ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL AND NON-SCHOOL FACTORS AFFECTING CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO BASIC EDUCATION IN RURAL AREAS OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA
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Date
2018
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University of Ilorin
Abstract
In recognition of the importance of Education, countries have made commitments for her
citizens to access basic education regardless of locality, by providing it free, universal and
compulsory for all children of school age. Statistics have shown low access of children to
basic education especially in the rural areas of Nigeria. In this study, rural areas are places
with a population of at most 20,000 people; without tertiary hospital or banks, with at most
one secondary school and is at least five kilometers away from urban. This study analyzed
school and non-school factors affecting children’s access to basic education in rural areas of
South-west, Nigeria. The purpose of the study were to determine: (i) availability, adequacy
and conditions of educational resources to cater for the educational needs of pupils in rural
areas; (ii) enrolment, retention and completion trends of children in Basic schools in rural
areas (2011-2016); and (iii) school and non-school factors influencing enrolment, retention
and completion of children in Basic schools in rural areas of South-west, Nigeria.
The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. A multi-stage sampling procedure
(involving simple random, proportional and purposive sampling techniques) was employed to
select 1,688 respondents (545 Middle-basic school Head-teachers from 1,032 and 1,143
Basic-six pupils from 145,066) in rural areas of Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States. Data were
collected through the administration of content-validated, researcher-designed questionnaire
and facilities’ inventory with reliability indices of 0.66 and 0.68 respectively. Data collected
were analysed using percentages, means and rank orders.
The findings of the study were that:
i. Educational resources for basic schools in rural areas were available in 300 (55%) of
the sampled schools but inadequate (x̅ = 1.42) and in deplorable conditions (x̅ = 1.69);
ii. There were fluctuating trends in children’s access to basic education in rural areas from
2011-2016; with enrolment trends of 62.0%, 82.0%, 71.4%, 72.2%, 72.2% and 74.1%;
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iii. Non-school factors affecting enrolment, retention, and completion were children’s illhealth
(56%), parental poor financial status (52%), engagement in farm works (58%)
and hawking (67%). Fosterage (17%) did not affect enrolment, domestic chores (17%)
did not affect retention and child’s age (17%) did not affect completion; and
iv. School factors affecting children’s enrolment, retention and completion included
distance of school to home (66%), overcrowded classrooms (57%), low quantity of
teachers (75%), shortage of instructional facilities (75%) and dilapidated school
buildings (63%).
The study concluded that most Basic Schools in the rural areas of South-west, Nigeria were
faced with non-availability and inadequacy of necessary educational resources with attendant
fluctuating trends of access. These findings imply that children’s enrolment in Basic schools
is inadequate and government intervention is necessary for addressing deficiencies in
educational resources in rural areas. It was recommended that government and other
stakeholders should adequately provide needed financial, human and material resources and
show more commitment in the monitoring and supervision of rural schools to address the
challenges impeding children’s access to basic education in the rural areas of South-west,
Nigeria.
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Keywords
SCHOOL AND NON-SCHOOL FACTORS, CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO BASIC EDUCATION, RURAL AREAS, SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA