Education Info

Long before the Europeans arrived, education had been part of Nigerians. The Children were taught about their culture, social activities, survival skills and work. Most of these education processes were impacted into the children informally; a few of these societies gave a more formal teaching of the society and culture.

In these Societies, there are formal instructions that governed the rites of passage from youth into adulthood. The youth is expected to have attained the necessary social and survival skills as well as having a grounded knowledge in the culture. These are the foundations of education in Nigeria, and upon them were the western education implemented upon.

European Education was introduced into Nigeria in the 1840s. It began in Lagos, Calabar and other coastal cities. In a few decades schooling in English language gradually took roots in the Nigeria. During the Colonial years, Great Britain did not promote education. The schools were set up and operated by Christian Missionaries. The British colonial government only funded a few schools. The policy of the government was to give grant to mission schools rather than expand the system.

In the northern part of Nigeria, which was predominantly Muslim populated, Western-style education was prohibited. The religious leaders did not want the missionaries interfering with Islam. This gave way to establishing Islamic school that focused primarily on the Islamic education.

Today, adult literacy has been estimated to be over 78 percent for men and 64 percent for women. These statistics were made based on estimate literacy in English. That excludes the literacy in Arabic among northern Muslims. It is therefore not erroneous to call Nigeria a nation dominated with educated persons.

Prior to Nigeria’s independence, Nigeria had only two established Post-secondary Institution. Yaba Higher college (founded in 1934, Now Yaba College of Technology) and the University of Ibadan was founded in 1948. It was then a College of the University of London until two years after the independence when she became autonomous. More prominent universities which include University of Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife), Ahmadu Bello University and Mohood Abiola Kashimawo University (formerly University of Lagos) were founded in the years that followed the Independence.

In 1970s more universities were founded which include University of Benin (founded in 1970), and new university opened in Calabar, Ilorin, Jos, Port Harcourt, Sokoto and Maiduguri. In the 1980s, more universities were opened as well as institute specializing in Agriculture and Technology. A number of Polytechnics were also opened, which includes the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos and Kaduna Polytechnics.

In 1980, the estimated enrollment in the primary schools was 12 million, Secondary and technical colleges 1.2 million, teachers colleges 240,000 and Universities 75,000. One would expect that with such an estimate, the Nigerian education in Nigeria three decades after would have greatly improved. Unfortunately the reverse has been the case.

The present decline in the Nigerian education system can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s. Then there was a shortage of qualified teachers, the few qualified teachers were not paid in a timely manner. The number of schools did not grow with the population and many of the existing schools were inadequately funded resulting in poor maintenance. In the Universities inadequate funding led to the shortage of space and resources. Increase in tuition fee often resulted in riots leading to cancellation of semesters. Industrial actions by the University Staff requesting for higher salaries and better working conditions also compounded the situations. However, today governors in most state are addressing these issues.

The damage to the educational system has been done. Most graduates lack the necessary survival and social skills that should have been learnt in schools. These have led to many disastrous situations in the nation. The center of the nation’s growth “the Education system” no longer holds value; hence the entire nation is falling apart. Products of the Nigeria education system are not employable, causing massive unemployment and under-development in the country. No survival skills leading to increased poverty rate in the country.

The situation however is not entirely hopeless. The foundation of education in Nigeria upon which the Europeans laid the western-style education is strong. This has managed to hold the educational system of the country together through the trouble days. However, if left unattended, we will all join Chinua Achebe and exclaim: Things fall apart, The center cannot hold… Anarchy is set forth everywhere.

The number of students enrolled in free home study courses has increased dramatically in the past ten years. Many of these students are enrolled in programs offered through traditional post secondary colleges and universities. Universities have responded to students’ needs by increasing the course offerings in distance learning programs.

Online universities are new providers of higher education. These institutions are generally a consortium of several degree granting institutions. Some of these programs are affiliated with traditional universities, while others are not affiliated with any other university. By working together, these institutions are able to offer a wider range of free home study courses.

The online consortium may or may not be a degree granting institution. In some programs, your degree will be granted from the online consortium, such as the University of Phoenix. Others are not degree granting institutions, and your degree will be granted from one of the participating universities, depending on your course of study.

In recent years, the number of online free home study courses with no affiliation with other institutions has grown. Most of these programs offer certificate programs, rather than college degrees. Many of these courses are seminar style and much shorter in duration than typical college courses. Independent study is common in these programs. The credits you acquire may not be transferable to another institution.

When considering your options in free home study courses, determine your overall goals. If you are taking a few courses for work and don’t plan to continue on for a degree, you may not care if your institution is accredited. However, if your long term goals include a post graduate degree, you may transfer to a traditional university at some point. If this is a possibility, accreditation may be important. Some institutions won’t accept credits from a school that isn’t accredited.

Healthcare is changing rapidly. It is affected by a variety of different influences, from information technology, to economics, to government policy and regulation, to the changing demographics of society, to the advances in medical research. And all of these things will affect the trends in nursing education as well.

One more obvious trend is the use of computer technology. The use of this technology has increased access to clinical data, and has reduced the amount of time it takes to access the information. All of this has improved the care of patients and led to better outcomes.

Another major trend is the use of the electronic medical record, which replace the traditional paper documentation. Consumers will be much more knowledgeable as well because of access to the internet. And more medical goods and services will be delivered electronically.

Nurses in the 21st century will need to be knowledgeable in the uses of computer technology. Nursing education may involve more distance learning, and make it easier for nurses to continue their professional education. Computer technology will allow nursing students to simulate clinical conditions electronically to help them learn.

Because of globalization, nursing education will have to address the issue of the spread of disease across national boundaries, and deal with emerging disease threats around the world.

Nursing education also will have address the changing economic situation in healthcare. Nurses will need to have an understanding of how to care for patients in ways that improve quality, deal with the complexity of care, and do so in a cost effective way.

Nursing education will more and more have to deal with the impacts of health policy and regulation. As costs go up, state and federal regulations will become more of a factor in healthcare. Along with the regulation, there also will be trends toward moving to less expensive ways to deliver healthcare and to apply market forces to keep down costs.

There is also a trend in nursing education to incorporate more nursing science and research, which are playing much greater roles in nursing practice. Nursing research is providing a scientific model for healthcare. This research deals with how patient behavior affects health, how to manage symptoms of illness, helping patients and their families cope with illness and its treatment.

One trend in nursing education is related to the makeup to the student body itself, which is likely to become older. And schools of nursing have to be ready to deal with the challenges of educating an older student.

Another trend affecting nursing education is the increasing complexity of patient care. Patients in hospitals now are more acutely ill — there are almost as many beds in critical care and other specialty areas now as there are general use beds. Because life expectancy is now longer, there is an increase in the number, severity and length of chronic conditions, which adds to the complexity of the care needed.