From traditional to modern education: the case study of Nigeria (school attendase and human rights)

Abstract

This study involve an investigation of the nature, pertain, contents, curriculum and relevance of both the traditional and the modern educational systems to issues of human rights and freedom in Nigeria. The target population for the study included the inhabitants and educational institutions of the 6 States of South-Western Nigeria: Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos States. The choice of the Southwestern was based on the fact that, out of the 3 regions of Nigeria, the Southwestern had more school enrolments than the North and the East since the establishment of the very first school in 1843 by the Methodist Mission in Badagry (South-Western). Furthermore, the study was delimited by time frame to include the periods from 1983 to 1999 when Nigeria fully returned to democracy. The choice of the periods between 1843 was a result of the predominance of the traditional education due to lack of no modern (western) education. While the choice of the periods between 1983 and 1999 was based on the increase in human rights abuses in Nigeria during this periods. This study was based on a variety of descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. This descriptive statistics of charts, graph, and sample percentages on frequency count was used for the major findings in the study. The study findings and results acknowledged the fact that even though western education has really assisted in the understanding of defending human rights more than traditional system of education because of the advantage of level of awareness, literacy and philosophy that came with it; alas, we still have general abuse of human rights in Nigeria. We have observed that Nigeria has been adversely affected by its many years of, first, colonial rule and, later, military rule. We have also noted that the current installation of democratic rule provides an opportunity and a challenge to resolve these burning issues, and have tried to prescribe some solutions to some of them. We have identified some likely difficulties in implementing the proposals, namely: the worsening social, economic and political circumstances, which manifest in the falling educational standards; increasing poverty; and widespread unemployment. Yet, the current level of illiteracy remains unacceptable and the level of commitment to education is grossly inadequate. We are fortunate that democracy has been restored to our country and the military have gone back to their barracks, hopefully, forever. Our new initiatives in educational promotion could not have come at a more opportune time. We have noted the point that the new administration has already identified the UBE programme as its priority and is prepared to explore alternative means of education, including Distance Education, to assist in teacher preparation. Nigeria is therefore, resolved to find her feet again and command the respect she used to enjoy in the comity of nations.