil war was fought to re-
unite the country after a section of it had attempted to
secede. The peace was won, because at the end of the
war, the government declared that there was no victor and
there was no vanquished. A general amnesty had been
granted and war victims were rehabilitated. There was
post-war reconstruction followed by an economic boom. By
now Nigeria had become a federation of twelve states in
response to demands for the creation of new states.
A third military government came into being in a
bloodless coup on July 29, 1975. It announced a four-year
programme that would terminate with the return to
democratically-elected government and the shifting of the
federal capital from Lagos to Abuja in the central part of
the country in response to popular demands. It also
created seven new states. The head of this government,
the late General Murtala Muhammed, was killed in an
abortive coup on February 13, 1976, after six dramatic
months in office and was declared a national hero. His
chief of staff, General Olusegun Obasanjo, was persuaded
by his colleagues to take charge of the government and
complete the programme embarked upon by his predecessor
(28, p. 1895). On October 1, 1979, the Military Govern-
ment handed over power to a civilian administration headed
by Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari as Executive
President with Dr. Alex Ekwueme as Vice-president (8,
p. 44).
The Cross River State of Nigeria was created on
May 27, 1967. It is one of the twelve states that were
created by special decree by the then head of state,
General Uakubu Gowon. In a broadcast at 9:00 p.m. of
May 27, 1969, General Uakubu Gowon announced a decree
dividing Nigeria into twelve states as a basis for stabil-
ity (25, p. 47). On February 3, 1976, when seven new
states were created in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by
the then Federal Military Government, the former name—
South Eastern State of Nigeria was changed to the present
name—Cross River State of Nigeria (24, p. 131). The then
Military Government announced that states would no longer
be identified simply by their geographical locations but
would all be given names, to "erase memories of the past
politicalties and emotional attachments" (25, p. 131).
Cross River State of Nigeria lies within the Cross
River Basin between Latitude 4°25' and 7° North and longi-
tudes 7°151 and 9°20; East. The state has an area of
28,685 square kilometres, is bordered on the North by the
Benue state, stretches into the Atlantic Ocean in the
South, shares common boundaries with the Cameroun Republic
in the East and the Imo and Rivers states in the West
(22, p. 561). The population estimate of Cross River
State is four million and the capital is Calabar (23,
p. 251).
Three major ethnic groups are easily identifiable in
Cross River State of Nigeria. These are the EfiM/
Ibibio/Annang group located in the South. The origins of
the Ibibio are shrouded in mystery and obscured by con-
flicting traditions. They are sometimes referred to as a
semi-Bantu group, indicating their linguistic affinity with
the Bantu Congeries of languages in Central, Eastern and
Southern Africa (12, p. 25). It is most probable that
they migrated to their present area from the Cameroun
uplands to the east and from the Cross River estuary, moved
upriver as well as westwards until checked by other tribes
(12, p. 25). The Ibibio language includes many dialects,
the principal ones being Ibibio proper (Uyo), Efik
(Calabar), Annang, Enyong, Eket-Ibibio and Andoni or
Ibeno (12, p. 26). A curious and persistent belief among
many Ibibio people is that they are related in some way to
the Jews of Europe and Asia. Instances are cited of
similarities between Ibibio and Hebrew in sentence struc-
ture, idioms, proverbs and word usage. Common social
customs, such as certain forms of purification, have also
been noted (12, p. 26). The Ejagham group is spread over
the North but divided into two sectors by an intermediary
group—the Ekoi. The Southern sector of Ejagham comprises
the Quas in Calabar Division and the neighboring people
of Akamkpa Division while the Northern sector is made up
of Etung—spreading people of Ikom, Akajuk, Nkum, Nkim,
Mbube, and parts of Ogoja. In the Ekoi group are the
people of Biase, Bahumono, Yakurr, Agbo, and Mbembe Clans
(22, p. 561).
Education in Nigeria is no longer a private enterprise,
but a huge government venture. It has witnessed a pro-
gressive evolution of governmental intervention and
participation. The federal military government favored
university expansion to remove geographical educational
imbalances, to foster national unity and to train high-level
manpower. The National Policy on Education describes the
way the Federal Government plans to achieve part of its
national objectives using education as a tool, and the
policy states that education is adopted as "an instrument
par excellence for effecting national development" (11,
p. 245).
The policy states that Nigeria's philosophy of educa-
tion is based on the development of the individual into
a sound and effective citizen and that equal educational
opportunities for all citizens of the nation at the
primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, both inside and
outside the formal school system should be provided (11,
p. 245).
There is an assumption that a relationship exists
between planning and change. This assumption is under-
scored by Morphet's statement that
Change can occur without planning, and planning can be accomplished and have no tangible results. But as educational leaders attempt to develop more effective plans that are designed to bring about needed changes in educational environment, they will
need, to a greater degree than before, to understand the intimate and interdependent relationships that exist between planning and change, and to find ways of capitalizing upon the inherent strengths of these relationships (20, p. 91).
Nigeria, like most other developing nations, is
attempting to change at a speed greatly exceeding that
attained by most developed nations. While political,
economic, social, and technological changes took place
gradually and sometimes by change in the older nations,
the emerging nations are resorting more and more to
systematic planning to effect change, and are placing
considerable demands on the educational system to produce the
manpower needed for national development (15, p. 9). This
is not to say that the most astute planning will solve all
educational problems, but that lack of planning or ineffec-
tive planning would be a waste of resources. It cannot be
assumed that education alone will bring about needed pro-
gress and development, but undoubtedly education does
improve the quality of life. Developing nations then can
no longer afford to leave the education of their youth to
chance.
To underscore Nigeria's reliance on education as an
instrument of change, the former Federal Commissioner for
Education, Col. A. A. Ali, declared during the inaugural
ceremony of the implementation Committee on National
policy of Education in Lagos that
The new national policy on education was aimed at making education an instrument of socio-political as well as economic change, with far-reaching con-sequences for individuals and the society. . . . The essential character of education should be seen in its capacity to meet declared national objectives, including the inculcation of national conscious-ness, unity and the right values and attitudes (27, p. 2181).
African leaders have witnessed the powerful influence
that education has on underdeveloped countries such as
their own, and they regard education as a powerful change
agent. Education, they felt, was the magical "something"
necessary to produce citizens of appropriate quantity,
skills, and attitudes. A Nigerian leader once said,
"In the New Africa education must be accorded priority
number one; it is the 'open Sesame' to all problems" (4).
Vaizey, although he was referring to Western coun-
tries, remarks that "even in absolute terms, education is
a big industry; but in terms of its demand for highly
trained people it is the largest single occupation" (4).
Education has become a major, if not the major,
concern of the new independent states of Africa. At
almost every point in the modernization process, education
is the critical factor, for without it, Africa's people
would be unable to enter the modern technological world.
For millions of Africans, education is the key that will
open the door to a better life and higher living standards,
10
The control and planning of education has become an area
of crucial magnitude (8, p. 3).
The importance of education cannot be over-emphasized.
In 1978 the General Conference of UNESCO said, "By the very
complexity of the problems which it must help to solve,
education must be conceived in an interdisciplinary context
as a factor of multidimensional development of which man
is both the end and the instrument" (24, p. 1819). In the
"Special Report on Education," (24, p. 1819) the World
Bank clearly delineates the significance of education.
First, education is a basic human need. "People need
education to acquire a broad base of knowledge, attitude,
values and skills on which they can build a better life"
(24, p. 1819). Thus,education enhances people's ability
to learn, adapt to social and cultural activities (24,
p. 1819) .
Second, education is a means of meeting other basic
needs:
Education influences and is in turn influenced by access to other basic needs—adequate nutrition, safe drinking water, health services, and shelter. In this context, one remembers the argument of experts that health programmes could be accelerated more by teaching the people basic principles of hygiene than by sophisticated medical science. Also, if children are better fed they can learn better, which would improve their overall benefits from education (24, p. 1819).
11
Third, all development programmes depend on education
for the simple reason that they all require skilled workers
at all levels to manage capital, technology, services, and
administration in every sector (24, p. 1819).
In this "special report on education," (24, p. 1819)
the World bank laid emphasis on the fact that despite
significant improvement in the enrollment of children in
all spheres of education, the developing countries still
have a long way to go in solving the problems of education.
Nigeria, with its introduction of Universal Primary
Education (UPE) in 1979 did initiate momentous thrust
in eradicating illiteracy. The effort has transformed
the country into a demanding and changing society. There
are numerous basic issues that revolve around this trans-
formation. It may be interesting to determine the extent
to which the present administrative machinery is sufficient
and capable of coping with the problems of educational
change.
It was the ingenuity of the military government in
Nigeria that ushered in a free primary education as a
weapon against illiteracy, and also brought about a new
educational policy to guide the future of the people in
attaining the goals of education. Thus, the planned
changes in education had the interest and the backing of
those at the top of the political ladder. This affirmed
12
the contention of Schramm of the importance of the involvment
of political leadership where changes and innovation are
planned (13, p. 165).
An addquate secondary school system in Nigeria is a
major problem, but it is not a top priority item. Top
priority has more frequently been given to expanding
elementary education and to establishing universities
(9, p. 298) .
Nigerian education is in a period of transition. The
contemporary form of education in the new nation reflects
the British concepts on which the system was developed
prior to political independence. Education is now being
"Americanized," although the nation is still experimenting
with ideas borrowed from many different countries of the
world (9, p. 298).
Secondary education in Cross River State of Nigeria
consists of five years (called "forms") at the end of
which students take the west African school certificate
examination. After completing this examination, students
who wish to attend universities usually must take an
additional two years' work ("sixth form") and pass the
Advanced Level Certificate Examination (9, p. 298). It
is assumed by Nigerian educators that this middle step
between the secondary school and the university is no
13
longer necessary, and it is being phased out. Further
research will help to validate its assumption. Secondary-
education in the Cross River State of Nigeria is neither
free nor compulsory (9, p. 298).
It is hoped that a historical review of secondary
education in the Cross River State of Nigeria will bring
to light some of the old and new problems, and thus some
major suggestions and recommendations may be made which
could contribute to the solution of the problems.
Statement of the Problem
The problem of this study is to complete a historical
review of the educational system of the Cross River State of
Nigeria with special emphasis on secondary education.
Purposes of the Study
The purposes of the study are
1. To describe the past and present system of
secondary education in the Cross River State of Nigeria;
2. To describe the curriculum design and instruc-
tional activities of secondary schools in the Cross River
State of Nigeria;
3. To describe the qualifications of secondary school
teachers in the Cross River State of Nigeria;
4. To examine the goals, achievements, failures and
problems of secondary shcools in the Cross River State
14
of Nigeria with special consideration for the period from
1970 to 1981?
5. To draw conclusions and make recommendations for
improvement of the secondary educational system in the
Cross River State of Nigeria.
Research Questions
Specifically, this study will explore the following
questions.
1. What were the purposes of traditional education
in the Cross River State of Nigeria before the introduc-
tion of western education?
2. What are the current purposes of secondary
education in the Cross River State of Nigeria?
3. What is the nature of secondary curriculum and
co-curriculum activities in the Cross River State of
Niger ia?
4. Who attends secondary schools in the Cross River
State of Nigeria?
5. What are the qualifications of secondary school
teachers in the Cross River State of Nigeria?
6. How is secondary education financed in the
Cross River State of Nigeria?
7. Which individuals or groups influence the initia-
tion of educational policies in the Cross River State of
Nigeria and to what degree?
15
8. What is the influence of selected individuals or
groups on the development of educational policies in the
Cross River State of Nigeria after policies have been
proposed?
9. What is the influence of selected individuals or
groups on the final approval of educational policies in
the Cross River State of Nigeria?
10. What future plans are under way in the Cross
River State of Nigeria for expansion, growth, and improve-
ment in the secondary education programme?
11. As a result of this study, what recommendations
might contribute to the improvement of secondary educa-
tion programmes in the Cross River State of Nigeria?
Definition of Terms
Terms used in this study are defined as follows.
Secondary grammar school.—This secondary school is
designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of
age who are college-bound. The programme takes five years
to complete with a strong academic bias, in the English
tradition, leading to the West African School Certificate
Examination (19, p. 158).
Secondary commercial school.—A secondary school
designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of
age who are career-bound. It is characterized by
16
instruction in commercial vocational subjects. It is
therefore a kind of vocational school from which graduates
go immediately to work (19, p. 158).
Secondary technical school.—A secondary school
designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of
age who are career-bound. It is a kind of vocational
school where graduates go immediately to work as techni-
cians in government departments.
Comprehensive secondary school.--A secondary school
designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of
age. The school has each of the programmes that are
offered in secondary grammar schools, secondary commercial
and secondary technical schools.
Chairman.—This is the chief administrative officer
of the state school board that oversees the welfare of
secondary schools and teacher training colleges in the
Cross River State of Nigeria. By the American pattern, he
is the state superintendent of schools.
State School Board.—This is the board appointed by
the Cross River State of Nigeria Ministry of Education
that employs and assigns teachers at the post-primary
school level. This is similar to the state school board
of an American school system.
17
Educated Nigerians.—The term is interpreted to
include all Nigerians who complete either the first six
years of training in primary schools and obtain Nigerian
First School Leaving Certificate at the end of the six
years; those Nigerians, who, after obtaining their First
School Leaving Certificate further their education for
five years in secondary schools and obtain the West
African School Certificate after a successful completion
of their programmes; and Nigerians who have University
education and obtain either a bachelor^, master^, or
doctoral, degree (7, p. 41).
Local government area•—This is a geographically
delineated unit divided into subdivisions for administra-
tive convenience. A comparable term in the United States
of America is the county (2, p. 10).
National certificate of education.—A post-secondary
professional teaching diploma awarded after three years of
satisfactory work.
General certificate of education.—This is a certifi-
cation of academic achievement administered by the West
African examination council offered in two tiers:
"ordinary" and "advanced" levels--grade 12 and junior
college graduate equivalents in the United State of
America respectively (2, p. 10).
18
Delimitations of the Study
The present study was limited to Cross River State
of Nigeria because generalizations to all nineteen states
in Nigeria would be meaningless, as the system of secondary
education in each of the nineteen states is unique.
The study was also limited to the materials available
through the United States Library of Congress in Washing-
ton, D.C., U.S.A., the British Library, London, of which
the British Museum is a part, the leading United States
universities connected with the development of education in
Nigeria, the Ministry of Education of Cross River State of
Nigeria, and the Nigerian universities. The study was also
limited to the materials available through government
publications, educational laws and decrees, unpublished
theses and dissertations, articles in the professional
journals, reports of UNESCO, Nigerian educational research
institutes, the Nigerian Chronicle (the Cross River State
of Nigeria Daily Newspaper), and the Nigerian Daily Times
(Nigerian Daily Newspaper). The study was also limited
to the materials available through the World Bank study
of Nigerian Education, and interviews.
Cross River State of Nigeria was selected for this
study because it exhibits many of the characteristics of
the educational systems in those nations classified by
economists as "developing nations." Also it faces
19
problems in human resource development similar to those
that other developing nations face.
Background and Significance of the Study
This study is concerned with a concise but broad
historical review of secondary education in Cross River
State of Nigeria. The relevant literature is replete
with references to the Nigerian system of education and
the problems facing the system. An analysis of the
historical evaluation of the federation reveals the
forces underlying Nigeria's problems to include the
following: sociocultural and religious diversity, the
piecemeal acquisition and administration of different
areas of the country, and certain aspects of public
policy in the colonial period (3, p. 9).
Nigeria is characterized by social, cultural,
linguistic, and religious diversity. The piecemeal
acquisition of the country by the British and the system
of indirect administration served to maintain the
identity of each of the regions, so that local centre of
leadership and loyalty solidified before political
independence. Certain aspects of public policy, for
example, the policy of restricting Christian missionary
activity in the north while giving free access to mission-
ary initiative in the south, contributed to uneven social
and educational development between the north and south
20
and resulted in interregional tensions (14, pp. 238-239).
The effect of the British influence on the education of
Nigerians has been a subject of much discussion (1). A
need arose for studies in this area so that educationists
would be aware of the particular characteristics associated
with the development of education in Cross River State of
Nigeria. Such studies would aid educationists in their
endeavour to lead the young nation at the local, state
and federal levels, to examine the purposes, goals, and
limitations of secondary school set-up in Cross River
State of Nigeria and thus reveal the weaknesses and
problems of the system, and to make available any sugges-
tions concerning the improvement of the secondary educa-
tion system in Cross River State of Nigeria.
Research Design
This study was designed to review the history of
secondary education in Cross River State of Nigeria.
Thus, it was a descriptive research.
Data were collected, evidence was synthesized in
order to establish the facts pertaining to the study, and
conclusions were drawn concerning the past and present.
Finally suggestions were made regarding the secondary
education system in Cross River State of Nigeria.
21
Summary
The preceding paragraphs provided the following: a
brief political history of Nigeria and that of Cross River
State of Nigeria, a statement of the problem, the purposes
of the study, questions to be investigated, the definition
of major terms, limitations of the study, a brief back-
ground and significance of the study and the research
design.
The next chapter contains the development of major
concepts and a review of related literature. Chapter
Three deals in detail with traditional education in Cross
River State of Nigeria. Chapter Four is a description of
the primary and secondary education systems in Cross River
State of Nigeria from 1970 to 1981. Chapter Five contains
the findings, conclusions and recommendations. A general
bibliography is appended.
CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Adeyinka, A. A., "Impact of Secondary School Education in the Western State of Nigeria," Comparative Education, 9 (October, 1973), 151-155.
2. Ahuwan, Abasiya Magaji, "Needs Assessment: An Analysis of Institutional Goals in Post-primary Schools in Nigeria with Special Reference to Kaduna State," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1981.
3. Ajala, Oyewole Olayioye, "A Historical Review of Secondary Education in Western Nigeria: 1842-1976," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1977.
4. Biobaku, S. 0., "Africa's Needs and Africa's Universi-ties," West African Journal of Education, Vol. viii, No. 2.
5. Coombs, Philip H., What is Educational Planning? UNESCO, International Institute of Educational Planning, 1970.
6. Crowder, Michael, A Short History of Nigeria, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1966.
7. Ekpenyong, Jackson J., "Development of Educational Institution and Social Change in Nigeria: 1953 1973," unpublished master's thesis, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1976.
8. Ekpo, Koko Okon Akpan, "Qualifications of Secondary School Teachers in English-speaking Africa—An Overview," unpublished doctoral dissertation, Carolina Christian University, Chester, Virginia, 1980.
9. Encyclopedia Americana, 1970, Vol. 1, pp. 298-299.
10. Fafunwa, Alliu Babatunde, "An Historical Analysis of the Development of Higher Education in Nigeria," doctoral dissertation, New York Univeristy, 1955.
22
23
11. Federal Military Government of Nigeria, Supplement of Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 61, No. 4 (January 24, 1974—Part A), by Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, Nigeria.
12. Floyd, Barry, Eastern Nigeria: A Geographical Review, London, Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 196 9.
13. Havelock, R. G. and Huberman, A. M., Solving Educa-tional Problems; The Theory and Reality of Innovation in Developing Countries, UNESCO, Switzerland, 1972.
14. Ibim, Geoffrey Mark, "Federal Government and the Development of Education in Nigeria: 1951-1965," University of California, Los Angeles, 1968.
15. Ibiok, Joseph F. D., "The Development of a Model Plan for Evaluating Higher Education Planning in Nigeria," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1980.
16. Ighoavodha, Frederick J. 0., "Keynote Address Pre-sented to the Nigerian Students Union, Denton Chapter, Denton, Texas, during the Nigerian Independence Anniversary celebration, October 4, 1980.
17. Kirk-Greene, A. H. M., "Who Coined the Name Nigeria?" West Africa, December 22, 1956.
18. Knezevich, Stephen J., Administration of Public Education, New York, Harper and Row, Publishers, 1969.
19. Lewis, L. J., Society Schools and Progress in Nigeria, Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1965.
20. Morphet, E. L., Jesser, D. L., and Ludka, A. P., Planning and Providing for Excellence in Educa-tion, New York, Citation Press, 1972.
21. Nigeria Diary, Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, Nigeria, 1973.
22. Nigeria Year Book, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria publica-tion, 1979.
24
23. Nigeria Year Book, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria publica-tion, 1980.
24. Obe, Ad'obe, "Special Report on Education," West Africa, West Africa Publishing Company Ltd., London, (September 22, 1980), 1819.
25. Ojiako, James 0., Thirteen Years of Military Rule, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria Publication, Lagos, Nigeria, 1979.
26. Paxton, John, Editor, The Stateman's Yearbook: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1875-1976, New York, St. Martini's Press, 1975, pp. 459-460.
27. West Africa Magazine, West Africa Publishing Company, Ltd., London, (October 24, 1977), 2181.
28. West Africa Magazine, September 29, 1980, p. 1895.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The Cross River State of Nigeria is one of the educa-
cationally backward states in Nigeria. This fact has
been accepted by successive administrations of the state
since its inception. At the commencement of the third
state development plan (1975-1980), the State's education
under development was still clearly manifest in acute
shortage of high-level and skilled man-power, particularly
in the administrative, professional and technical cadres,
as well as in low enrollment ratio, particularly at the
secondary and tertiary levels of education (6, p. 48).
This situation would appear to have arisen and persisted
principally as a result of past neglect of the geographi-
cal area now known as the Cross River State of Nigeria in
the provision of educational facilities and economic
infrastructures for the economic well-being of its
inhabitants (6, p. 48).
The history of Nigeria necessitates a need for
assessing its educational goals. Ogunsola (36, pp. 105-
127) has synthesized and revealed four distinct eras
in the development of education in Nigeria from its
25
26
inception: 1890 to 1925—The Period of Experimentation,
1925 to 1948--The Period of Attempted Reorganization,
1948 to 1966 The Period of Consolidation and Independence,
and 1966 to present—The Period of Evolution of National
Policy on Education. Okafor (37, pp. 1-5) further
explained that these periods each had its organizational,
racial or other imperatives which determined the specific
objectives it pursued.
The dilemma that faces educational planners in
Nigeria has been articulated by Ndamukong (27, pp. 8-12),
where he stated, "We have reached a point where many roads
converge and it is vitally important for the future of our
educational system that we choose the correct road forward."
Other contributions about the educational problems were
cited by George (17, pp. 54-56), stating that the problem
over current trends in education was due to ineffective
planning and coordination. He emphasized that education
should endow pupils with the capacity to contribute
effectively as citizens and workers in social development.
Purpose and Value of Educational Planning
Ibiok (19, p. 15), writing in 1980, stated that
before 1950 the term "educational planning" was scarcely
used, but that in the last twenty-five years the popularity
of that term has soared. He further stated that people
who are concerned with the future of education all over
27
the world are showing such renewed interest and concern
for the orderly development of educational systems that a
large body of professional literature has developed and is
roughly doubling each year. He emphasized that educational
planning, as it is known today, is not only growing rapidly
but its discussions are being extended to cover a wider
range of topics, and questions, such as economic develop-
ment, manpower, curriculum, teaching techniques, finance,
and fiscal policy. For our purposes, the function of
educational planning may be defined as a process of study
and foresight which generates action to achieve desired
educational outcomes (19, p. 16).
Coombs warns that whatever educational planning is,
it is certainly not a miracle drug for aiding educational
systems nor, conversely, is it a devil's potion that breeds
only evil (8, p. 14). What seems to give educational
planning such popularity among political leaders, legis-
lators, administrators, teachers, students, and assorted
citizens according to Ibiok (19, p. 16) is the common
recognition of educational planning as a key tool of
economic and social development.
Poignant argues that education should have a
privileged position in the national plan because it trains
future workers and aims at raising production and the
standard of living, thereby improving every aspect of
28
human society (40, p. 47). He says that education is a
long-term national investment and that the future active
population of a country will derive the benefit of an
expanding flow of better-educated and trained young
people. This, he says will gradually transform the
intellectual and vocational structure of the population.
The higher skills of the active population will make
it possible for production techniques to be constantly
improved and for the steady progress of economic expansion.
He concludes that "the advantages of this type of invest-
ment are not restricted to the sort economists try to
calculate, but are felt in all spheres, whether social,
domestic, cultural or democratic" (40, p. 47).
Several other authors arguing in the same vein, trace
the relationship of education and educational planning to
economic development. Fernandez (15) says that educa-
tional planning has a special place in national develop-
ment. After reviewing the planning activities in Latin
America and elsewhere, he makes a rather strong ideologi-
cal justification of educational planning as a tool of
development.
McCusken (25) made a study of the educational system
of the Republic of China in 1962 and found that it played
a significant role in the economic development of the
Republic. Rodriguez (41) studied the long-term needs
29
for economic development of Puerto Rico and concluded that
the system must be expanded to meet the commonwealth's
trained manpower requirements and recommended the
establishment of an educational planning body. Vaizey
(47) in consideration of education as an economic
phenomenon supports the manpower approach to educational
planning. He sees a direct relationship between educa-
tion and economic development. Dennison (11), attempted
to measure the contribution of education to economic growth
with particular reference to the United States. The
Japanese Ministry of Education acknowledges the "quanti-
tative and qualitative" contributions of education to the
economic growth of Japan, relating this contribution to
the increase in public expenditure in education (21).
As Ibiok points out, the common notion among authors
seems to be that nations should increase the proportion of
their resources devoted to education because of the rela-
tionship of education to national development and economic
growth (19, p. 18). He further states that educational
systems all over the world seem to be in the "man—power
business" because they are called upon to meet the ever
expanding and increasingly sophisticated human resource
requirements of national economies. It should however
be pointed out that no studies have yet revealed a clear-
cut casual relationship between the volume of investment
30
in education and successful national development (19,
p. 19). As Harbison points out, education of the wrong
kind may even impede growth (18, p. 33). Thus, the single
most important reason suggested in the literature for
educational planning for both industrialized and under-
developed nations is for efficient allocation of resources
to produce the needed manpower to help keep the economy
going.
No longer is education viewed as a non-productive
sector of the economy which absorbs "consumption expendi-
ture" but it is now viewed as an essential "investment
expenditure" for economic growth. Coombs observes,
Wearing this impressive new investment label, educa-tion is able to make a more effective claim on national budgets. But to justify the claim, educa-tors themselves would have to become more manpower-minded. They would have to plan and try to govern their student intakes and outputs to fit the pattern of manpower requirements certified by the economists to be necessary for the economy's good health (8, p. 22) .
The literature, though thin on the relationship of
education and educational planning to social development,
as distinct from economic development, does have some
arguments in favour of educational planning for non-
economic reasons. According to Ibiok, man is a social
animal, but he is tending more and more to be an economic
robot, and therefore education unquestionably must
31
contribute to the vital non-economic dimensions and forces
of national development (19, p. 20).
Authors with a background in education and sociology,
nurtured on the liberal, humanistic tradition, prefer
to argue that without planning, the educational systems
continue to leave large reserves of ability in the popu-
lation educationally underdeveloped. They prefer to
fight for bigger budgets and more investment in education
on higher ground, arguing that education is the right of
every person who can benefit from it (19, p. 20). In other
words, the moral conception of education in the twentieth
century is the principle of formal equality of educational
opportunity.
The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development) has sponsored several studies on the social
objectives in educational planning. Anderson (28, p. 31),
Vaizey (47), Weinberg (48), and Hayward (28, p. 202) deal
with the concept of education as a tool of social develop-
ment and have carried out several studies to support equal
educational privilege and opportunity. They see a need
for expansion of educational opportunity and observe that
"educational expansion has not led automatically to more
equal participation as between the social strata" (38,
p. 26) .
32
Ibiok (19, p. 21) points out that the nature of a modern
industrial society requires that citizens undergo an
education which is essentially intellectual in content
in order that they may become useful citizens. Thompson
and Fogel (44, p. 16) state that universities cannot
determine social mobility as such; but they can contribute
to it, and that in dealing with education we are dealing
with "values."
Curie (10) and Bernier and Williams (3) make the
same non-material argument for educational planning, with
Bernier stating that education then, beyond all other
devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the
conditions of men the balance-wheel of the social
machinery . . . it gives each man the independence and the
means by which he can resist the selfishness of other men.
It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility
towards the rich: it prevents being poor. . . . Moral
education is a primal necessity of social existence
(3, p. 274) .
The thinking among supporters of the social objectives
of education then is that if education helps the economy's
slave (19, p. 21), educational planning should aim at
developing the recipients first and foremost as individuals
and not as a manpower statistic (19, p. 21).
33
According to Ibiok (19, p. 21), both the economic
development and the social development proponents agree
that in order to cope with the concrete and enormous tasks
that face educational systems all over the world, we must
approach them "planfully." He further points out that
sociologists and others concerned with social development,
have some very convincing arguments, but they still have
some distance to cover in translating social and human
development objectives into sufficiently specific terms
to be operationally useful for educational planning and
programming.
Ibiok (19, p. 22) then concludes by stating that
systematic educational planning is necessary for the
following reasons:
1. To cope with the increase in student numbers
provoked by demographic expansions,
2. The almost universal acceptance of the principle
of equality of educational opportunity for all,
3. The need for skilled manpower for economic growth,
4. The need to minimize wasteful imbalance within
the educational systems and to allocate and utilize
available resources efficiently and effectively,
5. To alleviate many non-financial bottlenecks like
shortage of staff, faculty, and physical facilities,
34
6. Long-range planning provides a commonality of
understanding about the mission and goals of the system
(and institutions) and the strategies to implement them,
7. Planning helps direct energies away from the non-
essentials to the essential activities,
8. It makes evaluation possible in objective terms
simultaneously with implementation,
9. Planning assists in generating funds by strength-
ening the institutional and systemwide case with the
granting agencies, governmental and private,
10. It helps to ensure the survival and growth of
the system and component institutions.
Traditional Education in Nigeria
According to Fafunwa (14, p. 17), traditional educa-
tion in Nigeria differed from place to place chiefly
because of social, economic, and geographical imperatives.
Ajala (2, p. 15) points out that the education of the
child in Nigerian society began in infancy, just as was
true in European, Asiatic, or American society. The
history of Nigerian education is a reflection of the
country's richness in culture and tradition. Research
indicates that some sorts of systems of education had been
in existence in Nigeria as early as 1472 before the arrival
of European influence on the Coast of Africa south of the
Sahara. This was not only an important source of
35
inspiration to the people but a remarkable portal for the
Europeans to channel their ideas and new philosophies.
Since the people had already embraced some forms of
education, what came with the Europeans was the continua-
tion and extension of what had been known and accepted.
Through time many of the attributes of the early education
had been modified, altered, and changed, yet, the present
system of education in Nigeria has never been completely
divested of those natural elements which were responsible
in alerting the people to act in consort in the past in
response to a given situation. Even with the change in
educational orientations in this era, culture still
exercises no less influence in the social and economic
spheres in the country. The Nigerian value system today
is nothing more than the redefinition and the extension
of what existed before based on the context of today's
societal demands. The parents were responsible for the
early childhood education of their children (14, p. 18).
Fafunwa identified what he called the Seven Cardinal Goals
of traditional education and stated that traditional
education was made up of the following features: Physical
training, development of character, respect for elders and
peers, intellectual training, the poetic and the Prophe-
tic apsects, vocational training, community participation,
and cultural heritage (14, pp. 20-49). Fafunwa concluded
36
by stating that traditional education, in spite of criti-
cisms by European and American writers, was not any more
conservative or any less progressive than any other
system (14, p. 48). He added that there was much that the
Nigerian educational system as it existed in 1974, could
learn from the traditional educational system (14, p. 49).
Njoku (33) points out that the first school a child
attended was the home, and early childhood education was
entirely in the hands of the mother. She further states
that precolonial Nigerian society stressed educating for
practical needs of life and for full participation in
all the tribal activities—political, social, economic,
and religious. Parents, relatives, elders, and peer
groups were in essence teachers according to her (33).
Each person knew the customs and traditions of the tribe
and generously cooperated in the education of the children
(2). Research indicates that what the child was taught
was meaningful to him. It prepared him for active
participation in all the activities of the community.
All of his education related directly to his environment
(33, pp. 11-37) .
Research indicates that prior to the arrival of
Europeans in Nigeria, the young were trained to uphold
customs and tradition, to respect natural laws, and in the
art of trade. The mission of education in existence was
37
to produce good community leaders knowledgeable in civic
responsibilities. Thus the important challenge to the
educational system was the promotion of social loyalties
and of preserving the ideals of institutions of faith
of the time. The functions of education at that time,
was simply that of sophisticating the young minds in the
morals and in the ethical conducts of the time. There-
fore, all efforts of the educational endeavour were to
promote status quo.
However, from this simple beginning the greater
things grew. The formal educational system which came
to Nigeria with the coming of European missionaries
became established. The great test of it all was the
acceptance of the change in orientations with little or
no resistance. This situation came about because the
nature of change that came was incremental according to
research. Research further indicates that what was in
existence was never thrown away as unfit to make way for
the new start. Rather what existed before was accepted
and blended into the new system through gradual modi-
fication.
Educational Developments During the British Rule
It was trade in slaves that brought North Africa,
Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria together with the
38
Europeans in early part of sixteenth century. The rapidly
increasing demand for slaves as West Indian and tropical
American plantations production began to boom, encouraged
the Europeans to have a close contact with Nigeria, where
they found a large number of slaves they needed (13, p. 6).
Ekpenyong (13, p. 6) points out that, in the 1620s, the
number of African slaves reaching the Americas was about
7,000 to 8,000 a year. In the last quarter of the seven-
teenth century the average American import of slaves was
25,000, and the total number of slaves imported during
that century was estimated at about 1,300,000. In the
1780s, 70,000 slaves were being landed in the Americas
each year (49, p. 768). The volume of slave trade in
West Africa grew rapidly from its inception around 1500
to its peak in the eighteenth century. About 6.3 million
slaves were shipped from West African slave ports and more
than 4.5 million slaves from 1701 to 1810 (28, p. 48).
Ekpenyong (13, p. 7) writing in 1976 pointed out
that missionaries began to go to Nigeria in order to
educate and Christianize the people and to help check the
adverse effects of the slave trade. He went on to say
that when the slave trade was legally stopped by the
British government in 1807, both the missionaries and the
British government worked hand in hand in establishing
schools and legitimate trade in Nigeria. According to
39
Ekpenyong (13, p. 7), the legitimate trade (or non-slave
trade) included such commodities as palm oil, palm kernels
and ivory, which the Europeans exchanged for guns, gin and
rum.
Ekpenyong (13, p. 8) points out that the efforts
of the Christian missionaires were more intensive than
those of the non—slave traders. Through their extensive
evangelical activities, the missionaries played a very
critical role in the field of education in Nigeria.
Unlike the legitimate traders, they did not limit their
endeavours to port towns, rail or river lines or commercial
centres; they penetrated into the most remote areas in
the interior with the determination to remain there until
Christianity was firmly established (13, p. 8).
In the mid-1940s, the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries
and the Church Missionary Society began work in Southern
Nigeria. During the next half—century, these pioneer
missionaries were followed by the Church of Scotland,
Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalians and the Roman Catho-
lics in 1900. Research indicates that, by the end of
World War I, fifteen European missionaries and American
evangelical groups were operating in the southern pro-
vinces and the middle belt of Nigeria. Coleman noted
that, more than 600 European missionaries assisted by
nearly 5,000 Nigerians, had established close to 3,000
40
churches, and Christendom claimed more than 800,000
communicants by the end of World War I (7, p.. 94). Coleman
points out that the impact of missionaries was first felt
by the Yoruba, Ibo and the Ibibio-Efik (now in Cross River
State of Nigeria) ethnic groups (7, p. 94). According to
him, although the Ibo and Ibibio-Efik groups had very
few converts between 1880 and 1885, the number of converts
grew rapidly from 514,395 in 1920 to 3,915,500 in 1953, and
50 percent of their population was Christianized. Because
of the impact of Islam among the Muslim North group, there
were no Christian missionaries in that region.
The Yorubas had been exposed to Western education
at a much earlier date than any other group in Nigeria.
They were the first ethnic group in Nigeria that had many
religious stations and Christians as early as 1875 (42,
p. 66) .
The Ibibio-Efik groups in the Cross River State of
Nigeria are the next ethnic groups that felt the impact
of missionaries during the later part of the nineteenth
century (13, p. 11). The basic social unit among the
Ibibio-Efik has been a single extended family or a
kindred composed of several families.
The British government in Lagos Colony first concerned
itself with education in 1877, when it approved an annual
grant to support mission schools. In 1886, the
41
administration of Lagos Colony passed an education
ordinance that granted the government of the Colony some
control over mission schools (28, p. 177). After a decade,
(1906) about 126 primary schools with an enrollment of
about 11,872 pupils and one secondary school (King's
College in Lagos) with about 20 pupils had been established
in Southern Nigeria (32, p. 169).
Crowder contends that the missionaries, by educating
the Nigerians, played a very powerful role in changing
their social and traditional status (9, p. 132). According
to Crowder, before the end of the nineteenth century,
education in Nigeria had been conducted in various parts
of the nation.
Coleman (7, p. 107), writing in 1958, pointed out
that in most cases, education in Nigeria was based on
reading, writing and calculating in the English language.
He further stated that, the curriculum later included
British Empire history, European geography and some
practical courses in gardening, sanitation, and personal
hygiene. It is regretable that African history was con-
sidered either non-existent or unimportant by those well-
meaning teachers, who emphasized European wars, Colonial
campaigns of pacification, the evolution of the British
Constitution, and the growth of the British Empire (7,
p. 115). Most readings in English literature were taken
42
from Shakespeare and the Bible. Thus, it is quite common
m Nigeria today to find semi-educated people, doing
menial jobs, who can name the principal English cities,
quote the Bible, and recite Hamlet, but who have little
knowledge of the geography, proverbs, folk tales, or
prominent leaders and historical events of their own
country (7, p. 115).
The importance of the missionary monopoly of educa-
tion lies in the evangelical approach of mission schools.
These schools, and perhaps mission hospitals and clinics,
were powerful instruments for rapid Christianization (and
hence Europeanization) of the Nigerians (7, p. 113).
In Cross River State of Nigeria, there were very few
schools during this period, most of which belonged to
popular religious bodies like Catholics, Methodists,
Presbyterians, Qua Iboe, the Salvation Army and a few
others (6, p. 9). Buell (4, p. 728) contends that in
Cross River State of Nigeria as elsewhere in British
Africa, education was left mostly to the missionary
organizations which established village schools, under
village teachers, primarily with a view to training the
natives in the principles of the Christian religion. He
points out that at Calabar, the capital of Cross River
State of Nigeria, the Scottish Mission maintained an
industrial school of high order, the Hope-Waddell Training
43
Institution (4, p. 728). Writing about the Hope Waddell
Training Institution, Oduah and Jennings (35, p. 135)
point out that this institution is the oldest secondary
school in Nigeria. Its former principal, Sir Francis
Ibiam, became the Governor of Eastern Nigeria in 1960
(35, p. 135).
The government was willing to leave the bulk of
primary education to the missionary bodies, which it
assisted by grants-in-aid. Such schools were called
"assisted" schools (4, p. 728). Buell (4, p. 728) points
out that an education code prescr ibed the subjects to be
taught by such schools. According to him, the determina-
tion as to whether or not a school should be given a grant
was based upon the report of a government inspector. In
computing the standard of efficiency, the inspector was
guided by the ratio of instructors to pupils, the manners
and cleanliness of the pupils, the examination, and the
adequacy of the school plant (4, p. 728). These inspectors
were frequently criticized as being unfair. To any infant
school satisfying the qualifications, a grant of six or
eight, or twelve shillings for each unit of average
attendance over the age of four years was paid; in the
primary schools, the grants ranged from fifteen to thirty
shillings; and in secondary schools, from thirty shillings
44
to three pounds. Likewise, the government made similar
grants to the salaries of native teachers (24, p. 456)
Nsima, in his article stated that the original
philosophy of most schools in Cross River State of Nigeria
was centred on character training and learning the three
R s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic). The students were
tied down on the learning of subject matter. Group
activities were regarded as a menace to religious prac-
tices/ since most schools were church-related (34).
Hollis A. Moore, Jr., writing in 1954, stated that
only 10 percent of Nigerian children were attending any
school. There was also the problem of getting girls into
schools (26). The federal government of Nigeria began
free primary education in Lagos in 1955. The government
of the Eastern Region (of which Cross River State of
Nigeria was a part) began a similar programme in 1957
but had to reinstate the requirement for fees in 1958
(28, p. 180).
Despite the expansion of educational facilities, in
1955, Nigeria was only educating 800 undergraduates and
12,000 secondary school students a year, and most of
these came from Southern Nigeria (to which Cross River
State belongs). The need for more clerks, technicians,
administrators and professionally qualified men like
medical doctors and engineers, for employment both in
45
government service and in commerce, was a constant problem
m the post-war years and severely hampered the execution
of governmental development plans (31, p. 42). in its
expansion of educational opportunities, the government
was submitted to great pressure by the nationalists, who
thought of education as a panacea for most of their
country's ills. These nationalists, once they began
to assume control of government policy, were determined
to ensure that there would be places in schools for all
Nigerian children (39).
Educational Development After Political Independence
On the achievement of political independence in
1960, Nigeria was faced with the paradoxical situation
that her rapid but uneven expansion of educational
facilities had confronted her with two problems: on the
one hand the governments had to decide what to do with
the vast number of unemployed school-leavers, and on the
other they had quickly to provide the higher level of
manpower—administrators, professional personnel, techni-
cians, teachers, officers in the police and army and the
judicial services which had previously been supplied by
the Colonial power and without which they could not
pursue their ambitious development schemes (18,
pp. 210-16). To consider the latter problem, the Ashby
46
Commission on Higher Education was appointed in 1959
submitting its report in 1960, in which it advocated an
expansion of educational facilities at the secondary,
technical and university level that would cost the
federal, and regional governments nearly 50 percent of
their recurrent budgets (20). Furthermore, it insisted
not only that the primary educational system at that time
be maintained in the South, but that primary education be
extended in the North, so that in fact there would result
an even greater output of primary school-leavers seeking
jobs that did not exist. This improvement of educational
facilities was accompanied by the important if less
spectacular extension of other social services. Hospitals
more than doubled in the post-war period. A teaching
hospital was established at Ibadan, the most advanced in
tropical Africa (8, p. 308). Crowder points out that this
teaching hospital even had departments for the training
of psychiatric and medical social workers (9, p. 308).
Kimble in his research in 1960, on Nigerian educa-
tional development in particular and in tropical Africa
as a whole, found out that the attitudes of African
parents toward the education of their daughters were
unfavorable to white man's schools because several aspects
of teaching in those schools dominated by the whites did
not conform to the original Africans' way of life—
47
attitudes toward land and Kin, valuation of leisure and
regard for the world of spirits. Kimble says:
• . . most parents contend that all a girl needs to
indus?rvSin a S c l e a n l lness, good manners,
capable of Sf eaching^her .' ̂ y ^ e ^ s ^ '
lessadocilePandl1:fflf l n d e e d t h e^ might not make her wifely duties *(2^ ^'loo) ^ P - f ° ~
48
The scarcity of adequately qualified teachers was obviously one of the main problems (16, p m "
In 1969 Yesufu conducted a research on the Nigerian
school system and its development. He noticed that the
traditional educational pattern introduced by the European
missionaries has contributed in no small measure to the
failure of social and economic progress in Nigeria.
Yesufu writes:
process of change is partly due to the fact t-hat-many of the African leaders are attemptfng to solve their problems with an antiquated tool, which in
^ ™ education
Recent literature on social change and Nigerian
education indicates that Nigeria's educational system
today strongly advocates major social changes in the
secondary school curricula. Ekpenyong (13, p. 37),
writing in 1976 stated that, in the past, secondary
school curricula dealt with non-technical subjects such as
the teaching of English language and its grammatical
structures, computations involving heavy numbers applied
to the "four rules" namely, mechanical addition, sub-
traction, multiplication and division. According to
Ekpenyong, who is a sociologist/anthropologist, the modern
educational system should teach environmental subjects
that relate to the lives of Nigerians. These subjects
49
should include agriculture in the rural area, technical
subjects that would alleviate the problem of unskilled
workers in the urban areas, social sciences that would
enable the Nigerian citizens to interact socially within
the community and to emphasize social and cultural
development in the near future (13, p. 38). Tims, (1974,
after studying the educational system of Nigeria, sees
the need for a change in the secondary school curriculum
and suggests:
f e d e r a ] ' , n / ^ e f P a n d i n 9 secondary education, both ederal and state investment should concentrate
on increasing facilities for the teaching of science
related ' • • S c ience should be elated to the local environment and the academic
and' * b e a d o P t e d t o emphasize the social, n ft?? development of the individual (45, P. OO). v '
In 1966, the latest period for which reliable country-
wide statistics were available, children attended classes
in 14,907 primary schools (43). Although this figure
indicated a 3.8 percent reduction in primary schools
since 1960, it probably reflected consolidations of smaller
schools (28, p. 180). By 1968 enrolment had risen to
an estimated 3.1 million pupils, or about 30 percent of
all children of primary school age. Voluntary agencies-
missions, private individuals, or community organizations-
provided schooling for various segments of the primary
age group in each of the states. Most primary-level
50
teachers were Nigerians, and many of them had little more
than a primary education themselves (28, p. 181).
The absence of a uniform system in teacher education
in Nigeria is a great handicap to the nation's educational
policy and development. The chairman of the Committee
on National Policy on Education, Professor Sanya Onabamiro
said recently that this situation has introduced dis-
parity in the quantity and quality of teachers turned out
yearly by the various states of the Federation (29, p. 16).
Answering a question on an NTA (Nigerian Television
Authority) Ibadan programme--'"X-Ray," Professor Onabamiro
said:
A uniform system m teachers' education might soon
w a s 1 ^ 1 0 ? 0 l n u h e C o u n t ry- He said his committee was not happy with its findings during a recent tour
first s c h o o l V n t h S C ° U n t r y w h e n ifc discovered that irst school leaving certificate holders were teach-
( e l e n e n t « y school
According to Professor Onabamiro, (29, p. 16), the
quality of grade two teachers in the nineteen states of
the Federation was not adequate. Onabamiro, a renowned
educationist, warned that the situation could jeopardize
the Country's educational system as well as other areas of
development (29, p. 16).
Professor Onabamiro who is also the chairman of the
Committee on Alternative Sources of Funding Education, in
Nigeria, hinted that, the proposed sixth form system for
51
post-primary institutions would be implemented as from the
1982/83 session. This system, he explained, would ensure
that students would undergo manual skill alongside with
academic work within the first three years (29, p. 16).
Those with academic aptitude would proceed to the senior
secondary schools while those versed in craftmanship
would proceed to technical secondary schools (29, p. 16).
Classes in the lower grades in the primary schools
are conducted in the predominant local language of the
area, and English is introduced usually in the third or
fourth year. Other subjects taught in the primary schools
are geography, history, arithmetic, nature study, hygiene,
cooking, needle work, handicrafts, religious studies,
physical education, handwriting, and drawing (28, p. 181).
A syllabus provided by the state government and keyed
to a Nigerian background is followed by each school.
Textbooks adapted to the Nigerian educational system
have already replaced earlier books of British origin
written for British pupils. The first School Leaving
Certificate (elementary school diploma) is awarded
at the end of the programme and is a prerequisite for
admission to secondary schools or teacher training
institutions (28, pp. 181-182).
The Ministry of Education has responsibility for the
overall development of education in Cross River State of
52
Nigeria. Following government's decision to take over all
schools in Cross River State of Nigeria (with the exception
of institutions such as Bible colleges and vocational
training institutions)the amount of responsibility for
the management and maintenance of standards has increased
tremendously in recent years (6, p. 1).
For effective administration of secondary schools
and teacher training colleges in Cross River State of
Nigeria, the state school board was established in 1969."
It was later established as a statutory board under Part V
of South Eastern State (now Cross River) education edict
No. 5 of 1975 (6, p. 41). The Cross River State school
board employs and assigns teachers to secondary and
teacher training institutions (6, p. 41). The chairman
is the statutory head of this board which oversees the
implementation of policies in secondary and teacher train-
ing institutions.
As was mentioned earlier, the overall administration
and control of the education system in the Federal Republic
of Nigeria is vested in each state's Ministry of Education.
Policy matters are largely handled by the Ministry of
Education which is also responsible for the inspection of
schools, examinations, certification of teachers and
finance.
53
With the rapid expansion of both primary and secondary
schools m Nigeria, the importance of the schools' inspec-
torate in ensuring the attainment and maintenance of uni-
form and high standards of education throughout the Country
cannot be overemphasized. The federal schools inspectorate
has offices in the nineteen states of the Federation (12,
p. 78). Efforts are currently being made to recruit
inspectors in subject areas of need such as technical
education, Arabic, agricultural science, home economics,
and Nigerian languages (12, p. 78).
The Fifth National Conference of Inspectors was held
m December 1979 with representatives from the nineteen
states Ministries of Education attending. The Conference
considered through lectures, workshop, symposia and school
visits, various ways in which inspectors can ensure quality-
education in an ever increasing student population and
over-enrolment of classes (12, p. 78).
The second major form of school inspections carried
out during this period are full general inspection of
schools. in these inspections, subject specialists
carry out very detailed inspection of every aspect of the
curriculum of selected schools for four days so that
broad patterns of teaching and learning in different
locations in the country are identified. This is most
useful to state Ministries of Education in the formulation
54
of policies on major aspects of school management, organi-
zation and administration.
The report of the inspections also provides useful
feedback on the physical facilities, resources, textbooks,
training needs of teachers and school principals and on
general school discipline.
The Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCC)
has approved the core-curriculum for primary school science
produced by the science education unit of the Ministry of
Education. its science equipment centre organised a
workshop in Kaduna in 1979, with the main objecitve of
training a group of qualified technicians from each state
m the handling and training of laboratory assistants
(12, p. 78). In-service workshops on the junior secondary
mathematics syllabus were also organised by the science
education unit on a zonal basis at five different centres:
Ife, Lagos, Owerri, Kano and Jos (12, p. 78).
In Cross River State of Nigeria, the objective of the
p ogramme was to provide enough classroom accommodation,
equipment and facilities for all children who would attain
the age of five as of September 1975. In the first year
of the programme, the number of children of primary school
age in Cross River State of Nigeria was estimated at
585,228 (6, p. 5).
55
The Universal Primary Education Programme has been
successfully launched and steps have been taken, and are
being taken, to amend shortcomings. Plans have reached
advanced stages for the provision of junior secondary
schools in each state to absorb about 40 to 60 percent
of the UPE products in September, 1982. This is in
accordance with the new educational structure of the
country's six years of primary, three years' junior,
three years' senior secondary schools and four years'
university education (46, p. 2120).
Though UPE at primary level was successfully
launched, there were, of course, difficulties and problems-
particular ly in the areas of manpower, equipment and
financial resources needs (46, p. 2120). When the programme
was introduced in September, 1976, some classrooms were
conducted under the shade of trees, in community halls,
temporary thatched huts and so on, in order to make up
for the short falls. Tables and chairs, textbooks and
other writing materials were not adequate (46, p. 2120).
The greatest impediment to the success of the
Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme, is teacher
production. Efforts have, therefore been intensified to
produce trained teachers of all categories. At present,
there are 250 Grade II teacher colleges in Nigeria with
a total enrolment of 240,000 (12, p. 78). There are also
56
50 institutions offering Nigerian Certificate of Educa-
tion (NCE) courses in different subject combinations with
a total student population of 3,500 (12, p. 78).
Increasing the supply of