An appraisal of the universal basic education policy for junior secondary education in Enugu State

Abstract

The seeming failure of the Universal Basic Education Policy to address the educational needs of Nigerians calls for immediate attention. Over the years, government has made serious pronouncement on the UBE Policy but the education system in Nigeria has faced serious challenges leading to decline of standards at all levels. This is in spite of the introduction of the Universal Basic Education Policy. It is therefore the aim of this study to appraise the attainment of the specific objectives of Universal Basic Education Policy among junior secondary school students of Enugu state. The study was guided by five research questions and five corresponding objectives. The study adopted cross sectional survey design. Through the application of   purposive sampling method, four schools were selected in the urban and rural areas of Enugu State. The population for the study was 57916 teachers from which, a sample size of 379 teachers was drawn using Taro Yamen formula for sample size determination.  The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire designed in four-point Likert order of strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. The reliability of the instrument was tested using test-re-test method and Crombach Alpha used to determine the coefficient. The result was 0.76 showing that the instrument was reliable and good enough for the study. The data was analysed using mean and standard deviation. The proposed hypotheses were tested using t-test of related samples. The study found that Universal Basic Education has not developed citizens’ consciousness for education in junior secondary schools in Enugu State. Universal Basic Education has not influenced entrepreneurial skill acquisition among public junior secondary school students in Enugu State. The study recommended that there is urgent need for government to honestly and with every sense of purpose fund education. The expected budgetary allocation should be strictly adhered to. More teachers should be employed in order to help in inculcating the desired outcome to the learners. Special payment packages should be paid to teachers in the rural areas so as to keep them constant with the learners.

Keywords: Universal Basic Education; Junior secondary education; Policy implementation in Enugu State