Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 93 Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 ISSN 1943-2577 2011

1 Ozean Publication

PLANNING THE 9-YEAR UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN NIGERIA FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION
CHIKA JOSEPHINE IFEDILI and GRACE ALUTU Faculty of Education, University of Benin P.O. Box 10073, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria E-mail for correspondence: theifedilis@yahoo.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: The paper examined issues that will bring about a successful implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) at post primary school level. The Nigerian government had to change to UBE following the high rate of unemployment with the previous programme. The paper discussed the planning aspect of the programme which has been the major problem with previous Nigerian educational programmes. Roles to be performed by government, school administrators, teachers, parents and communities were discussed. Also new method of instructions and how to put all hands on deck for successful implementation were discussed. Key Words: Planning, Education, Programme, Implementation, Nigeria _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The 6-3-3-4 system of education embarked upon by the Nigerian Government failed because the curriculum content was deficient. This education mismatch was bedeviled with a high rate of unemployment.. The education given did not meet the type of labor force needed. Universal Basic Education is designed to bring access, equity, quality and efficiency in the education provided for the citizenry. This new designed or model of education has to meet the worldwide standard, so that the human output (the turned out graduates) can compete effectively in every global market. To this end, there is need for Universal Basic Education to be properly planned for, so that success can be achieved. Planning is a process of spelling out what to be done, how it is going to be done, with what resources, and how the result is going to be evaluated. Planning is projecting into future to achieve goals. Strategies are mapped out to achieve set goals. In planning for the successful implementation of UBE, there is need to ensure a child friendly school initiative. This child friendly school initiative ensures that the rights of every child are fulfilled. - Sees and understands every child. Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 94

Make sure that the instruction is child centered. Makes sure that the instruction is gender-sensitive and friendly. Promotes quality learning outcome. Makes sure that the instruction is flexible and responds to diversity. Ensures respect and equal opportunity for all children. Promotes sound mental and physical health. Enhances teacher capacity, morale, commitment and status. The instruction must be family focused. The instruction must also be community based.

In planning for successful implementation of the 9-year Basic Education Programme, the following roles have to be performed by different people in the system and the school has to meet some requirements: SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR The school administrator is both a professional leader and an administrative leader. To this end the school administrator is expected to put the following in order to achieve success in the implementation of Universal Basic Education: . The school administrator is already aware of the goals of UBE. It is now left for him or her to set his or her own goals on how to combine the available resources to achieve the goals of UBE. Some administrators do not set goals and that is the reason why they achieve below the expectation. . Gather data on staff strength and quality of staff required for the implementation of the programme. . Make adequate provision for materials, equipment, facilities etc to be used. . Make adequate provision for prompt payment of staff salaries. Nigerian teachers have suffered in the past from delayed payments of salaries. Sometimes, they are owed up to five months of salaries. This usually make some teachers to engage themselves in other occupations in order to make ends to meet. This leads to poor performance and the teachers cannot be blamed for not putting in their best. . Make adequate provision on how the staff will be motivated. Administrators address the issue of delayed promotions which causing high teacher turn over. The teachers who are due for promotion should not only be promoted but also should be made to regain their seniority by back dating the promotion. This can be done without financial arrears knowing the financia situation in educational sector. . Recruits, inducts and deploy new staff. . Make adequate preparation on how to inspect the school records, staff and students records. . Make adequate arrangement on how to provide instructional materials for teaching and learning. . Prepares how to assess the students and teachers. . Provide sickbay or clinic where the sick can be treated. . Must be ready to introduce innovations and discard past unprogressive practices. . Must work in harmony with the School Management Board, the staff, the parents and the community. . Help and create supportive school environment to children with special needs, such as those with disabilities and children with HIV/AIDS. . Set up committee to reduce bullying, injury, harassment, absenteeism and truancy. . Encourage the students to participate in school administration as prefects, class captain etc. . Create and maintain good mental health in students and staff. Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 95

` Organize seminars, conferences and workshops to update the teachers knowledge. Okebula, a seasoned ex chairman of Nigerian Universities 2008, reported that Nigerian popular national newspaper The Nation of 27th November, 2008, page 37,reported that 19,125 primary and secondary school teachers in Kwara State, wrote assessment tests in English and Mathematics administered by the Ministtry of Education. Only 7 met the minimum knowledge. Okebula also mentioned that according to the Minister of Science and Technology 12% of teachers have basic literacy competencies and 60% cannot prepare lesson notes. Quality of teachers determines quality of education. THE TEACHERS A teacher is one who is resourceful, has a good sense of humour, possesses a sound knowledge of human psychology, communicates effectively and shows interest in the welfare of the pupils or students. He guides and motivates, and is patient, tolerable, flexible in his ways, fair in his judgments and firm in his discipline. A teacher is accountable to his students or pupils, parents, community, employer and to the profession. The qualities of teachers determine the quality of education. It is necessary that the teacher plans how to impart his knowledge so that he or she does not fail. With the above, it is important that the teachers perform the following roles in planning for the successful implementation of UBE. . Convince themselves that UBE is a reality and so must be prepared to have open mind and zeal to make it successful. . Must update their notes to make the notes adequate for the fulfillment of the goals of Universal Basic Education. . Must be ready to be punctual to school and remain in school during the school hours and give their best to the students and the school. . Must see the students as their own responsibility and must be prepared to impart the best knowledge to them. . Must be ready to liaise with parents and the school on the conducts of their students. Teachers must be prepared to monitor the students progress and make on the sport correction whenever necessary. . Must be able to keep good record and provide the necessary data whenever needed. . Must be ready to give adequate evaluation of students especially with their continuous assessment. . Must be ready to work with the school administrators as partners in progress and make necessary observations and recommendations that will help in successful running of UBE. . Must be prepared to be good role model as the young mind can easily be influenced. . Teachers need to update their knowledge. The teachers must read constantly the current issues and participate in conferences, workshops, seminars etc. . Encourage the students to participate in school administration as prefects, class captain etc. . Encourage and instill in students the sense of feeling good about going to school and participating actively. . Teachers must be ready to adjust to the new teaching method for the success of UBE. In planning for instruction for example in Languages, Civic Education, Cultural and Creative Arts, there is need to make sure that the instruction is child-centered, gender sensitive and friendly. Many methods of instructions can be adopted to bring about effective learning. This is why it is often said that a teacher can be an actor or actress, a clown, a musician, a dancer etc. As a teacher, you are a psychologist working with your clients the students. You study them and know how to get them involved in class activities. Students like to see happy and cheerful teacher. Teachers appearance, mood and health affect learning. The students disposition is affected. Whatever method you Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 96

adopt, it has to be demonstration method and video method since it is at the primary and post primary levels It should be learning with joy and not with sorrow. According to Quality Assurance Publication by the Federal Government of Nigeria, for effective teaching and learning, the teacher should meet the following . Show good command of the subjects, areas of learning and courses. . Plan effectively with clear learning objectives and suitable teaching strategies. . Show interest, encourage and engage learners. . Challenge learners, expecting the best out of them. . Use methods and resources that enable all learners to learn effectively. . Make effective use of time and insist on high standards of behavior. . Make effective use of teaching assistants and other support where applicable. . Use homework effectively to reinforce and extend what is learnt in school. . Promote equal opportunities for all learners to participate. . Assess the quality of learners work. From the above, it is expected that the learners will acquire new knowledge and skill; develop ideas and increase their understanding; show engagement, application and concentration and productivity; develop the skills and capacity to work independently and collaboratively. For every topic in any subject to be taught, there are the content, the objectives, the instructional materials to be used, activities by the teacher and students and finally the evaluation. These should guide the teacher in imparting knowledge to his students. LANGUAGES In learning languages, grammars, comprehension and pronunciations seem to be the major hindrances to Nigerian pupils. The teacher should start from the basic and progress gradually to the difficult ones. As the teacher progresses, the students progress is evaluated. The feedback tells the teacher if he or she is effective or not. According to Nwagwu (2008) there is no child who cannot learn. It depends on how the material is presented to the child. An average score of 50% and above tells the teacher how much she or he has achieved. The teacher should always look inwardly when it comes to performance of the class. Gone are days when the teacher is always putting the blame on students. He or she used to claim that the students were dull. All children can learn depending on the quality of teacher and the instruction. Teachers are facilitators of student learning. There is so much emphasis focused on passing examination instead of learning. This creates bad purpose in achieving educational goals. Constant essay writing and novel reading and media communication seem to be the best way to teach students to learn languages. If the number of students in the class is 40 or less, it is recommended that an essay should be written weekly. In the case where the class is large bi-monthly essay writing is recommended. These essays should be corrected and given back to the students for them to see their mistakes and their scores. This will help them to improve in the subsequent assignments given to them. Reading of short novels written in good language being studied wll also be a very effective way to learn language. Students should read at least two novels a week. This will help them to build up their vocabulary, express themselves and be able to comprehend better. It is recommended that students are asked to write down the summary of four books read indicating the titles and the authors. This can be done once in a month. It can be given as a weekend assignment. Students should be randomly called to present their write ups without looking at their work to ensure that they really read the books and did the assignment. Cheating should be discouraged. There should be emphasis on work originality. A golden star should be given to any excellent work. Students should be forced to speak the language especially in the classroom and outside the Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 97

classroom. This is in terms of English language. The same is applicable to French and native tongues. Students should be made to act plays, have class debates and listen to tapes in various languages. Constant practice helps the student to perfect in the language. Students should be encouraged to write short plays and short novels. These too are very helpful in achieving the objective of instruction. Short songs in the language being taught are recommended both at the beginning and end of the instruction. These songs make the pupil happy and alert. CIVIC EDUCATION Civic education is a very important subject for every school child. It is always better to catch them young morally and otherwise. Once the character is built, it can hardly be changed. It prepares the students for better attitude, skill and knowledge which will help them to participate fully in the governance. It prepares the students to be good future electorates. In planning for instruction in Civic Education, the teacher needs to provide certain instructional materials depending on the topic involved. For example, if the topic is on Integrity, the meaning and attributes of Integrity should be explained. Here, it is necessary to mention probity, honesty, contentment, truthfulness, fair play etc as the content. The objectives are that students should be able to learn the meaning of integrity and its attributes. The instructional materials needed for this are text books, newspaper, magazines and biographies In the activities, the teacher is expected to guide the students in enumerating the importance of integrity and the consequences of integrity. The students are supposed to participate in the discussion, ask questions whenever necessary and take down in their notebooks the summary of the discussion which the teacher will put on the chalkboard. For some topics, the following instructional materials can be used: -documentations, folktales, cartoons, citations, posters etc. In fact students should be encouraged to act some of the topics. This will always make the learning more effective. The message will sink better and cannot easily be forgotten. CULTURAL AND CREATIVE ARTS It is very important that student learn their various cultures and learn also to appreciate the cultural heritage of others. Also creative art has a lot of linkage to cultural heritage. This subject exposes the students to the reality of life. This is in terms of who they are; where they come from; who are other people around them; what is the relationship etc. The subject gives the students the opportunity to use their talents to make the world a better place. It makes the students to bring to light an expression of beauty in natural life. It makes them to be imaginative, constructive and gives them the sense of concentration. To this end it imperative that the teacher should make the students know the importance of the subject and not just the mere seeing the subject as a subject which is not so important as Physics or chemistry. Here, a mind is built to see what others do not see. A man is built to entertain others physically and spiritually and psychologically. The teacher should make the subject very interesting by making sure that students are always engaged in one cultural activities or another. For example, the teacher can organize competitions on cultural dances, fashions, arts etc. The students should be motivated and there should be media and network coverage of excellent work. Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 98

THE PARENTS Considering the importance of parents role on their children whenever they are at home, there is need to plan for the parents for effective and efficient UBE implementation. To this end, effort should be made to see that parents are prepared to play the following roles which Ada, Maduewesi and Ihebereme (2009) agreed should be important to perform for better UBE achievement in Nigeria. These are: . Parents should be prepared to release their children to attend school. . There is need to provide their children their needs like dresses etc. . Make sure that children are punctual to the school. . Teach their children to be self controlled, respectful and tolerant. . Supervise their children home assignments. . Monitor their children behavior, habit and discuss the negative aspects with the school. . Attend constantly PTA meetings. . Keep changing their childrens school at minimum. . Teach their children to have good personal hygiene. A greater percentage of parents in Nigeria are illiterates. It is the responsibility of Local Education Board to create the public awareness of UBE to various families in their localities, so that both literate and illiterate parents can benefit from the knowledge and be able to play their various roles effectively. THE GOVERNMENT The government being the initiator of the new model of education UBE should be ready to do all that is in her power to provide adequate fund for the smooth running of the programme. UBE cannot succeed in the face of inadequate fund. The budgeted sum for the programme should be released on time for the purpose. Experience has shown that in the past, the amount budgeted for the education was sometimes, partially released. Even when fully released, some of the money was put in another sector of the economy depending on the educational will of those who are in power. Also those handling the released fund should be transparent. There should be prudent management of fund. Things should be purchased directly. Middle men should not be used for purchases. Accountability should be the watch word of all in the management level. Many students are expected to register. This means, better utilization of available resources. It is either the school has two or three shifts depending on the available facilities, the number of students and the number of teachers available. Otherwise, there is need to provide more facilities and employ more teachers. Teachers should be paid as and when due and should be properly motivated. According to Ifedili (2006), many Nigerian teachers are not happy with their jobs. This is because sometimes their salaries are delayed for over four months and have delayed promotion. In fact there is no job satisfaction and motivation. Many of them however expressed commitment to help their students pass examinations. Emphasis is on passing of examination instead of learning. This will not augur well for the quality of products that are produced. Also, this has been the main cause of examination malpractice in Nigeria. The present workforce may not be able to bring about a successful implementation of the programme. There is need to train more teachers. More educational inspectors should be employed to make sure that the goals of the programme are met in the face of huge expenditure on the programme. There should be accountability and concern for quality assurance Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 99

CONCLUSION In planning for the UBE programme in Nigeria, all hands must be on deck to see that the programme not only survives but meet the goals and objectives of the programme. To this end, the government cannot carry the burden of the programme alone. Various communities should contribute both financially and otherwise to make their communities progress. Non-governmental agencies, companies, parents, unions and all those who have education at heart should work towards the success of UBE by contributing effectively. REFERENCES Ada, N., Maduewesi,B.U. and Ihebereme, C.I. (2009). Emergent issues in universal basic education. Lagos: West and Solomon Co. Ifedili, C.J./Ochuba, V. (2009) An assessment of educational standard in Nigeria post primary schools. Benin Journal of Social Sciences, 17,1, 53-62. Ifedili, C.J/ Egenti, M.N. (2010). Quality teacher quality education a keyway to achieve educational goals. Journal of Educational Research and Development, Vol.5.1.. Nwagwu, C.C. (2008). With effective management, all students can learn: no excuses or exception. Inaugural Lecture Series 93, University of Benin. Okebukola, P. (2008). Education reform imperatives for achieving vision 20-2020. Paper presented at National Summit on Education in Abuja.