UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION AND CAREER COUNSELING
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UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION AND CAREER COUNSELING
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study:
Every community, no matter how simple or sophisticated, has its own system for training and teaching its kids, and education for a better life has long been one of men’s primary objectives. However, the purpose of education and the manner of approach might vary from place to area, nation to nation, and person to person.
In the old African civilization, the objective of education was apparent, and functionalism was the primary guiding concept. African society saw education as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Education was primarily intended to provide an early introduction to society and prepare students for adult life.
Universal access to education has been Nigeria’s primary goal since the middle of the 1950s, when the West Minister of Education, Chief S. O. Awokoyo, presented a comprehensive proposal in July for the introduction of free, universal, and compulsory education, also known as universal Primary Education (U.P.E), by January 1955. The idea featured a major teaching training project, expanded teacher training facilities, and secondary modern schools.
From 1952 until December 1954, significant efforts were undertaken to achieve the January 1955 deadline. Teachers were trained in great numbers, and hundreds of new school buildings were constructed. The scheme was implemented as intended on January 17, 1955, minus the phrase ‘compulsory’.
Indeed, January 1955 marked the start of an educational revolution not only in the West, but throughout Nigeria. In 1954, 457000 pupils attended free-paying primary schools in the West; when the initiative was started in January 1955, 811,000 children were trained.
These figures represented an increase from 35% to 61% of those aged 5 to 14. By 1958, more than one million youngsters had enrolled. Officially, the government underestimated the numbers predicted in the early stages: the original projection was 492,000, rising by 100,000 every year, but more than 800,000 were registered.
On September 6, 1976, General Obasanjo and the military governments of the nineteen states started Universal Primary Education across the country. Instead of the predicted 2.3 million children, 3 million came up, resulting in a 30% underestimate.
As a result, there was a severe scarcity of classroom space, personnel, and equipment, but Nigeria had undertaken one of the most ambitious educational programmes in African history.
When the UPE was implemented in 1976, one (1) out of every three (3) African children attending elementary school in Africa was from Nigeria. Enrollment counts involved increased from 6 million in 1975/80 to 215 million in 1982.
The Universal Primary Education Scheme is based on the assumption that every Nigerian child has an inalienable right to a minimum of six years of education in order to function effectively as a citizen of a free and democratic Nigeria, just and egalitarian, united and self-sufficient, with equal opportunities for all.
At its 36th meeting, held in Akure in September 1989, the National Council on Education established an ad hoc committee charged with determining both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of implementing compulsory nine-year schooling in our country.
This decision was motivated by two primary factors:
In 1989, Mr. President declared that education would be free until the junior secondary level beginning in 1992, directing government policy towards ensuring equitable and appropriate opportunities at all levels.
After receiving the planning committee’s report at its Kano meeting in March 1990, the National Council on Education formed a technical committee to thoroughly examine the suggestions and provide implementation solutions.
Early in 1992, the Federal Military Government declared that nine (9) years of free and obligatory education will be implemented beginning with the October 1992 school year
. That is, any child who enrols in year I primary school in September 1992 will be required to attend school for nine (9) years, until he has completed six years of primary education and three years of junior secondary.
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