Comparative Education (PDE 209)

PDE 209: COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

UNIT 1: THE CONCEPT AND SCOPE OF

COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION
Just like every other field of study, education equally passes through various reforms, leading
to development and an increase in strategies to develop the nature and structure of education
from one generation to another. Every community had its method of teaching and the value
content, which were designed for the younger ones to learn. The variation remains in the
pedagogical approaches and the intending creeds to transmit also varies in terms of content
and values. However, over the generations it has been discovered that some systems of
education are more effective than others. This makes it imperative for nations to adapt or
adopt such efficient means of raising the young ones to become functional members of the
society. The study of relationships between Systems of Education is the domain of
Comparative Education.
In this Unit, we will examine the meaning, scope and possible methods of studying this
subject called Comparative Education.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. define comparative education;
2. discuss the Scope of Comparative Education
3. identify the different methods used in studying the subject;
4. explain why a student teacher should study Comparative Education.

THE CONCEPT OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

All human beings make comparisons either in silence or aloud. While adults may compare in
silence, young children usually compare aloud. They compare their clothes with those of their
friends. Sometimes children compare other peoples' appearances with their own. When they
compare, they relate two or more things or people together, and thereby point out their
differences or similarities. From this example, one can be tempted to define Comparative
Education as a subject in which we find relationships between two or more systems of
education. This definition would be correct but it is not enough. So let us find out more about
what Comparative Education really means.
Comparative Education is a fully established academic field of study that examines education
in one country (or group of countries) by using data and insights drawn from the practices
and situations in another country or countries. The significance of education in the growth

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and development of a country makes different nations of the world to operate one system of
education or the other. To a large extent, the form of education of any given society
determines the level of its development and the rate of this development depends strongly on
the policies developed, adapted or adopted and practiced to achieve a balance in both
physical growth of the nation and the general well being of its citizens.
Comparative education is, thus, an examination of various educational systems based on their
comparative worthiness. This implies that every educational system has inherent comparative
value. However, there exists, some degree of similarities and differences among various
educational systems of the world. Comparative study of education is a measure of the
educational systems of various nations, not in the abstract sense of it, but in practical terms.
In the process of meeting the ideal standard of an educational policy, strategies and the
various attempts to implement and improve the existing, system, integrative approach is often
used. This means that local approach is meshed with foreign ones that are believed to assist
in achieving the desired results. From this, it is obvious that no nation is an island. We tend to
borrow progressive ideals and outcomes of other nations so as to improve on our own by
means of adapting or adopting such accurate policy of education. Thus, comparative
education is a study of interrelationships of educational policies, contents, and constructs of
different societies to foster progressive implementation in another system of education.
Educational ideas differ just as some parts of the world are developing while others are
developed. The study of the differences, the approaches, the similarities, dissimilarities and
the interrelatedness of the educational systems of various nations for the improvement of
those of other states through innovation and assimilation is referred to as comparative
education study.
Comparative education means the comparative analysis of educational structure, components
and the examination of existing strategies, via policy making and implementation in the
society.
By studying foreign systems of education and borrowing ideas, new ideas can be developed
and built on the former education ideology of a nation. This can be by the means of using the
philosophical components of one education to satisfy the needs of other educational ideas. A
comparative analysis of education is geared toward improving education policies. In the
study of comparative education, the following should be considered:
 Identifying similarities and differences in education systems of different nations and
the causes of the differences, if any. This comparison is geared towards the
development of new ideas and an increase in value of educational plicies.
 Using other nations’ philosophy of education to actualize a plan for education in
another nations’ educational policy.
 Outlining the progressive outcomes of education in a country by comparing politics
and education, economics and education, cultural values and education with those of
other countries.

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 The consideration of the public for which education is designed- their ideological
variation, their orientation, civilization and level of illiteracy will help to determine
the level of the acceptance of changes and improvements.
In order to drive home the meaning of comparative education ,it is necessary to examine
some of the definitions given by some scholars and practitioners. The following are some of
the definitions:
Professor I.L. Kandel defines Comparative Education as
"a comparison of variant philosophies of education based not
on theories but on actual practices which prevail......"

Another European Scholar, Dr Nicholas Hans says:

"Comparative Education is not only to compare existing
systems but to envisage reform best suited to new social and
economic conditions......"

From this definition of Dr. Hans, we see that comparative education is a study of educational
systems but our reason for doing so is to improve the system of education and the social
system which influence our educational practices. In other words, we study comparative
education not only to improve education but to improve society as well.
A Nigerian scholar Prof. S.A. Adejumobi defines Comparative Education as:
"the identification and diagnosis of educational problems,
determinants, ideals and presuppositions in given societies with
a view to interpreting them by cross-reference to similar
elements in other societies."

From this definition of Adejumobi, we can see that Comparative Education does not only
study educational practices on their surface value. In Comparative Education, scholars also
try to find out reasons for the educational problems they have found. Scholars also like to
find out the factors which make an educational practice able to survive in its present form.
Very importantly, comparative education examines what we hope to achieve in education for
the society. But the subject while making scholars do all these, also make them refer to other
educational systems of other societies.
Finally, a young Nigerian scholar, Dr. I.O. Osokoya defines Comparative Education as:
"a field that studies the educational similarities and differences
prevailing within a particular society or culture or among
various societies and cultures"

This definition by Osokoya is very important because it takes into account that a society can
have more than one form of education. This is true of African societies which had their own
systems of education before the arrival of Western Education. In our studies of Comparative
Education, we can study formal western educational systems in relation to informal

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educational systems that is part of African culture. The two can be studied within the same
society.
Other definitions of Comparative Education include:
 A systematic examination of other cultures and other systems of education deriving
from the cultures in order to discover resemblances and differences, the causes behind
resemblances and differences, and why variant solutions have been attempted (and
with what result) to problems that are often common to all. (Vernon Mallison, 1975)
 An attempt to study education in different countries in the light of historical
development of pertinent educational theories and practice and in consideration of the
socio-cultural, and economic growth of these countries, so that by increasing one’s
understanding of such conditions and development, the general improvement of
education may thus be stimulated everywhere. (G. F. Kneller, 1955)
 A careful analysis of educational systems, issues and problems in two or more
countries within the context of historical, socio-economic, political, cultural, religious
and other influential factors. (Encyclopaedia of Educational Research, 1969).
 A field of study dealing with the comparison of current educational theory and
practice in different countries, for the purpose of broadening and deepening
understanding of educational problems beyond the boundaries of one’s own country.
A comparison of various philosophies of education based not on theories but on the
actual practices which prevail. (H. G. Good, 1962).
From these definitions of Comparative Education, we can see that the subject is a study of
both obvious and hidden relationships in different educational systems either within a society
or between societies. Such relationships can be of varied similarity. It is of similarity when
we study aspects of different educational system which are the same. This similarity can be in
aims, expectations or actual practices of education. The relationship can also be of disparity.
It is of disparity when we study aspects of educational practice which differ from one another
either in aims, expectations or actual practice.

THE SCOPE OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

From our definitions of Comparative Education above, you can see that its study covers many
areas of education. Therefore, we shall now examine its scope, that is the areas of study in the
subject more closely.

A Study of Educational Aims and Objectives of a Country in Relation to those of Other

Countries
Scholars of Comparative Education usually focus their attention on the educational aims and
objectives of different societies. They do this so that they can see how the observable
practices of education have led to the aims earlier planned for the country's educational
system.

A Study of the Similarities between Different Educational Systems

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In comparative education, we study the educational practices of different parts of the world
which are similar. It is interesting that some countries may have different educational aims,
and yet they may employ the same practical methods in the process of education. In the same
way, countries may have similar educational aims but different strategies may be used in
practice to achieve these aims. Therefore in the study of comparative education scholars are
made to appreciate the influence of human and social factors in a country's practice of
education.

A Study of Differences in Educational Practice across Cultures

We also study differences in educational practices either within a particular society or in two
or more societies. These differences may be due to natural, political or religious factors. We
will study all these factors later.

An Interpretative Study of Educational Problems in different Societies

We study comparative education as a problem solving activity. This is done by finding out
the cause of educational problems and finding ways of improving them in future. This way,
the scope of comparative education covers honest intellectual efforts to improve the practice
of education in different parts of the world.

ACTIVITY I:
1. Explain the meaning of Comparative Education.
2. Discuss the scope of Comparative Education.

METHODS OF STUDY IN COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

Before Comparative Education became a scientific study of modern times, many scholars
from ancient times have practised comparative education. For example, Plato practised
comparative education when he recommended that Athens should borrow a programme of
military training similar to that of Sparta. Quintilian also compared Greek literature, social
life and policies with the Roman system. Different reasons were made for such comparative
studies in the past. The study could be made so that one society could borrow educational
ideas from another. It could be to consider the possible influence of other peoples' ideas on
another society. Again, it could be made to enable scholars have a better understanding of the
societies which they wanted to study.
Now that Comparative Education has become an established academic study on its own, there
are modern methods of studying it. Let us examine them briefly.
1. The Area Study Approach
We can study comparative education by isolating a particular area. The area may be
chosen due to geographical, linguistic or racial factors. If I decide to study African
educational practice, then I am considering geographical factors. If I decide to study
Yoruba traditional education, then I am considering both linguistic and ethnic factors.
If I decide to study Negro education, then I am considering racial factors. Whatever

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may be the scholar's findings in the particular area of study, he needs to place them
side-by-side with what obtains in his own society and finally compare these findings
either with his own or other known societies.
According to Bereday (1964), in Osokoya (1992), there are four (4) procedures in
Area Studies Approach in comparative education. They are as follows:
 Descriptive Stage: At this stage, the student of comparative education
reviews available literature written by both natives and foreigners on the
educational system of the area to be covered. Literature in the field of
comparative education can be grouped into three parts namely; primary,
secondary and auxiliary sources. The primary sources are not necessarily the
writing by eye witnesses as in historical research. Primary sources might best
be described as works not involving full-scale systematic scholarly analysis.
They include reports by commissions, reports of ministries and other public
agencies deliberations in learned conferences, leaflets expressing opinions of
private citizens and so on. Other primary sources are daily newspapers,
magazine, pamphlets and brochures of all kinds. Secondary sources include
books, digest, and collections of articles as well as streams of second hand
qualitative reports. Auxiliary materials are books, articles and other printed
sources not apparently concerned with education, but, which are, in some
measure, relevant to the area of study. Examples of such could be books on
culture, drama, sociological accounts and other materials that shed light on
educational matters. Excursion could be undertaken to the country concerned
for an on-the-spot verification of issues or to obtain firsthand information.
 Interpretive Stage: This stage, the comparative educator will focus attention
on the collation and analysis of the data collected from various sources. Until
the interpretation of the raw data collected is done, there would not have been
any meaningful treatment of the raw facts. It is the analysed data that would
provide necessary information to the comparative educator so that he can now
state the educational practices of the country, commenting on the origin,
nature, scope and trend of a particular problem in question.
 Justaposition Stage: At this stage, the results complied at the interpretative
stage are put side by side with one’s country’s educational system. A number
of hypotheses and questions raised can be tested at this stage and a critical
analysis and discussion of issues are made.
 Stage of Comparison: This is the stage to critically compare educational
issues and practices of the country under study with the home country. The
hypotheses tested are either accepted or rejected at this stage.

2. The Field Study Approach

This is an improvement on the area study method. Here the scholar studies many
countries at a time. For example, if he decides to study educational practices in Africa
South of the Sahara, he will have to study many different countries. But he will not be

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able to compare them unless he fully understands the education trends in each of the
countries under study.

3. The Problem Approach

Here, the scholar selects one educational problem. He studies many educational
systems to see the extent to which the problem exists in these other systems. He
studies the selected problem in terms of their origin, nature and extent. He then finds
ways in which the particular problem can be solved in his country and speculates on
what ways the other affected countries can solve similar problem.

4. The Historical Approach:

In this study of comparative analysis of education, the scholars will centre on cultural
and historical origin of people and problems, with a view to equipping themselves on
the trends and thereby striking a balance. This factor allows the assimilation of socio-
cultural values, more of which are related to education. According to Sodhi, (2001),
traditionally, comparative education had developed as the contemporary past of the
history of education and hence had its roots in the discipline of history. A group of
scholars even now look upon it as such, but the position is now changing. However, if
the above reason is convincing, then we can easily call it “Contemporary History of
Education”. It is also true that comparative education has borrowed as much from
history, as from politics, sociology, philosophy, economics, religion and culture. All
these facts have influenced the systems of education in different lands (p. 16). This no
doubt justifies comparative education as an interdisciplinary subject which uses the
knowledge of various social sciences for its analysis.

ACTIVITY II:
1. Discuss the problem approach in comparative education.
2. Examine the procedure for area studies approach.
3. Explain the historical approach.
4. Explain the field studies approach in Comparative Education.

REASONS FOR UNDERTAKING COMPARATIVE STUDIES

It is important to tell you at this stage that it is not only in education that we do comparative
studies. Scholars do comparative studies in history, literature, politics, economics and law
among other study areas. So why do scholars generally do comparative studies, and
particularly comparative education? When we have examined this, we will now give reasons
why a student-teacher should study it as part of his/her professional preparation.
A Nigerian proverb says: "if a child has never seen another man's farm, he thinks his father's
farm is the largest in the world." This proverb means that unless we compare what we have or
do with those of others, we may not have the correct idea about what belongs to us. This is
true in comparative studies, particularly in education. Comparative studies in education

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gives us wider knowledge about all aspects of education. These include formulating
educational aims, planning for programmes of study, educational administration or
counselling. Apart from these, knowledge in comparative studies is valuable for its own sake,
and this gives it greater academic pride. Scholars should pursue knowledge for its own sake,
because as educated people usually say, "no knowledge is lost".
Again, we do comparative studies in education in order to see how praticable some of our
educational theories are. As you have already seen, comparative education is interested in
educational practice but it likes to relate it to the aims and philosophies behind such practice.
Therefore, if the practice of education leads to the achievement of aims earlier set for them,
we can conclude that our educational system is in the right direction. If not, we will find ways
of correcting it. Therefore studies in comparative education help us to evaluate that is judge
the direction in which our educational system is moving.
Again, comparative studies in education help in stimulating scholars to speculate (that is,
plan) about the future of education for their country. When they have judged the success or
failure of the present educational system, scholars can now make recommendations on how to
correct present errors or improve on present achievements for the future.
Comparative studies in education also helps international understanding and co-operation
among scholars. Studies in comparative education expose us to the problems and
achievements of education in other countries. Where there are problems, scholars can
suggest that international organisations come to the aid of such countries. Where there are
successes, scholars from other countries can visit the country in question to see how their
achievements are possible and where necessary, borrow ideas from such achievements.

SUMMARY
 In this unit we have tried to examine detailed conception of comparative education as
well as various definitions of comparative education as given by experts in the
discipline. We have also seen that comparative education is a subject that studies the
educational similarities and differences prevailing among nations of the world. The
unit has also revealed that comparative education is an interdisciplinary subject which
takes into consideration the geographical, historical, religious, political, economic and
cultural factors in its functions.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss the meaning and scope of comparative education.
2. List the methods usually used in the study of comparative education.
3. Why should any person study comparative education?
4. Give three reasons why a student teacher should study comparative education.
5 Define comparative education.

REFERENCES

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Hons. N. (2003) Comparative Education. New Delhi UBS Publishers

Nicholas Hans, (1955). Comparative Education, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Okobiah, O.S (1986), Associationship Certificate in Education Series. Historical Foundation
and Comparative Education. Ibadan, Heinemann Educational Books (Nig) Ltd.
Osokoya, I. O., (1975). An Introduction to the Study of Comparative Education, London :
.Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. .
Osokoya, I. O. (1992) Comparative Education, Ibadan, Department of Adult Education.
Osokoya, I.O (2002), History and Policy of Nigerian Education in World Perspective.
Ibadan, A DM Publishers Agodi.
Rury J.L (2002), Education and Social Change, Themes in the History of American
schooling. London, Lawrence Erbium Associates Publishers.

Vernon Mallinson, (1990). "Comparative Education". Unpublished Mimeograph, Dept. of

Teacher .Education, University of Ibadan

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UNIT TWO: THE RELEVANCE OF COMPARATIVE

EDUCATION TO TEACHER EDUCATION
PROGRAMMES

INTRODUCTION
The teacher education programme is meant to equip teachers and intending teachers with
adequate information, knowledge and skills about teaching and education. The techniques
and strategies of dealing and handling the complex social phenomenon of teaching and
learning situations are acquired through teacher education programmes. Comparative
education is meant to provide vital information about education plans, successes and failures
of actions and reactions to a teacher, for critical comparison and analysis, interpretation and
comparisons. There are many countries across the globe which, have similar problems of
under development and others have developed far ahead of others and, therefore, the
tendency to borrow the ideas of the developed nations is possible by the developing nations.

OBJECTIVES
After reading through this unit, you should be able to do the following:
1. Give at least six reasons for studying comparative education.
2. Discuss the relevance of the subject to teacher education programmes.

AIMS OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

As in every journey, there is a target that is to say there is an aim, for it. Comparative
education carries its aim too. It is designed to study educational policies of countries in a
comparative manner, so as to help each other where there is weakness and try to strike a
balance both for human and general development of a given nation. According to King
(1965), and Koul (2006), comparative education has the following aims:
1. The full value of comparative education as a discipline in its own right is appreciated
when we realize the three-fold role it can play in this partnership of communication.
2. It can contribute to the very important basic concepts of a culture as the nucleus of
any area of study not just in the narrower anthropological sense but with proper
attention paid to consciously formative institutions like any instruction, school or way
of life.
3. It can adduce relevant evidence from comparable situations in other cultures to be
measured against the phenomena being studied in the area under review. Cultural
factors may differ from situation to situation though the economic or political factors
may seem identical.
4. Without claiming hegemony, it can act, as a kind of ghostly direction-finder or pointer
for some of the specialised academic disciplines themselves, which it can compare
and evaluate in an intercultural perspective.

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According to Noah (1985), comparative education has four purposes:

1. To describe educational system, processes or outcomes.
2. To assist in the development of educational institution and practices
3. To highlight the relationships between education and society
4. To establish generalised statements about education that is valid in more than one
country.
Bereday (1964), and Osokoya (1992), in an attempt to make justification for comparative
education maintain that:
The foremost justification for comparative education as for other comparative
studies is intellectual. Men study foreign education systems simply because
they want to know, because men must forever stir in quest of enlightenment.
Knowledge for its own sake is the sole ground upon which comparative
education needs to make a stand in order to merit inclusion among other
academic fields (p. 7).

While Thut (1964) and Osokoya (1992) shared the same view with Bereday (1964) and state
that:
The chief value of a comparative approach to education problems lies in an
analysis of the causes which have produced them and a comparison of the
differences between the various systems and the reasons underlying and
finally in a study of the solutions attempted (p. 8).

Relevance of Comparative Education in Teacher Education Programmes

i. To improve teacher education system. Education is a social agent for changes. This
change goes with time. The teachers are the melting points where education
programme and policies are interpreted to the student and others. This fact urges a
teacher to be vast and comprehensive in discharging his duty as an educationist. The
teacher here is at liberty to amalgamate various educational strategies that will help in
promoting the local one, which is (home policy).
ii. To improve and discover more areas of educational research, by comparable analysis
of educational management of various countries, politics and education, economics
and education of other nations. Teachers are hereby advised to carry out research in
any area of education that is assumed to be fraught with problems militating against
the existing educational policies and/or practices. Research in teacher education
programme is a way to achieving a sustainable teaching profession.
iii. This serves as an eye opener to teachers. It gives a teacher an upper hand to explore
other educational policies in different nations. As teachers are the hope of every
educational policies, mandatory exposure to other education policies becomes
imperative. With the knowledge of the education system, the teacher will be
resourceful and effective in dealing with domestic problems of education in the
society.

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iv. The study of comparative education is to enable teacher have a philosophical foresight
of identifying and solving educational problems. Comparative education is rich
enough to equip a teacher with the skills, strategies to identify educational problems.
Educational problems might be as a result of society, economic policies and national
ideologies, and with a comparative analysis of educational system, the teacher can
compare the problems with that of other nation and borrow from their own ideas how
they overcome those problems.
v. The study helps with vital information of how other nations undergo changes, reforms
and consequently how they manage to develop their education system and the
strategies employed to advance education.
vi. The study allows flexibility of opinion in respect of education, choice in policy,
implementation, reformation, adoptation, adaptation and application by the study of
various forms of education. There will be a variety of choices and a pool of
democratic opinions of education experts on policy formulation and implementation
strategies.
vii. The rationale behind the comparative education is that, it assesses the educational plan
of a nation and makes it open for amendment and further proposal for education
system in any nation.
viii. The study is a comparative analysis, that every nation is involved in by evaluating the
existing educational policies and comparing its success or otherwise of other nations
for the purpose of development.
ix. It is a general fact that education of some developed countries progresses faster than
those of other nations. The growth in technology is impacting on homes, streets,
schools and other social, economic and political institutions. The need to grow in this
developing age is posing serious challenges to other nations so the consequent result
is to initiate the education system that will accelerate the much needed development.
This is provided through comparative education.
x. It is a system of study that helps the weaker nations to have a base on which to stand
and start from by using other vital information of education plan, system and even
technology to improve. These include all sources of information with respect to
teaching and learning.
In addition, Osokoya (1992) itemised the following ten (10) reasons as rationale for including
comparative education in teacher education programmes.
1. It is a discipline that set out to provide reliable information about educational systems,
ideals, problems and activities.
2. It is a subject that aims at securing information which will be useful in improving
educational ideas, contents, methods and organisation among the various educational
systems of the world.

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3. As a subject, it serves as a theoretical and practical framework towards understanding

one’s own educational system, particularly what our educational institutions and
processes are and what they are not.
4. It is a discipline that sheds light on the complicated procedures through which
changes in education are brought about.
5. It gives us clues to our educational problems and provides solutions to the problems
thus identified.
6. Through comparative education, we are able to understand the forces that make for
educational changes such as economic, social, political and religious determinants.
7. Comparative education serves as a source of reinforcement for it helps us to buttress
what already exists in our own system which is being borrowed or copied by other
countries.
8. It is a discipline that sincerely aids international understanding and cooperation, for it
guides educators who are interested in promoting educational works of the
underdeveloped nations. It is impossible, for instance, to extend effective educational
aid to other nations whose educational systems are unknown.
9. Comparative education widens the area of education as an academic discipline, as
well as the cultural horizons of people generally, thereby encouraging critical thinking
in students.
10. It is a subject that aids the students’ skill of gathering information since students have
to collect information from primary and secondary sources about different national
systems of education before analysing them.(p. 8)

ACTIVITY I:
1. Propose a case for making comparative education compulsory in our teacher
education programmes.
2. Examine the relevance of comparative education to teachers.
3. Discuss the four purposes of comparative education as identified by Harold J.
Noah (1985).

SUMMARY
 In this Unit attempt was made to provide the justification for the study of comparative
education in teacher education programmes. Also, provided in the unit are the views
and opinions of scholars on the purposes or needs for the study of comparative
education more especially in teacher training programmes.

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ASSIGNMENT
1. Write a letter of proposal to the Federal Ministry of Education proposing the need to
make the study of comparative education compulsory course for every Nigerian
Teacher Training Programme.

REFERENCES
Hons. N. (2003) Comparative Education. New Delhi UBS Publishers.

Okobiah, O.S (1986), Associationship Certificate in Education Series. Historical Foundation

and Comparative Education. Ibadan, Heinemann Educational Books (Nig) Ltd.

Osokoya, I. Olu (1992) Comparative Education. Ibadan, Department of Adult Education

Osokoya, I.O (2002), History and Policy of Nigerian Education in World Perspective.
Ibadan, A DM Publishers Agodi.

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UNIT THREE: FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE

CHARACTER OF DIFFERENT NATIONS

INTRODUCTION
Every social unit has its distinct quality that gives it identity among other units. A nation is a
powerful social unit, and every nation has its own forms of identity, called national character.
We shall here examine the meaning of a nation and identify the factors which lead to the
formation of national character. Later in units three and four, we shall examine how some of
these characteristics influence the systems of education in different countries of the world.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. explain the meaning of national character;
2. identify the factors which determine national character in different parts of the world.

FACTORS DETERMINING NATIONAL CHARACTER

Nicholas Hans gives three factors that determine national character. He calls them natural,
religious and secular factors. He refers to natural factors as linguistic, racial, economic and
geographical factors. Because his country is essentially Christian, he quotes different
Christian traditions as the religious factors. He also quotes different political factors as
secular factors.
Mallinson on the other hand, identifies other factors apart from those of Hans. These are:
historical and social factors. If we consider these together, we can say that the following
factors largely determine the character of a nation. They are:
1. Linguistic factors
2. Racial factors
3. Geographical factors
4. Historical factors
5. Religious factors
6. Socio-cultural factors
7. Economic factors
8. Political factors

Linguistic Factors
Before science and technology made international contacts very easy, nations developed
around language groups. The French proudly talk of their Gallic ancestry, and many parts of
Britain are Anglo-Saxon in origin. But in modern times, many language groups make a

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nation. Our country Nigeria, has over 300 language groups. This is the same in all African
countries. In modern Britain, English, Scot and Irish languages are spoken apart from smaller
languages. Above all these, a nation needs a common language which can be developed or
adopted. Most European countries developed their common languages, also called national
languages. Most African countries adopted the language of their colonial masters as national
languages.

Racial Factors
A race can be defined as a distinct ethnic group with permanent features which are passed
down from generation to generation. So we talk of the Yoruba race, or Jewish race, or Arab
race. In modern times, a nation can have many dominant races or tribes. In Nigeria, we have
three dominant races - Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba. Sometimes a race of people may be found in
many nations of the world at the same time. An easy example is the black race which is
found in Africa, Australia, America and other countries. Again, racial factors shape national
character if there is only one race in that country. Where many races are present, there is
usually a mixture of racial influences. For example, this is happening in Nigeria today. A
Hausa child who was born and bred in Yorubaland cannot easily claim to be pure Hausa,
neither can a Yoruba child born and bred in Iboland. Intermarriage and other influences make
us mix together more and more. A nation can therefore develop from a mixture of many races
as we have in America, England, France or U.S.S.R, to mention a few examples.

GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS
Usually, geographical factors determine national character. We have seen earlier that
Mallinson defines a nation in terms of "a piece of territory," and "organised into a distinct
state", i.e. a recognisable land area. Even when the two other factors are present, we cannot
refer to a nation unless they can claim a geographical portion of the world as their own
homeland. For example, the Jews have a tribal identity all over the world and they are united
in language. We can call them a race. Until they had their own land, we could not call them a
nation. Perhaps this is why they are doing all in their power to remain in their present
geographical territory in the world today.

Historical Factors
People or groups of people with common history tend to come together as nations. Such
historical events can be wars, colonisation or even migration. If people have united to fight
wars to overpower an external oppression, they may remain together and form a nation. In the
case of Nigeria, colonisation made us a nation because our colonial masters designed our
present geographical territory. The present American nation is largely made up of people who
have migrated from different parts of the world. This migration still continues even today.
Such events in history can determine the national character of a people.

Religious Factors
Religion is usually a binding force for a people. In traditional African societies for example,
religion evolves from the peoples' attitude to life and to supernatural forces which they

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believe can influence their lives. Therefore you find many tribes or races with similar modes
of religious worship. There are, for example, some gods which were worshipped in traditional
Yoruba society. These are Ogun (god of iron), Sango (god of thunder), Obatala (god of
creativity) and Orunmila (god of intellectual wisdom). However, just as societies evolve their
own religion, they can also adopt religions. They can also be converted to different religions
as it happened in Europe during the christain era, and in Africa in the colonial era. Today
France is regarded essentially as a Catholic country. England is protestant and Holland is a
mixture of both. America on the other hand, has many forms of Christianity so we call it a
pluralist nation. In modern Nigeria, we have Christianity, Islam, traditional religion and some
religions from Eastern world like Hare Khrishna, Eckankar or Grail Movement. So Nigeria is
a pluralistic religious nation.

SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS
Socio-cultural factors are the totality of ways of life of a people - attitudes, values, beliefs,
tastes and preferences. People who share these tend to converge as a nation. In Nigeria for
example, we have our national dress, we have national food habits and we have comparable
attitudes towards life, death or marriage. There are general socially expected behaviour at
weddings, house-warming ceremonies or naming ceremonies. Similarly in different parts of
the world you can tell people of different countries by these factors that we have identified.
The French suit is different from British, American or Chinese. The same goes with their
food. All these together determine the character of a nation.

Economic Factors
Generally a nation shares the same economic fortune at a given time in history. The wealth of
a nation cannot be taken over by any group within it. When the nation is poor, poverty is
generally felt. During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, every industrialised nation became
richer. During the oil boom in Nigeria, we were called a rich nation. With modern computer
age, Japan is recognised as a leading nation in computer technology. She gets a lot of money
from selling her computers world-wide. The economy is, therefore, a determinant of national
character.

Political Factors
People who form a nation are subjected to the same political fortune or misfortune. Usually
one nation is a sovereign state and it can decide whatever form of government it pleases.
Some nations are democratic, others are socialist and others communist. One can be a
federation while another is a confederation.

Education and National Character

Finally, a nation's system of education influences its national character in two ways. Firstly,
because education is an agent of socialisation, the system of education of a people influences
their national character. A nation that treasures tradition and operates a simple economy and
political order is usually characterised by informal education. If, on the other hand, a nation
has advanced economy, technology and system of government, its system of education is

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likely to be formal with a lot of professional courses. Therefore, education determines

national character.
But again education can change national character because education is also an agent of
social change. A nation like Nigeria had to adopt Western education through colonial
experience. As a result, Nigerians learnt to practise new skills and apply them to their social,
political and economic life. This has led to new attitudes and values, beliefs and other ways
of life like food and dress habits. In other words, education has influenced our economic,
religious and socio-cultural ways of life. This means that education has changed our national
character. In the next two units we shall examine how the determinants of national character
which we have identified in this unit also determine educational development in different
countries.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss the major factors that determine the character of a nation.

REFERENCE
Vernon Mallinson, (1975). An Introduction to the Study of Comparative Education.
London, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.

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UNIT FOUR: FACTORS DETERMINING THE CHARACTER

AND DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN
DIFFERENT NATIONS

INTRODUCTION
We saw at the end of the last unit that education is a unique factor in the life of a nation. Of
all the determinants of national character, education is the only factor which functions in two
ways. Education is determined by national character. Again education determines national
character. In this unit, we shall examine the influence of other factors in determining the
character and development of education in different nations.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. examine the linguistic factor as a determinant of educational character and
development;
2. explain how the racial factor influences educational development;
3. discuss how geographical factors affect educational development; and
4. examine the influence of the economic factor on educational development.

THE LINGUISTIC FACTOR AND EDUCATIONAL CHARACTER AND

DEVELOPMENT
There are many modes of language generally used in communication among a people.
Language can be spoken, it can be written or it can be in form of making signs, also called
sign-language. Spoken and sign-languages can be picked up and learnt informally. But
written language is a special skill that is only learnt with a special method. Again, a language
can be simple or advanced. A simple language is one which has not yet been developed by
linguist (that is, language experts), so it is only used in a small part of the world. An
advanced language, on the other hand, is one which has been developed by linguists. It has
an accepted structure and form of use, that is already used internationally. Today, English is
the widest used language in the world. Other advanced languages are French, German,
Spanish, and Italian. Back home, most of the languages spoken in Nigeria today have not
been developed by linguists. At present, the government is doing a lot to develop the three
most advanced Nigerian languages that is, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Therefore, a country with a common language which is properly developed by experts will
have a very effective system of education. This is because language is an expression of the
total ways of life of the people. This is why in Nigeria today, mother-tongue education is part
of the 6-3-3-4 system of education. The more a nation uses its language in the education of its
younger generation, the better that nation is able to pass on its values and ways of life to
future generations on a relatively permanent basis. This is why education in England, France
and other countries whose languages are already well developed has been an effective

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medium through which many people learn the ways of life of these people. The educational
systems in these countries have, therefore, been advanced and formalised. They are even
copied in other parts of the world today.
On the other hand, nations whose language structures have not been well developed by
experts can use only spoken language in relating among themselves. This means that their use
of language is highly limited. Therefore, they will only be able to educate their children
informally. The body of knowledge they want to teach will not be standard because
knowledge can only be taught through demonstration and speech. Since that language is not
written, such a nation cannot write down what it considers valuable for future generations to
benefit from. Therefore the educational system will not only be informal, it also will not be
able to grow.
One alternative open to such nations would be to work hard and develop one common
language to be used by experts in recording all worthwhile knowledge to be taught to future
generations of that nation. This way, the values and other ways of life of the people can be
learnt on a permanent basis and this would further develop the national character.
However, this process can take a long time, just as it has taken England and other advanced
countries a long time to put their languages into a written form. African countries have had to
accept the languages of their colonial masters since these languages were even used in
introducing western education to Africa. This explains why educated Africans think and
behave more like the Europeans whose language and system of education they have adopted.
In an effort to make Nigerian education more national and not a borrowed form of western
education, it is part of our present educational policy that Nigerian children should be taught
in their mother-tongue (that is, the language which is native to them) in their early years of
primary education. For example, from researches into Yoruba language as a medium of
instruction in the former University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), it has been
proved that learning in the mother-tongue is more permanent and easily remembered than
learning in a foreign language. This is why as a country, we have decided to adopt the Ife
principle and teach the younger learners in the language that is native to them.
As a primary school teacher, you would be contributing to the development of education in
Nigeria if you teach your students in their mother-tongue and teach English to them as a
subject on the school time-table.

THE RACIAL FACTOR AND EDUCATIONAL CHARACTER AND

DEVELOPMENT
We have already defined a race as a tribal unit with a lasting identity. All over the world
today, you can recognise Africans, Indians, Jews, Asians and other world major races. The
racial factor affects educational development in a nation if the government policy is to
educate the citizens according to their races. This is possible because, as we said in unit two,
it is possible to have people of many races in one nation. One typical example in the world
today is the American nation.

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As you will see in later units, the racial factor was important in education even during
colonial days. The colonial masters believed that Africans should not be educated beyond a
certain level, so for a long time, most African countries had only primary education and
secondary education came much later. Mali, for example, had no form of higher education
until it became independent in 1960. This meant very little development in education in the
various colonies. In Nigeria, nationalists had to struggle with colonial masters to provide
higher education both at technical college and university levels.
Another example is South Africa, where before the release of Nelson Mandela and the
reforms of Fredrick de Klerk, apartheid (that is, separation of races) was the political
arrangement. White people were (and are still) given different type of education from the
black people. Black children were given education that would make them practical workers
and labourers. Government did not encourage them to stay in school for long, so there was
limit to how many African children could receive secondary or higher education. On the
other hand, there were always vacancies for children and teachers in white schools and
educational facilities were always available.
In this kind of social arrangement we cannot talk of uniform or national education, since a
section of the people are being discouraged on grounds of their race, thereby discouraging
development in education as well.

The Geographical Factor and Educational Development

A nation's geography that is, territorial boundary, determines educational growth to a large
extent. Geographical factors which influence educational growth are climate and the
landscape of the area.
The climate in a country can be temperate (that is, cool) or tropical (that is, hot). It can also
be extremely hot or extremely cold. Sometimes a country can suffer from extreme heat at
certain times of the day and extreme cold at others. Temperate countries usually have distinct
seasons of the year like winter, spring, summer and autumn. In these countries, learning
activities are usually concentrated during the colder months when learners have to stay
indoors. The warm summer months are usually holiday periods. In extremely cold countries
like Denmark and Finland, young children cannot go to school because it would not be
healthy for them to go to school. On the other hand, temperate countries like Britain and
France have facilities for pre-school education.
In tropical countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Togo, there are facilities for open-air learning,
particularly on hot afternoons. In 1979 when Nigeria had a second experience of civilian
government, the U.P.N. states adopted the policy of free education at primary and secondary
school levels. In order to educate all children of school age, many schools had to be built at
the same time. In order to make this possible, the governments of these states had to start
building temporary structures called "poultry sheds" as schools. In Lagos state, most of these
structures have been rebuilt. Other states still retain their "poultry sheds". The governments
in the U.P.N. states could do this because the climate allowed it.
But some countries are so hot that learning can only take place in special parts of the country.
Desert regions in Australia are hot and barren, so they have few schools scattered in the

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habitable areas only. Education can only develop in habitable regions. So if the climate is
too harsh, educational development would suffer.
Again the shape of the land can affect the growth of education in a country. If the land is
rugged and hilly, and has no good roads, it would be difficult to build schools there, or even
to encourage teachers to work in that region. It may be difficult to educate the Koma people
in Adamawa State for this reason. If a country is waterlogged, and floating schools have to be
built, such schools could be washed away by ocean waves or floods any time. So the kind of
buildings, the learning equipment and personnel are all affected by both climate and the
landscape of a nation.

Economic Factors and Educational Development

The economy of a nation is its financial strength or weakness. This is also called wealth or
poverty. Many times, a country is either rich or poor because of geographical reasons.
Nigeria is a rich country for geographical reasons. Before we had oil in this country, Nigeria
was a major producer of agricultural goods like cocoa, palm produce, timber and groundnuts.
She also has a lot of natural endowments like mineral deposits. Our major natural
endowment is crude oil. So our wealth is due to favourable geographical factors.
A country can also be wealthy as a result of industrial or technological growth. France,
Germany and Sweden have industrial growth while Japan and America are high technological
societies.
Some nations also become wealthy through international trade. Ancient Greece, Carthage and
Venice were great merchant centres. Countries with seaports usually have opportunities of
international trade.
A wealthy nation can encourage educational development. This is because wealth is the
surplus realised after the basic needs of life have been met. Usually this happens when that
society produces more goods than it needs so that it can sell the surplus and make money.
This happens in industrialised nations. Since our oil wealth was a natural gift, it was not got
from a productive base. If a rich country so wishes, it can pursue a programme of education
with its wealth. Therefore, when Nigeria became wealthy from oil money, educational
development was rapid. More secondary and higher educational institutions have been built
since the beginning of our oil wealth in 1974. In the same way, industrialised countries like
Britain, France, and Germany are also able to pursue advanced systems of education because
they can afford to do so.
On the other hand poor countries of the world cannot afford to develop educationally for two
reasons. Firstly, getting education is costly and the countries cannot afford it.
Secondly, the fact that they are poor means that they cannot produce what they need so there
will be no employment for the products of their educational system if they graduate.
So we can see that developed education is a sign that a country is rich. But this is so if that
country is productive. If it is not productive the money may finish and the educational system
may collapse.

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Unfortunately Nigeria is not as rich as before. Because we are not a nation of producers, there
is a lot of graduate unemployment at all levels. This is why the government now encourages
technical and vocational education to increase our level of production. Nigerian producers
and industrialists are also encouraged to export their goods to earn foreign currency. Again
the government has set up the National Directorate of Employment (N.D.E.) and the open
Apprenticeship Scheme so that school graduates can be helped to start one productive work
or the other. This way, we will be able to establish our oil wealth. Our educational system
will continue to need school leavers in their business and industries. This way the economy
will continue to support education, and education will continue to support the economy.

Historical Factors and Educational Growth

The historical experience of a people determine their educational outlook and growth. A
people with a history of constant wars may be more interested in military education, as was
the case with ancient Sparta. If that is the sole aim of education, then the process of
educational development may be slow. On the other hand, a country with a history of
productive enterprise and rich trading activities would have a rich system of education in
which people would be trained for different kinds of skills.
Our history of colonial experience in Africa influenced the type of education and rate of
development of our educational system. Since Africans were only needed to do menial works
or serve as assistant clerks and other categories of staff, only primary, and later some
secondary education was given to Africans under colonial rule. Many of our early leaders had
to travel overseas to do higher studies and at great cost to themselves. This way, education
did not develop in Africa under colonial rule.
Again, important historical achievements can influence the development of education. When
the German inventor, Guttenberg invented the printing press, it was a historical achievement
which influenced educational growth all over the world. Since then,it has been possible to
print many copies of books at a time. This way, the cost of books reduced rapidly and many
people could afford to buy books. This made it possible to print books for school use and the
common man could be educated in the whole of Europe.
In the same way another historical event influenced the growth of education in Nigeria, at
two periods in time. The first was during the second world war. Many teachers in the Yaba
Higher College had to join the British army so the growth of higher education came to a stand
still. Again, the Nigerian civil war has indirectly helped the growth of secondary school
education in this country. Before the war, most secondary schools were established by
missionary bodies and local communities. After the war, the Federal Government was
determined to return the country to peaceful co-existence. The government ordered special
funds to be given to the war-affected areas. The Administrator of the East Central State then
called the country's attention to the poor condition of schools in the area and recommended
that the state government should take over the schools. This was accepted. Other States in
the country did the same. Today, secondary school education is under government control all
over the country. As you will see in later units, this level of education has been greatly
developed and modified since then. If it had not been under the government it would not have

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been developed to this level. Yet, it was an event of Nigerian history that led to this
development.

The Influence of Religion On Educational Growth

Historical records show that religion can hinder educational growth. In the Middle Ages in
Europe when the Church was in government, educational provisions were for clergymen. The
ordinary people were taught the scriptures. When Martin Luther revolted against the Catholic
Church, the Reformation which broke the Catholic Church into many groups favoured
educational growth. The different denominations wanted schools according to their faith. In
order to restore sanity, education was removed from the control of the church and it became a
secular affair. Not only did the number of schools increase, the curriculum was greatly
modified. Therefore, societies with traditional religions are usually careful of education.
This again can be seen in the acceptance of western education in Nigeria. The Christian
South accepted education because it came from the Christian Missionaries. The Muslim
North refused it because they did not want to change their religion. The result is that today,
more southern citizens are educated than northern citizens.
In modern Nigeria, our attitude of religious tolerance has encouraged the development of
education. This was made possible when the government took over the control of education
in this country. This way, all Nigerian children are free to attend any school of their choice.
This attitude of religious tolerance also shows in the curricula of our schools. In the primary
and secondary schools, Christian and Islamic religious studies are taught. In the secondary
school, learners are taught the religions preferred by their parents. In the universities, there
are courses in Christian, Islamic and African Traditional Religions for those who want it.
Academic freedom allows undergraduates to associate with any religion of their choice.
Therefore the government policy of religious tolerance has helped educational growth.

Political Factors and Educational Development

The political factor is the extent to which the government of a country controls educational
provisions. This control shows in government policy towards education.When Nigeria was
under colonial government, government ensured that Nigerians were educated as the need
arose.
When Nigeria became independent, the leaders thought out a system of education which they
believe is more suitable to our needs as a nation. This is the new 6-3-3-4 system of education.
This system became a policy of the Nigerian government.
Again, the political decisions of the civilian governments in the Second Republic affected the
development of education. In the U.P.N. states (Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Bendel) free
secondary education was provided for the people. This led to rapid growth in education.
Again all these states except Oyo established a university each. This way, their students who
did not get admitted to Federal Universities were still able to get university education.
The government policy can also determine what kind of schools can be established. In
Nigeria today, nursery school education (also called early childhood education) is not
provided by government. Only a few rich private citizens have established nursery schools.

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This is why it is costly to send children to these schools. In the long run, nursery education
has not expanded as rapidly as primary and secondary education because the government
does not have a hand in it. In the same way, government policy can limit the growth of
education in some respects. In Russia for example, government does not allow religious
bodies to establish schools. This limits the number of schools the country can have. In
Nigeria, until recently, government does not allow private individuals to establish universities
and other higher educational institutions. This also limits the number of higher educational
institutions that we can have in the country.
The political situation in the country generally affects educational growth. If a country enjoys
stable government, it is possible to plan for educational development and carry out such
plans. If the government is always changing, then educational growth will not be stable
because policies will change as governments change.
The nature and structure of governments in any state reflect openly in the curriculum of the
state. By this, the students learn the nature and type of government in existence. Different
types of government have different views on the education of their citizens.
The Humanism structures that education should be of human interest, that their nature and
interest should be free, and there should be no religious compulsion or belief on people, and
people should not be suppressed to the narrow dogmatic interpretation of the world.
Humanist means the liberation of reason from the shackles of dogma and a critical study of
human beings through observed facts. The children in school are growing and have a growing
mind so they should not be suppressed to the cruel and rigid ways of instruction in schools.
The socialists emphasize that education is for social and educational reconstruction. For
example, in the soviet policy of education, all citizens have the right to education and all
schools are state schools, and it equally promotes democratic and progressive thinking.
In other nations, the same method is applied. The nature of the government tells on the
system of education in the state. However, the reasons for this are as follows:
 The allocation of place, site for construction of schools and the provision of school
materials and personnel is in the responsibility of government
 Politics can favour school existence, and can equally destroy the progress of the
school depending on the interest of the governments.
 The education system of a nation is a clear picture of how the politics of the country is
moving, either to the advantage of the educational sector or to the disadvantage.
Politics is strongly influencing the affair of education in any land.

Ideological Factors:
Ideology is a set of thinking and vision for a society. It is an abstract thought about human
society. Ideology is a group philosophy- a set of ideas or beliefs about what people hold of
their world and demonstrate in behaviour. It is the general value system of the people. Going
by this brief definition of ideology, it implies that ideology comprises the religious belief, the
ethical value of a custom, the political orientation and even the economic standard. In

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essence, the culture of a people is an ideological theory in practice so the culture has to be
respected while initiating any interaction with such a people in the context of education and
other related developmental processes.
In designing an educational programme therefore, the ideology of a people is to be well
considered. Anything contrary to the dominant ideology of the people is going to be
irrelevant and may not be readily accepted by the people. Ideology of a certain people
strongly determines the way they behave and approach social issues in society. This will have
to be reflected in their educational system.
Religious belief is one other dominant ideology of a people. In matters relating to education
system, the religious beliefs of the people are very relevant.
Both the Christian and Islamic religions should be of equal importance to the national
education planners.

SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS AND EDUCATIONAL GROWTH

The socio-cultural attitudes of a people influence the development of education among
nations. These socio-cultural attitudes can be expressed in social philosophies, their general
attitudes to life and their belief system.
In Russia for example, the social philosophy of Karl Marx which sees the ideal society as a
classless state makes the government adopt a communist way of life. This forbids religious
education and all education is given by the state. The kind of education given in Russia
therefore encourages communism. This in turn affects the growth of education because only
the government can produce it.
In Britain on the other hand, the social attitude of liberal democracy also influences
educational growth. Although the government finances education, a lot of administration and
supervision is allowed at the local government level .In Belgium and France where people are
very sensitive on religious matters, religious bodies establish schools side by side with
government.
In the same way, Holland even has free neutral schools, that is, schools which have neither
religious nor government control. This is because in that country the government accepts that
people are free to hold belief, not to believe or to remain spiritually neutral.
The American social attitude has had a lot of influence on the character and development of
education in that country. The Americans believe that man can do anything, and therefore the
process of education should enable him to develop his talent to the fullest. Therefore, the
character of American education is more varied than most other countries in the world.
Specialisation is allowed in all areas of human effort. Again the democratic spirit of America
makes it possible for individuals and communities to establish schools. Education is as much
as possible the peoples' concern. The government occasionally helps or supervises education,
it does not interfere in it.
Finally, in Nigeria, our love of social freedom, particularly freedom of expression and belief
makes us choose whatever form of school we like. Some people prefer mixed schools, others
single gender schools. Making allowance for our unity in diversity, the government provides

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educational facilities according to the needs of various parts of the country. Our love of
freedom also explains our attachment to our tribal identity within the national framework.
This explains why there is provision for mother tongue education.
However, our experience of oil wealth has developed in Nigerians a love of affluence. This
has negative influence on the demand for higher education in some parts of the country. In
prosperous commercial towns like Lagos, Kano, Aba and Onitsha, it is more attractive to
trade and earn quick money than to go to school. In Kano, the religious factor does not
encourage women education . In Lagos, the glitter of affluence weakens the will power for
higher educational qualification after getting the basic qualification which they need to "get
on" in life. Imo and Anambra States have a unique problem: the men would rather engage in
trade to earn a lot of money with which to marry highly educated women than engage in
higher educational studies. Therefore , while Lagos has many schools because of the large
exodus of many Nigerians there, Kano has very few schools relative to the popu7lation of
those willing to attend schools. In Imo and Anambra States, 70% of learners currently in
school are girls.

ACTIVITY
1. Discuss the factors that influence the character and development of education in
different nations.

SUMMARY
 The national environment or geographical, political, ideological and economic factors
are some of the factors which tend to challenge the educational reformer and impose
certain limitations on his drive for innovation in education. The design of the structure
and content of any education system has to consider these and many other factors for
such education plans to be relevant, valid, acceptable and effective..

ASSIGNMENT
1. Give a detailed account of how religious and economic factors influence Nigerian
educational system.

REFERENCES
Hons. N. (2003) Comparative Education. New Delhi UBS Publishers.

Okobiah, O.S (1986), Associationship Certificate in Education Series. Historical Foundation

and Comparative Education. Heinemann Educational Books (Nig) Ltd. Ibadan.

Osokoya, I. Ola (1992) Comparative Education. Ibadan, Department of Adult Education

Osokoya, I.O (2002), History and Policy of Nigerian Education in World Perspective.
Ibadan, A DM Publishers Agodi.

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UNIT FIVE VARIATIONS AMONG NATIONS IN

EDUCATIONAL AIMS, CURRICULUM,
METHODS AND ADMINISTRATION

INTRODUCTION
In Unit One, you learnt that one of the areas of study of comparative education is to show the
differences in educational aims and practices in different parts of the world. This is so
because most countries in modern civilized world are engaged in providing education for
their people. In doing so, they have different reasons, and they employ different methods. In
this unit, you will be taught about differences in educational aims, curriculum and methods in
four countries outside Africa. These countries are Germany, Britain, France and the U.S.A.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. explain why educational aims are different in Germany, Britain, France and U.S.A;
2. explain the differences between curriculum and methods of teacher education in
France and Germany;
3. point out any similarity between the curriculum and methods of teacher education in
France and Germany.
4. discuss the educational administration styles in different countries.
5 Discuss the structure of education in the Great Britain.
6 Explain the administration of education in Britai
7 Discuss the structure of American education.

DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATIONAL AIMS AMONG NATIONS

Imagine that you want to buy some cloth material at the end of this month. What do you want
to do with it? Is it to sew your child's school uniform, make a new outfit for yourself or give
it to your parents? Any of these would be your aim of buying the cloth. We can also call it
your reason for buying the cloth. We have our reasons for most of the important things which
we do in life. People who act without reason are senseless. Nobody would like to be
described as a senseless person.
In the same way, many countries of the world provide education for their citizens for
different reasons. The reasons are the different ways in which these countries believe that
they would help the citizens as human beings and their country as a nation. In short,
educational aims of a nation reflect the social and political philosophies of the countries in
question.
In Germany for example, the general aim of education is to make a person see himself as
always under the authority of the state. Therefore, the learner should always subject himself

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to one nation, one culture and one state. Germany has been ruled by absolute laws rather
than democratic laws. Remember that Hitler was an absolute ruler. Only in 1990 the East and
West Germany came together to form a democratic nation. So, the aim of German education
is to make the learner a loyal member of his Land, (that is State).
On the other hand, the aim of British education can be said to derive from the practice of
education itself. The old apprenticeship system whereby the child learns through doing is
still a guiding principle in British education. This is because unlike Germany, Britain believes
in liberal democracy.
Whereas the British citizen is patriotic, he can also criticise his government and his people.
Whereas the Briton recognises the need for national unity, he is also loyal to the local
environment in which he finds himself. Therefore, although the citizens are proud to be
British, they are also strongly Scotish, Welsh or Irish. Ability to blend local and national
loyalties shows in the liberal aim of British education. The aim of British education is not
thought of in advance, it unfolds itself. If you remember, Britain does not have a written
constitution. It is a tradition of practice. This national outlook, therefore, shows in their aim
of education.
Again, France has an aim of education which is national but it is different from that of
Germany. In France, the national aim of education is to help the young and immature person
to learn and practice the acceptable ways of life of their people. Scholars like Emile
Durkheim believe that the adult generations have the task of promoting the development of
intellectual, physical and moral qualities which would enable the learner to lead a socially,
acceptable adult life. So, education is a process of socialisation. Although France has a
national aim, it is focused on the welfare of the person and his society rather than the decree
of an absolute state.
Finally, the United States has a liberal aim of education which is also different from that of
Britain. In America, the national aim of education shows in the idea of President Jefferson
that an average person can think and act rationally if given the opportunity. The aim of
American education is to give every man this opportunity to demonstrate his resourcefulness
and initiative. Whereas, in Britain the system has evolved without any previous plan, in
America, the belief is that true democracy lies in having the opportunity to achieve personal
fulfilment. Therefore, the aim of American education is to develop the individual's aptitude
and ability. So the American child is as much as possible able to get that education which can
benefit him or her most.

VARIATIONS IN CURRICULUM AND METHODS

The curriculum of an educational institution is the totality of facilities for learning which are
provided by the school. These facilities include the formal teaching facilities and the "co-
curricular" activities. The methods employed in providing these curricular facilities are also
very important because they are vital to achieving the educational aims of a country.
Therefore every country should not only pay attention to curriculum of teacher education but
also the methods of teacher preparation. Let us now examine these two aspects of teacher
Education in other parts of the world.

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Curriculum and Methods of Teacher Education in France

The French school teacher is a highly trained personnel, both in knowledge and in methods.
There are two categories of teachers, the primary and the secondary school teacher. The
French teacher is both a professional and a civil servant. Although the government is
responsible for teacher education, there are opportunities for private religious (that is,
Catholic) organisations to establish teachers' colleges. Such students may present themselves
for state examinations if they wish. If they do not, they obtain the special diplomas awarded
by their colleges. However, when they finish their studies, they can only teach within the
school system of their religious denomination.
Teachers graduate from their college subject to available teaching vacancies. The content of
academic training begins with the competitive entrance examination consisting of written,
oral and practical aspects. Written work consists of spelling and dictation. Orals consists of
reading and answering questions on a given text in French. Practical aspects include physical
training, crafts (for boys) and needle work ( for girls).
When the actual training begins, the student either studies for his baccalaureat examinations
(consisting of two parts)for three years and then one year of professional training or he does
two years of baccalaureat and two years of professional training. This format can be
compared to Nigeria, where a G.C.E. O' level holder needs one year to do a Grade II course
but an S 75 holder needs about 2 to 3 years. However, there is reason to believe that the
standard of academic work is higher than that of Nigeria.
Demonstration is an important method of teacher preparation in France. Therefore, a
demonstration school is attached to a training college. Sometimes an independent school can
be made a demonstration school. Students spend one month of continuous teaching practice
in their final year. At the end, they do written and oral examination in principles of education
and psychology.
The teacher is expected to be able to teach his special subject (that is, teaching subject) to any
class in the primary school. After this, he is employed on probation (that is, on trial) as a full
time teacher in his department. He later does an aptitude examination in the skill of teaching.
It is only when he has passed this that he gets his final certificate. Since his graduation
depends on available vacancies in any part of the country, he cannot decide where he wishes
to work. A teacher can be posted to a rural or urban centre. This way, the best brains are
posted where ever they are needed. After his studies, the very intelligent primary school
teacher can go to the Higher Normal School. This is the equivalent of Colleges of Education
in Nigeria. After studying there, he can teach in the secondary school.

Curriculum and Methods of Teacher Education in Germany

The curriculum and methods of teacher education in Germany before the Second World War
were meant to achieve two goals. Firstly, they were meant to produce teachers who would
always be loyal to the government of the day. Again it was meant to produce teachers who
would prepare future citizens for an industrial German society. Compared with other
European countries, Germany was slow in industrial growth. In order to speed up this
growth, teachers were specially taught to prepare learners who would be future agents of

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industrial growth. For these reasons, the curriculum and methods of teacher preparation in
imperial Germany were different from those of France.
Before the Second World War, the content of academic work for German primary school
teachers was minimal. They needed to know only that which they would teach in the
classroom. Teachers were made to see the need to do as the government wished, since this
would be in their own interest. The Second World War brought about a setback in German
teacher education curriculum but this was reorganised after the war. After the Second World
War, it was decided that primary school teachers could be educated up to University level.
Depending on the rules in a particular Lander (that is, state) a student teacher would be
educated in a Pedagogical Institute (like Nigeria's College of Education) for two or three
years. The content of training was freely decided by students. He would study in a special
teaching subject and in addition, educational psychology and teaching methods. He would
also do some research in his area of interest.
On finishing his academic programme, the teacher would work in a school for two years
under special supervision and also attends courses organised by officers of the Ministry of
Education. Moreover, a second examination on which he would write his practical experience
as an in- service trainee would also be attempted before embarking on two trial - lessons,
where he would then discuss his thesis and practical report in an oral examination.
It was only then that he would get a full teaching certificate and then be offered permanent
employment. The curriculum and method of teacher education in Germany therefore came
closer to the French standard after the second world war.

VARIATIONS IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

1. Educational Administration in Russia
The aim of Russian education is to develop a classless society which would practise
the socialist philosophy of Karl Marx. The name "Russia" in this context refers to the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), or the Soviet Union. It is made up of
sixteen republics. But since Mikhail Gorbachev took over power, he made a lot of
changes which now makes Russia less socialist. Even now, some of the Republics in
the Soviet Union want to break away and start a democratic way of life. But our
discussion here will be on Russian educational administration before all the changes
started.
In Russia, the ministry of education has complete control over every educational
activity in the school. This is to ensure that students learn a useful body of knowledge
that would make them communists right from childhood. Russian education,
therefore, includes political education. The minister of education is an important
government official. He belongs to three important government bodies. They are:
a. The Council of Peoples' Commissars,
b. The Central Committee of the Communist Party, and
c. The Central Planning Commission.

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It is thus, to be noted that he is a politician as well as an educator.

The Russian government provides education for the people including textbooks,
syllabuses and a fixed time - table.
There are three main levels of educational administration in Russia; but they are all
under a central authority.
Firstly, there is the Federal Ministry of Education which controls the entire national
educational system.
Secondly, each Republic in the Soviet Union has a Republic Ministry of Education.
Thirdly, there are Local Education Authorities which take care of school building and
approve the recommendation to appoint teachers when this is presented to them by the
concerned school authority.
Russia has a very powerful system of inspection in education, which ensures that only
what is allowed by government is taught in schools. Inspectors perform the double
role of educational admininstration and political informants to the government.
Russian inspectors of Education are very powerful. They are appointed by the
ministry after they have been teachers for years. They undertake classroom
supervision and they correct substandard teaching. In all, they ensure discipline and
high educational standard. The inspector does not only supervise academic teaching,
he ensures the teaching of the latest government policies and pronouncements as
regards communist ideology. He works with the head teacher in a particular school to
decide the promotion of teachers. As a government functionary, the Russian
Inspector of Education is vital to the achievement of both the educational and political
aims of his country.

2. French Style of Educational Administration

In France, education is controlled centrally but the aim is different from that of
Russia. The aim of French education is to prepare the learner for self-fulfilment and
meaningful social life. French education has been centralised from the time to
Napoleon in order to regulate the political and moral opinions of the learner.
The highest education officer in France is the Education Minister. He is also a
member of Parliament, so he is an important politician. He has representatives or
delegates in the different educational zones in the country. These educational zones
are called Academies. There are seventeen academies in the country. The President
appoints a Rector, to head each academie Under the Recteur, there are educational
districts called de F128P10M F255P255 Departments.
There are educational inspectors in charge of the de F128P10M‚F255P255
Departments. They inspect schools, plan the programmes of studies and think of new
teaching methods. So they are specialist scholars.
Finally, each de F128P10M‚ F255P255 Department has a council responsible for
primary education, and the council is responsible for employment, training and

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promotion of primary school teachers. This reminds us of the present local

government councils in Nigeria, particularly in so far as the government has just given
these councils the control of primary school education. What do you think could be
one advantage and one disadvantage of this administrative approach? Since you are a
primary school teacher, you should be aware of this. You should also be interested in
it because it involves your country politically and it is already practised in another
part of the world.

3. Holland's Style of Educational Administration

Holland, like other countries in Western Europe, believes in providing education to
suit the peculiar needs of its people. But its system of educational administration is a
combination of centralisation and decentralisation. Therefore, there are central and
local levels of educational administration.
The central control of Dutch (that is, Holland's) education lies with the Ministry of
education. The ministry of education is to ensure that uniform standards are met in
schools, teachers' salaries are paid, teachers are enough, programme of studies are
regulated and secondary schools have enough infrastructure and are well maintained.
Local control of Dutch education has a wider coverage than we have in Nigeria. At
this level, local councils take charge of primary, secondary and technical education.
They pay current expenses and provide buildings for different types of schools. They
are also responsible for all kinds of schools. These are:
a. public schools, managed by municipal council;
b. free schools, that is, privately owned schools which are either Catholic or
Protestant;
c. neutral state schools, that is, government secular schools; and
d. neutral free schools, that is, privately owned schools which have no religious
attachment.
In this way, administration of education in Holland encourages participation by both
private and government agencies, religious and secular organisations.

4. Education in Great Britain

The Great Britain comprises of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Britain education system gained influences by many other countries mostly the third
world nations. Schooling at the early age of children is compulsory to everybody
regardless of colour and background. Britain practice a central system of education
policy, the nation has a national curriculum which states the minimum learning
requirements of all children at the age of their schooling. This curriculum is
compulsory in the state system. In respect of independent school they are not bound
by it.
The schools in Britain are states and independent schools and about two in fourteen of
the school age children attend the independent schools. In respect of international

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students they don’t experience difficulties in schooling as they are welcome in all
parts of United Kingdom England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland. A unique
factor about the stated places is that they practice same education system, only in
Scotland that few differences are identified. Attending school is compulsory, the age
range from five to sixteen, this period of time students attends the educational
establishments. However, children attend nursery school at the age of three/four.
Presently, the demand for education is growing fast and with this development the
authority is equally trying to find ways to address the growing demand for the
educational provisions.

Administration and Control of Education

There are two distinct staff operating in the department of education and science,
namely:
 Administrative staff whose functions are mainly tied to the central
headquarters.
 The inspectorate staff who are mainly field workers and sometimes referred
to as the majesty inspectors of schools.

The two categories of staff perform the following essential functions:

1. They inspect all schools and provide advisory services to heads of schools.
2. They act as special representatives of the secretary in the local education
authority areas, especially on policy and administrative issues.
3. They act as feeders to the secretary of state on the educational situations in the
local authority areas.

On the other hand, the Local Education Authority (LEAs) are charged with the
responsibility of seeing that the children are well educated. Other duties of the LGEAs
are as follows:
1. They must ensure that parents do not fail in their duties and take them to court
if they do so. Only the local authority can take parents to court.
2. The local authority must also provide enough schools for primary and
secondary education.
3. They determine the general educational character of a school and its place in
the local school system. They also ascertain the hours of the school day and
the length of the school term.

General Structure of Education

 Nursery Schools: Nursery school and kindergarten are available for children
up to the age of five years. Many nursery schools were established by the
voluntary organisations while some belonged to the LGEAs. The law

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permitted the LEA’s to build and operate nursery schools if they wished. The
curriculum at this level is designed to emphasize play and games, development
of good habits of health and safety and social activities and responsibilities.
 Primary Education: These are established for children between the ages of 5
and 11 years. Primary education is basically concerned with preparing
children for entry into the various forms of secondary education programmes.
Broadly speaking the curriculum includes the basic sciences, social studies,
English, health science, music, arithmetic, drawing and painting, domestic
science, craft and religious knowledge.
 Secondary Education: Secondary education in the British system is greatly
diversified. It is meant for children who have attained the age of eleven years.
It is in the secondary schools that the most significant changes are taking place
in English education. Secondary education is no longer the privilege of a few
selected pupils. It is compulsory for all children. The 1944 education act
recognised the following secondary institutions:
1. Grammar schools: The secondary grammar school has an academic
type of curriculum leading toward university degree. This therefore
caters for children who are academically inclined.
2. Technical Education: Technical schools are meant for those pupils
with a distinct aptitude for and leading towards technical work which
is fairly high in standard.
3. Modern Schools: Modern schools are for those pupils whose need are
not met by either grammar or technical schools.
 University Education: The universities are self-governing institutions. All of
them receive financial aid from treasury on the advice of the University Grants
Committee – committee of academic experts appointed by the treasury. Higher
technical education forms an integral part of university studies, although some
branches of engineering often have a semi-independent separate schools.
Students pay very high for education in them and only the very affluent can
afford to send their children into them.

FINANCING EDUCATION:
In the area of financing education in the Great Britain, it is generally joint
responsibility of the department of education and science and the Local Education
Authorities. Education is essentially financed from the national tax resources. The
sources of funding education in Britain are as follows:
i. The rates, which are in effect a property tax levied by local authorities.
ii. Grant from the central government: known as Rate Support Grant. This is.
about 65% of the relevant expenditure.
iii. Charges for the services provided by the LEAs.

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iv. Money raised by borrowing.

v. Recoupment payments between local authorities.
vi. The pool-which all Local Authorities contribute in proportion to their school
populations. This is for:
- The cost of running and maintenance of colleges of education
- No-area pupils
- 75% of the fees and salaries of teachers taking courses lasting 6 weeks
or more and for the cost of awards to students in colleges of education.

Strategies of Schooling in Scotland

 They provide different certificates of education (SCE) other than the GCSEs
and A- levels.
 Students are chanced to attend university or university Sector College a year
earlier than in UK and can stay a year longer.
 Students are not committed to the subject of interest or the subject they
applied to study.
Schooling in Britain is not complex and the system is favourable to the development
of individual in all sector or categories of the education programme. There exists
strong unity of command with regard to educational content and the national goal.

5. EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

It was on the basis of the various freedoms that underline the principles of democracy
that the constitution of the USA excluded education from the authority of the federal
government from the first days of independence in 1776. Each state was left to build
its own system of education. There is no firm control over educational activities.
Every state has a board of education. The board is appointed to give laws guiding
attendance in schools, designing of programmes for teacher education and deciding on
the minimum number of days that a school should open in a year. The state provides
about half of the cost of teacher education while the Local Education Authorities
(LEA) provides the balance. This means that in America the provision of
administration for the day to day running of the schools is in the hands of the Local
Education Authority (LEAs). As the Local Education Authorities (LEA) vary in size
and financial ability, there is also some variations in the type and quality of education
provided by the various local governments in terms of quality of works and standards.
Education is not the same throughout America (it is decentralised).
The federal government has become involved in educational matters in some states.
For example, the federal office of education funds all schools in Washington DC and
also schools in special government areas like New York, Chicago, and Detroit etc.
Loans are usually made available to students to study special courses such as Science,
Mathematics and Modern Languages.

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Finance
Public primary and secondary schools are free. Local communities decide fairly freely
how much money they are able or willing to spend on education. A local school board
of the community is given the power to tax the people of its community provided the
federal government has not already taxed for the same purpose. The school board
could also impose certain recreational taxes on the people. Attendance of schools is
very important in USA because each school board recovers a minimum amount of
money for each child in its school for every day of the school year.
Generally, richer school boards are able to provide better and more facilities for
schools in its area than the poor ones. Many schools certainly lack enviable facilities
of better placed neighbours. Teachers’ salaries vary enormously, not only between
states, but sometimes inside a single state.

Administration
In the United States of America, the federal government has little direct control over
education while the United States’ constitution contains no specific mention of
education. The acts and statements of early republican leaders clearly indicates that
education was, from the very beginning, conceived by many as a national
responsibility.
There is a federal government development of education at Washington DC serving as
an advisory body, and has little power over the states. Collection and dissemination of
data and the encouragement of education have continued to be its primary function. It
ensures implementation of congress laws on education and offers certain services to
schools. This is one method of enforcing decisions by the Federal Government
Department of Education headed by Commissioner of Education who is the Chief
Executive of the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education.
The State Department of Education prescribes minimum educational requirement as
the period of school terms, compulsory and elective subjects, school sanitation,
certification of teachers, safety standards for school. The School Boards are
responsible for establishing and maintaining the schools. They have met the minimum
educational standards and improve on it.

The Structure of School System

The age at which children begin schooling in the United States is 6, although a
kindergarten exists in many places for children under this age. Most states maintain
the 6-3-3 system of primary and secondary education. Primary education is meant for
children between the ages of 6 and 12 years and it comprises of grade 1 – 6 (the
United States makes use of grades for classes or forms). The programmes and
techniques of instruction of the primary and secondary level vary with states and even
more with districts.
Secondary education starts at grade 7 and is for children between 12 and 18 years of
age. Secondary education referred to as high school is divided into three years of

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junior high schools (grade 7 – 9) and three years of senior high school (10 – 12). Most
secondary schools are comprehensive. They give preparatory programmes for higher
education as well as offer courses in commercial, vocational and other educational
programmes.
The junior secondary school serves as the period of psychological differentiation.
There are common core subjects as English, Mathematics, History and Civic and a
wide range of electives open for selection. They have to pass the subject registered
without elimination before proceeding to the senior classes.
The next stage after high school and following naturally from it, is the college. The
Words College and University are practically synonymous in the United States. The
College is designed primarily to give general or fundamental education. The college
does not by definition operate ordinarily to prepare professional or technical
specialists. Collegiate education can be thought of as pre-professional.
A university, on the other hand, is categorised into three (3) basic forms:
1. A university can usually be a collection of colleges.
2. A university is more directly and deliberately concerned with professional or
technical education. The university attempts to co-ordinate a general or liberal
arts programme with a specialisation designed to produce some professional
competency.
3. The university organisation provides for graduate study and research. Unlike
the conventional Liberal Arts College, the University must provide for
advanced study. Work leading to higher degrees of professional specialists,
such as law, teaching or medicine.

The Colleges and university can broadly be categorized in two (2), namely:
 Public institutions that derive most of their financing from state and federal
governments.
 The private institutions that rely on charges to students contributions from
Alumni and wealthy donors.

Teacher Education
Majority of teachers are trained in four (4) years teachers college after high schools or
college of education on a university campus. The teachers’ colleges are usually
recognised with the university rank with style degree. However, there are no national
official standards, which are for certification of teachers. Most states require a
minimum of a bachelor’s degree in education for elementary teaching and sometimes
higher for junior and high school teaching.

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ACTIVITY I:
1. Explain the structure of education in Great Britain.
2. Explain the structure of Education in the United States of America.
3. Compare and contrast between American schools and Nigerian schools.

ADMINISTRATION OF AMERICAN EDUCATION

We had noted in Unit Five that the aim of American education is to help the average citizen
to make the best use of his resourcefulness and initiative. The administration of American
education is however not carried out by the government but by the people.
As you had learnt in Unit Five, America believes that true democracy should enable the child
to get the kind of education that he needs most. In the American commitment to democracy,
this can only be provided by the learners' immediate environment. Therefore, at the federal,
state or local government levels, government does not provide educational facilities and has
thus no hand in its administration except in very exceptional cases.
At the Federal level, the government is essentially an information centre on educational
activities. The Federal office of Education approves the establishment of schools and collects
and distributes whatever information that is meant to serve the interest of education.
In the same way, at the State level, there is no firm control over educational activities as we
have in the German land. Every State has a Board of Education. The Board is appointed to
give laws guiding attendance in schools, design programmes for teacher education and decide
on minimum number of days a school should open in a year.
Even then, the State provides about half of the cost of educating its teachers. The other half is
paid by the Local Education Authorities.
This means that in America, the Local Education Authorities are mainly responsible for
provision and administration of education. Since the local governments are not equal in size,
in wealth or even in efficiency, the provision of education in the United States cannot be said
to have uniform standards either in terms of quality of work done or other general curricular
facilities provided. The Local Education Authorities decide who teaches, what to teach, and
teachers' salaries. Local costs of education are raised from local rates and taxes.
Where a community cannot meet all its local demands for educational facility, it can arrange
with a neighbouring community to take up some of its tasks at an agreed cost to the Local
Education Authority. In America, it is accepted that education should be a reflection of public
value and appreciation. Therefore, it is designed so that the public is aware of how it is
organised and the public is part of the organisation.
However, American liberal education policy has had to be modified in recent years. The
Federal Government has become involved in educational matters in some states. For
example, the Federal Office of Education funds all schools in Washington D.C. Schools in
special Government Areas like American Indians are government responsibility. There are

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also opportunities for student loans to enable them to study in special academic areas like
science, mathematics and modern languages.
The American arrangement has some disadvantages which cannot be overlooked. Leaving
education mostly to the various communities means that Local Education Authorities can be
too many in some areas and be too few in others. Again, while some communities may have
the money to employ and pay their teachers, others may not be able to do this. Yet, other
communities may be very poor and so cannot pay their teachers even if they have many
children of school age. Therefore standards are sure to vary.
The fact that the number of American Local Education Authorities have had to be pruned
down shows that there is an awareness that some control is necessary. Again in European
countries where educational administration is centralised in part or wholly, government has
used educational provision as an effective political weapon. In their control of education,
many European countries have also managed to ensure that the people are sensitized to an
acceptance of their allegiance to the government. American style of education administration
does not tap this advantage for government. This may not however make the American
citizen less patriotic than his European counterpart.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Which of the systems of educational administration discussed in this unit would you
recommend for Nigeria? Give your own reasons.
2. Give a detailed account of the current development of education in the Great Britain
Account for the development of education in USA.

REFERENCES
America Education System. http://www.usastudyguide.com/ usaeducationsystem.html.
Retrieved on 14th June, 2007.

Hons. N. (2003) Comparative Education. New Delhi UBS Publishers.

Nicholas, H. (1976), Comparative Education. A Study of Educational Factors and Traditions.

London, Routtedge and Kengan Paul.

Okobiah, O.S (1986), Associationship Certificate in Education Series. Historical Foundation

and Comparative Education. Ibadan, Heinemann Educational Books (Nig) Ltd.

Osokoya, I. Ola (1992) Comparative Education. Ibadan, Department of Adult Education

Vernon Mallinson, (1975). An Introduction to the Study to Comparative Education,.

Heinemann Educational Books.

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UNIT SIX: BRITISH AND FRENCH

EDUCATIONAL POLICIES IN COLONIAL
AFRICA

INTRODUCTION
In this unit, we will examine the influence of colonial masters on African countries before
these countries attained independence. As you will remember in Unit 5, we discussed the
historical, political and social factors influencing national character and the development of
education in many countries. From historical, political and social standpoints, the colonial
experience was a strong influence on educational provision and growth of colonised states.
Most colonised states owe their national identity and geography in their present form to
colonial Masters. They also had to adopt the political styles of their colonial masters. Most
importantly, colonialism caused a lot of changes in the social arrangements of the African
society more than any other event in ancient past and contemporary history. We will
therefore study the influence of two of the different colonial masters on the system of
education on their colonised states. These are Britain with Nigeria as a typical African colony
and France with Senegal as a typical colony.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. discuss the influence of Britain on the educational policy of Nigeria in colonial times;
2. explain the influence of France on the educational policy of Senegal in colonial times;
3. identify the similarities in colonial influence on their African states; and
4. explain the differences in colonial influence on their African states.

BRITISH INFLUENCE ON AFRICAN EDUCATIONAL POLICY: THE

NIGERIAN EXAMPLE
The colonial influence on African education can be divided into three major phases. Let us
assume that the first phase started with Missionary arrival in 1842 up to the partition of
Africa in 1884. The second phase would be from the partition to the 1926 Education Code.
The third phase would be from 1926 to the attainment of political independence by Nigeria in
1960.

British Colonial Influence on Nigerian Educational policy between 842 – 1885

One cannot strictly talk of British educational policy during this period. Educational activities
had started earlier with Portuguese adventurers in the 15th century but were disrupted by the
trans -Atlantic slave trade for three centuries. When educational activities were revived later
in 1842, they were due to Christian Missionary effort. Firstly, the Methodist were invited by
Badagry free settlers and this way, they brought the Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman and Mr. &
Mrs. de Graft to establish a school in 1842. The Church Missionary Society followed later in

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1845 and established two schools in Abeokuta by 1846. Other Church missionaries
established schools in Calabar, Lagos, Ijaiye, Ogbomoso, Onitsha, Akassa and Bonny.
During this period, the educational policy was one of evangelisation and scripture literacy as
envisioned by the missionaries. The colonial government only showed interest in education
later, and this period of colonial interest fell within the second phase.

British Colonial Influence From 1885 to 1925

Educational activities up to this period was due largely to missionary efforts. However,
Britain became interested in educational activities in her colonies for two main reasons.
Firstly, the missionary schools could not meet the demand for personnel, particularly of the
junior cadre who were needed in colonial administration. So they had to assist the existing
schools and in establishing others. Secondly, it was part of the agreement reached by the
colonial masters during the partition of Africa at the Berlin Conference that all colonial
powers occupying any African territory should do so effectively and not neglect the welfare
of the Africans. For these reasons, Britain was actually helping to establish her power on her
colonies by helping educational growth. What was the colonial educational policy during this
period?
The colonial political policy at this time was that of indirect rule or home rule. The
educational policy was to produce Nigerians for work as clerks, labourers and assistants in
various government offices and trade posts for the urban centres. For the rural areas, the
policy was to produce craftsmen and artisans for such trades as carpentry, smithing and
agriculture so they could contribute towards making village life more livable.
In order to achieve these, the government started by giving financial aid of two hundred
pounds sterling to each of the missionary bodies involved in education in the colony of
Lagos. This was in 1877. In 1882 the British government established an Ordinance (that is,
law) which appointed a general board of Education for Lagos, Gold Coast (now Ghana),
Sierra Leone and the Gambia. By this law,money was given to specially selected schools
which were highly organised and well disciplined. When Lagos became an independent
colony in 1886, there followed a Nigerian Education Ordinance. Poor Nigerian children could
be given scholarships worth ten pounds sterling each for a year. The first government school
was established for Muslim children in Lagos in 1899.
When Nigeria was amalgamated in 1914, Lord Lugard prepared another education ordinance
which provided for more grants-in-aid (that is, financial support) for schools.
In 1922 an American organisation, the Phelps-Stokes Fund published a report on the general
condition of African education. In the report, it was found that both government and
missionaries had different educational policies for Africans. Again it was found that the
content of education was too narrow and unsuitable to meet the needs of Africans. Finally,
the missionaries were accused of providing education of the type offered in their home
country without taking the African situation into account.
The Phelps-Stokes report led to the establishment of the 1926 Code. The Code assigned
definite functions to schools supervisors and inspectors. In all, more schools got financial
help from government.

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British Colonial Influence on Nigerian Education From 1926 to Independence

As a follow-up to the Phelps-Stokes report, a lot of actions were to be taken by the colonial
government to promote the growth of education in Nigeria.
Firstly, an Advisory Committee was set up to outline the purpose of education in Tropical
Africa. This was identified as improving the character and efficiency of the people. This
implies not only education of young people but of the community. This way, educational
policy was geared at overall, social improvement.
Secondly, another important recommendation of the committee was that education should
lead to personal fulfilment of the educated person. In other words, Africans should be
educated for positions of greater trust and responsibility rather than that of clerks and
labourers.
Thirdly, from the earlier years of colonial education when there were no defined educational
purposes, Nigerian education in colonial times began to witness more purposeful
development. In 1931, the Nigerian Union of Teachers was formed with the aim of
promoting the professional dignity of teaching. By 1932, Nigeria had its first higher
institution, the Yaba Higher College. Both the Asquith and Elliot Education Commissions,
set up in 1943, reported in 1945. Both also accepted that a University College be established
in Ibadan. This materialised in 1948.
With Regional government in 1954, Nigerians were able to influence educational policies
better under colonial government. Western Region started universal primary education in
1955 followed by Eastern Region in 1957. Lagos that is, Federal Government also joined in
1957. In addition, it established the J.C.C. that is, the Joint Consultative Committee on
Education. This was a committee of major organisations involved in educational provision
countrywide. More and more, education at all levels began to focus on the needs of Nigerians
and to be managed by Nigerians till she attained independence in 1960.

French Colonial Influence on African Education: The Senegal Example

Unlike the British who adopted a colonial policy of indirect rule, the French adopted the
colonial policy of "assimilation". This was a process in which all French colonies were
accorded membership of the French sovereign state. So a French colony was seen as part and
parcel of France, and not a subject state. This meant that education provided in the colonies
should be exactly like the one produced in France in order to achieve the goal of assimilation.
The French had colonised St. Louis since the 17th century but did not colonise Senegal until
the 19th century when the slave trade ended. Senegal was colonised by the French under
Captain Faidherbe and he set about educating the sons of chiefs so that French rule would
become acceptable to them.
The policy of assimilation made the French introduce their system of eduction into Senegal.
This meant a lot of academic learning and rigorous examinations. Those who passed, like
native French men had access to high public office. This way, French educational policy
prepared an African elite who were part of French civilisation and culture. However, the
French encountered some problems in this process. The culture and language of the colony

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was a barrier to total assimilation. The problem was solved by the establishment of two types
of schools in Senegal.
The first type of school was set up for Africans who could not speak French. They were
given some education to help them to cope with living. This would be until the French could
successfully make all Senegalese learn the French language and accept the French way of
life.
The second type of school was a repetition of the French model school on African soil. Here,
learning was in French, and learners were regarded as French. They had all the rights and
privileges of Frenchmen. The second school represented the practice of the French policy of
assimilation on the educational scene.
It is noteworthy that unlike the British colonies which later became politically independent of
Britain, French colonies, including Senegal, are still closely attached to France. Most former
French colonies still have their currencies tied to that of France and still practise the French
system of education. In British colonies and in Nigeria in particular, independence is total of
Britain, and Nigeria can boast of being a non-aligned nation in modern world politics.

SIMILARITIES IN FRENCH AND BRITISH COLONIAL INFLUENCES

Although the French and British practised different colonial policies, they exercised similar
influences on their colonies in some ways. Here are some of them.
Firstly, Britain and France were essentially trading nations. In Nigeria, Britain supported
education mainly for economic gains. In Senegal, France only conquered Senegal so that she
could thereby open up trade with the entire Western Sudan. Economically, France and Britain
were doing the same thing.
Secondly, scholars hold the view that both France and Britain were guilty of racial
discrimination. With British rule, it was obvious that they considered Africans as meant for
secondary employment and status. All over Africa, British colonies particularly Kenya and
Zimbabwe had to fight hard to get political independence. The French policy of assimilation
was a form of racial discrimination because it assumed that the African could only be
civilised if he renounced his own civilisation and culture for that of the French. With the
policy of assimilation, the African had to deny his ancestry and accept that his ancestors were
the Gauls of ancient times.
Thirdly, British and French colonial powers wanted Africans to allow them stay permanently
in Africa as overlords if they so wished. However the British experience from the Mau Mau
in Kenya or the Nationalist forces in the frontline State made them leave some of these
countries by force. When Guinea demanded absolute independence from France, the damage
which the French did to that country showed that the French meant to hold on to their African
colonies for all times. Let us now examine some areas of differences between the two
colonial masters.

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Differences between British and French Influences on Colonial Africa

Firstly, the French had a stronger political hold on their colonies than the British. In their
assimilation efforts, the French successfully removed or mutilated all symbols of traditional
authority. The British method ensured that the civilisation and culture of their colonies were
guarded to retain their socio-cultural identity.
Again French assimilation policy sought to remove the educated elite from the common fold
and elevate them to the status of French citizenship. On the contrary, Britain encouraged
colonised educated elite to return to their own people. Whereas every colonised citizen was
regarded by Britain as British, only the educated elite was given this privilege in
Francophone countries.
From all these, one can conclude that French and British policies were two different ways of
achieving the goals of colonisation. With colonial experience, African history, political,
social and cultural ways of life have changed in a way that no other influence has brought
about.

ASSIGNMENT
Write short answers to the following questions:
1. Discuss British influence on Nigerian education from 1886 to 1925.
2. State what you consider to be the benefits of Assimilation.
3. Do you think Nigerian education has suffered from colonial experience?
4. State one way in which Assimilation is different from Indirect Rule.
5. What makes colonialism similar, whoever is the colonial master?

REFERENCES
Okobiah, O.S. (ed) (1988). Historical Foundations and Comparative Education. Heinemann
.Educational Books Nig. Ltd. Institute of Education, U.N.N. Associateship Certificate
.in Education Series.

Osokoya, I.O. (1987). 6-3-3-4 Education in Nigeria: History Strategies, Issues and Problems.
Bisinaille Educational Publishers and Printers Lagos.

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UNIT SEVEN: COMPARATIVE EDUCATIONAL

POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN AFRICA
SINCE INDEPENDENCE

INTRODUCTION
In Unit Seven, you learnt about the educational activities of two major colonial masters in
Africa: the British and the French. From the colonial experience, African countries have
developed their own systems of education particularly since independence. In some ways,
these systems that emerged from educational policies and practices have been modified,
while in others they have changed considerably. In this unit, we shall study the post-
independent educational policies and practices of three African countries. These are Kenya
(former British colony), Mali (former French colony) Tanzania which had the double and
colonial influences of both Germany and Britain.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. discuss Kenya's educational policies and practices after independence;
2. explain Mali's educational policies and practices after independence;
3. discuss Tanzania's post-independence educational policy and relate it to the country's
political aims.

POST INDEPENDENCE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN

KENYA
In Unit Seven you read that the colonial masters did not want to leave their colonies and that
their policies showed racial discrimination towards their colonised peoples. These two
problems were very real in Kenya before independence. If you have read Ngugi wa
Thiongo's “Weep Not Child”, then you will remember the activites of the Mau Mau fighters
for Kenyan independence. Mau-Mau activities are true life stories. The British settlers did
not want to go away even after they had been forced to grant independence to Kenya.
Again because they saw themselves as superior to the Africans, they did not encourage the
education of Kenyan children during colonial days. As at the time of independence, the large
African population had about 35% of their children in the primary school. Europeans had
75% of their children. Asians 78% and Arabs 37%. At the secondary school level Africans
had 0.74% of children while Europeans had 42%. If these anomalies had to be corrected,
Kenya needed new educational policies and practices. Let us now examine what these
policies and practices were.
At the primary school level, it became government policy after independence to set targets
for school enrolment up to the year 1980. Kenya proposed to increase primary school
enrolment from 49.9% in 1960, 71% in 1970 and 100% in 1980. Therefore, about ten years
after independence, the Kenyan government started providing free primary education in

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classes 1-4. This may not sound encouraging. Other British colonies like Ghana startd free
education shortly after becoming independent. As you had already seen from Unit Seven, free
education had been provided in some parts of Nigeria (i.e. the Western parts) five years
before independence.
Government policy on secondary education was more serious. Without secondary school
education, there would be no African to work in positions of responsibility in the civil
service, industry and schools. Therefore, the policy was met with immediate action. From
1963 to 1973, the number of secondary schools had increased from about 150 (i.e. 2.5%) to
about 981. Whereas there were 26,300 students (i.e. 28%) in Kenya's secondary schools in
1960, this population had increased to 650,300 twenty years later. In educational policy
formulation and practical implementation at the secondary level, Kenya made remarkable
growth when compared with Nigeria with about 14.6% of her citizens in secondary schools in
1980 and Mali about 9.3% at that time also.
Technical education was Kenya's only avenue for professional education that could even be
expected to double as higher education. Unlike Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra-Leone which
already had university colleges at Independence, Kenya only had five technical colleges at
Independence. There is no record to show that any of these had the status of Nigeria's old
Yaba Higher college. By 1974, technical colleges had increased to 30 with about 13,000
students. Again, this level of education experienced a slower rate of growth than the
secondary school level. This could be because the demand for technical education was not as
high as that for secondary education. Technical education meant manual work and the
colonial experience has made Africans to regard manual work as inferior to civil service
employment. This could explain why technical education has not been favoured by post-
independence African colonies. To serve as comparison, Nigeria, thirty years after
independence is still consciously encouraging its citizens to pursue technical education
whereas its population of university educated citizens has created the problems of graduate
unemployment. Even after graduation, the Nigerian government still encourages technical
awareness by creating the Open Apprenticeship scheme and the National Directorate on
Employment so that school leavers can be taught some technical skills to make them self-
reliant after graduation.

POST-INDEPENDENCE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN MALI

Mali gained its independence from France in 1960, the same year that Nigeria gained
independence from Britain. Like in Senegal and other French colonies, France pursued a
colonial policy of assimilation in Mali. This means that colonial education in Mali was meant
to make Malians accept themselves as French citizens. Like in Kenya, the Malian
government had to adopt some educational policies to meet the needs of post-independent
Mali. These policies were meant to:

1. make Malians able to identify themselves as Malians and not as French citizens;
2. establish relevant educational institutions in Mali instead of having to go to France;
and

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3. encourage education for middle-level manpower as well as mass education. This was
to raise the level of political and cultural awareness among Malians.
Let us now discuss how these policies were put into action in the provision of educational
facilities.
At the level of primary education, Mali encouraged its citizens to register for primary
education in large numbers. She made primary education universal and free, along with
boarding facilities for children. This was a rare development in other African countries which
were even richer than Mali. Side by side with primary education, the government started a
mass- enlightenment campaign to encourage parents to send their children to school. As a
result of these efforts by the government, the number of children in primary schools increased
from 64,900 in 1960 to 333,700 twenty years later. From a comparative level, Mali's post-
independence efforts in providing primary education was more serious than that of Kenya.
At the level of secondary school education, Mali also made bold efforts which produced
positive results. As at 1960, there were 4,600 students in the secondary school. This was
0.8% of people of school age at that time. By 1970, there were 34,600 students or 4.9% of
people of school age. This had increased to 86,400 or 9.3% in 1980. This means that in
twenty years of post- independence education in Mali, the population of secondary school
students had increased almost twenty times. Apart from Nigeria which had a rapid
development in education due to its oil wealth, Mali was the only poor African country that
had made such outstanding progress in the development of secondary education.
Just like the Kenyan experience, technical and vocational education were the higher
educational provisions available to Mali. Again Mali developed this level of education in a
way to make the best use of its available manpower resources. The country therefore
established the following types of technical and vocational educational schools:

1. Secondary-technical school. This was to train people to be employed in the civil

service, industries and commercial activities.
2. Secondary-vocational school - for the preparation of people who could be self
employed in the practice of any given trade.
3. Secondary school for the preparation of paramedical staff.
4. Rural Polytechnic-Institute for agriculture and veterinary practice.
It is interesting that the provision of this type of education is entirely a Malian design. There
was no such educational institution in Mali in 1960. By 1970, it had 700 students in these
schools, about 0.2% of total school enrolment. This had increased to 7,200 or 1.1% of the
total student ratio.
All these show that at least in the field of education, Mali had boldly taken a giant step in
improving the life of the citizens through education. Its major set-back in the process of this
noble endeavour has been lack of money. This is because as a country in the desert area, it
does not have either the rich agricultural or oil resources which made Nigeria the giant of
Africa not only in its size but in its financial strength since independence.

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ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain how racial discrimination affected African education in Kenya under colonial
government.
2. At what level of education did Kenya developed most after independence?
3. What was Mali's unique area of educational growth after independence?
4. How did Tanzania hope to make her people self-reliant through education?
5. Do you observe any similarity in the educational goals of Mali and Tanzania? What is
it?

REFERENCES

J. A. Akinpelu, (1981). An Introduction to Philosophy of Education. Macmillan Publishers,

O.S. Okobia, (ed.) (1988). Historical Foundations and Comparative Education.

Associateship .Certificate Series in Education. Institute of Education, University of
Nigeria, Heinemann Educational Books,

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UNIT EIGHT: EDUCATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIA AND

TANZANIA

INTRODUCTION
Nigeria up to 1960 was a British colony. It gained independence on 1st October, 1960. The
federal republic of Nigeria, according to the 2006 National Census has an established
population of 140 million people. Quite a lot of factors ranging from politics, economy,
culture, climate, religion have played significant roles in shaping the educational system of
the country. Education system in Nigeria can be said to be centralised with broad-based
educational policies formulated by the Federal Government and implemented by the state and
local government areas.

PHILOSOPHY/GOALS OF NIGERIA EDUCATION SYSTEM:

The Nigerian education system is meant to foster unity and social integration and at the same
time to accomplish the following objectives as stated in the second national development
plan:
1. to build a free and democratic society,
2. a just and egalitarian society,
3. a united strong and self-reliant nation,
4. a great and dynamic economy and
5. a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens.
Nigeria’s philosophy of education, is therefore, based on the integration of the individuals
into a sound and effective citizens and equal educational opportunities for all citizens of the
nation at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.

Structure of the School System

In aspiration for rapid growth and development in both the economic and social sectors of the
nation after independence, many attempts have been made to align the educational system
with the formal system, where different sections or regions of the country have separate
educational system. The 1977 National Policy on Education was the first solid departure from
the inherited system of education in Nigeria. The National Policy made provision from the 6-
3-3-4 system which is comprised of:
 6 years pre-primary/primary education
 3 years junior secondary/technical education
 3 years senior secondary/technical education
 4 years tertiary institution

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 Pre-primary: This is education offered to children between the ages of 3 – 5 years.

Usually this is in private hands depending on the arrangement of parents.
 Primary Education: This is the education offered in an institution for children from
age 6 – 11, it lasts for six years. This stage of education system is seen as the bedrock
of all educational pursuits of a child. Government has reached a conclusion that the
curriculum of the school should include for teaching subjects that can prepare the
child for future pursuit of educational goal. The curriculum of the primary school
includes things that have to do with literacy and numeracy, the study of science, the
study of local and national social reforms and values, religion, local crafts and
agriculture. To get admission to the secondary school, a common entrance is set as a
yard stick, through which successive pupils are given admission into junior secondary
school.
 Secondary Education: This is divided into two stages; 3-years junior secondary and
3-years senior secondary. Curricula of the junior secondary school include
Mathematics, English, Languages of the environment, Integrated Science, Social
Studies, Practical Agriculture amongst others. At the end of the three years Junior
Certificate Examination successful candidates proceed to Senior Secondary Schools,
Technical Colleges and Teachers’ Colleges depending on the ability of the child.
Curricula activities of the Senior Secondary Schools include Physics, Chemistry,
Biology, Geography, Mathematics, English, History and Agricultural Science or
Vocational Subjects. At the end of the three years, evaluation of the students is done
through writing exam of WAEC and recently NECO and NABTEB. To get admission
into higher institution, the student must have credit in 5 subjects, including English
and Mathematics.
 Tertiary or Higher Institution: This is the third tier of the educational system in
Nigeria. It comprises of Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
Tertiary education is regarded as the stage of specialisation in respect of courses in
which the student chooses what to become in life. Most courses in the higher
institutions range from sciences, social sciences and technologically related subjects
and are all aimed at making the student relevant to the society.

Some of the objectives of higher institutions are:

i. The development and inculcation of the proper value orientation for the sake of the
individual and the society;
ii. The development of intellectual capacities of individuals to understand and appreciate
their environments;
iii. The acquisition of both physical and intellectual skills; and
iv. The acquisition of an objective view of external environment.

Higher educational institutions should pursue these goals through:

 Teaching

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 Research
 The dissemination of existing and new information
 The pursuit of service to the community.
Tertiary education has come a long way in Nigeria from a small only one university college
in 1960 to other 150 universities/polytechnics/colleges of education owned by federal, states
and private organisations/individuals.

Funding the Educational System in Nigeria:

Fund has always been a critical factor in the success or failure of any educational system.
Sources of funding education in Nigeria can be enumerated as follows:
 Federal government
 State government
 Local government
 Foreign support
 Corporate organisation
 Individuals
 Parents.

 Federal Government: Included in the yearly federal budget is a substantial

amount of budgetary allocation to the education sector. This allocation
includes both the recurrent and capital expenditure of education. The amount
so allocated is released on monthly basis to the administrative ministry, that is
federal body of education and it is passed down to the administrative arms of
each tier of education system. In addition to the yearly budgetary allocation,
federal government also funds agencies responsible for overseeing education
such as the UBEC, the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National
Board for Technical Education NBTE and the National Board for Colleges of
Education (NBCE).
 State Government/Local Government: Out of their monthly allocation from
the consolidated revenue, state and local governments fund both primary,
secondary and to some extent state-owned higher institutions. Aside from the
federal allocation, state and local governments also spend part of their
internally generated revenue on funding education on both recruitment and
capital expenditures.
 Foreign Support: Foreign aids to the educational sector interim of loan and
direct support or and has remained relevant in financing education in Nigeria.
These take the form of supply of education personnel.

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 Corporate Organisation: The federal government has persistently over time

stated that the burden of education should not be left to the federal government
alone there should be joint participation by corporate
organisation/nongovernmental organisation (NGO). In response to this cry, a
tax of 2% known as educational tax has been levied on all corporate
organisations in addition to their normal tax liability. The intention is to
increase the available funds to finance education.
To manage the funds the Education Tax Fund (ETF) was established in the year 2000
to distribute part of the amount paid in to the account of educational institution inform
of capital grants. In addition to the above, banks, oil companies and other corporate
entities are participating in funding education one way or the other.
 Individuals: Wel-to-do individuals are also contributing their quota to
education financing in Nigeria through scholarship, financing of capital
project, endowments.
 Parents: Through payment of school fees at various levels, parents contribute
to the financing of education in Nigeria. Through successive governments
have attempted to make education free at all levels not until this dream come
true parents will continue to take part of the burden of education.

Administration of Educational System in Nigeria:

The various organs that are responsible for the implementation of educational policies and
system in Nigeria include the following:
 Federal Ministry of Education
 State Ministry of Education
 Local Government Education Authority
 National Universities Commission
 National Board for Technical Education
 Universal Basic Education Commission
 Nigerian Education research and Development Council.

 The Federal Ministry of Education: The Federal Ministry of Education is

the umbrella body which controls education in Nigeria. It is headed by a
Minister. All policies formulated by the government are translated to action by
the Federal Ministries of Education. In addition, the Federal Government
Finances of Education is channelled through the Federal Ministry of
Education.

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 State Ministry of Education: In the various states of the Federation are

Ministries of Education headed by Commissioners. The function of the
Ministry is to among others supervise the efficient conduct of educational
activities in the state including provision of funds through the state
government budgetary allocation.
 Local Government Education Authority: At the local government levels
there are the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) headed by
Education Secretary. The duty of the LGEA is to see to the day to-day
educational function of the local government. They liaise closely with the
states Ministry of Education.
 The National Board for Technical Education: The National Board for
Technical Education administers issues concerning technical education that is
the polytechnics and technical colleges. Everything that has to do with control
and evaluation are under the purview of the board.
 National Universities Commission: National Universities Commission is
responsible for administering government policies as it affects the universities.
Funding of the universities is done by the Federal Ministry of Education
through the commission. Evaluation and introduction of the curricula is also
done by the commission.

Current Educational Issues in Nigeria:

Since inception, the present Federal Government headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo
since 1999, has been making frantic efforts to reform the educational sector. One of such
moves is the re-lunching of the Universal Basic Education programme in 1999, which was
flagged off in Sokoto. The objective of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) is to provide
qualitative education to the citizenry up to the primary school level. A large sum of money
has been sucked into the project and it has just started yielding fruits. Other reforms instituted
by the Federal Government under the Millennium Development Goals as it affects education
are:
 The restructuring of the 6 – 3 – 3 – 4 system to 9 – 3 – 4 with the lower basic and
upper basic now introduced.
 Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiative on the Unity Schools.
 Merger of Polytechnics, Colleges of Education to the University nearest to them.

 Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Unity Schools:

Unity schools are secondary schools set up with the main objective of
fostering unity among different ethnic groups in the country. The first of such
schools was the Federal Government College Sokoto, which was established
in 1966. Students of these schools were drawn from different states on
exchange programme.

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The school has been funded by the Educational Government until recently
when the Federal Government came out with the public private initiative. By
this, the schools will be managed by the joint efforts of private individuals and
the Federal Government. Though the policy has been criticised from various
quarters, the federal government does not seem to be looking back in
enforcing this policy.

 Merger of Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education with

Universities:
The Federal Government has also decided that all federal polytechnics and
colleges of education be merged with the University nearest to them. The
intention of the Federal Government is to affiliate the polytechnics and
colleges of education to the universities nearest to them. Perhaps, this is to
give the polytechnics same recognition as the university since there is much
preference for university education in Nigeria at the detriment of the
polytechnics and colleges of education.

ACTIVITY I:
1. Discuss the structure of education in Nigeria.
2. Explain the administration of education in Nigeria.
3. Name 3 current educational issues in Nigeria.

POST-INDEPENDENCE EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN

TANZANIA
At the beginning of this unit, you were taught that after independence, some African
countries modified their policies of education whereas others changed it totally. Mali
improved and modified its educational policies. Kenya improved its policies to favour
Africans. Tanzania changed its educational policies and practices to suit a new African socio-
cultural way of life. How did it happen?
With Tanzania's independence in 1961 after colonisation, first by Germany, then By Britain,
its level of educational attainment can be compared to other African colonies. Today,
Tanzania's emphasis in the policy and practice of education has changed a lot since then. This
change can be traced to the adoption of a new social and political philosophy under the
leadership of Dr. Julius K. Nyerere.
Tanzania is located in east of Africa with a population of about 30 million people. The
fundamental principles of Tanzania are as follows:
i. All human being are equal
ii. Every person has a right to dignity and respect
iii. Socialism and self-reliance provide the only way to build a society of free and equal
citizens. These political ideologies have great impact on the education system.

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The Socio-political Philosophy of Ujamaa

Ujamma means African socialism. Dr. Nyerere made this the goal of Tanzania's education
after independence. The main points of the philosophy of Ujamma are as follows:
1. Africans are traditionally socialists. This is shown in our communal way of life where
everybody produces something and nobody gets exploited.
2. In the traditional African system, everybody's fortune is shared by the community, so
there is neither extreme wealth or abject poverty.
3. Everybody is encouragd to be productive, because a man is rewarded according to his
contribution to common welfare.
4. The extended family is the social bedrock where African socialism is nurtured.
5. In traditional Africa, leadership is by mutual agreement, so there are no political
parties. Traditional leadership therefore is a one-party arrangement. This explains why
Tanzania was a one-party state under J.K. Nyerere.
6. Africa had a viable system of education before colonial government. Therefore, our
present system of education should not make us strangers to our people but make us
able to live meaningfully in our community.
7. As a people, we should be proud of our values, our product and our heritage. This
cannot happen unless we are self-reliant.
From these, Nyerere concluded that the goal of Tanzania's political life would be the
philosophy of Ujamma while her goal of education would be the attachment of self-reliance.
Tanzania's Policy and Programme of Education for Self-reliance
With the slogan "education for self-reliance," Nyerere began a new approach to mass
education in Tanzania. The emphasis shifted to the primary school which he made available
to all citizens. This programme of education was vocational because it was designed to make
farmer-citizens out of the learners. Under the new educational programme, students spent a
longer time than before in primary school but they could earn a living while in school. In this
way, they would not rely on the labour of the old people to sustain them. Compared to other
African countries, Tanzania's experience has been described as revolutionary.
At the secondary level, the curriculum is mostly made up of vocational subjects. African
history is given prominence and English is only taught as a subject. Swahili is the language of
instruction. Four years are spent in the middle school and the final years are regarded as the
period of real secondary education.
Because Tanzanians have also suffered a lot of racial discrimination at the hands of colonial
masters, any form of discrimination either tribal, religious or racial is regarded as highly
criminal.
Tanzania's policy did not emphasise higher educational learning. It is believed that only very
few people need high academic attainment to survive. This reminds us of the early
educational ideas of Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo. Later, however, Awolowo changed his
ideas to free education from primary to university level.

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From this, we can see that Tanzania's post-independence education practice was based on a
philosophy of self-reliance in the conduct of finding our daily means of livelihood at a
subsistence level. While this appears very noble, one can say that no country of the world can
survive at the subsistence level in the modern world. While Africans need to be proud of their
socio-cultural ways of life, they have to be part of modern technological development while
reducing to the minimum, the negative influence of such technological growth on the world's
developed societies.
For Tanzania, primary education becomes compulsory for every body. The system of
schooling under the UJAMA was fully vocational. One remarkable feature of the education
system is that “KISHWAHILI” is the lingua franca and English is taken to be just a subject.
At the secondary school level vocational subject plays a significant role to meet the goal.
The Government of Tanzania introduced western education system to go side by side with the
UJAMA. This schooling system have three categories, the first level education includes basic
education among which are pre-primary, primary and non-formal adult education. The
second category is the secondary school which includes ordinary (O) and advanced (A) level
secondary schooling. The third categories include tertiary level of education including
programmes and courses which are offered in non-higher and higher institutions. The
government of Tanzania provides chances for different educational attainment and this
includes other diploma courses and advanced diplomas. There exists a distinction between
students of different levels of educational qualifications and the higher institutions’ goals are
unique and are recognised through their achieved effort.

Aims of Education in Tanzania:

The aims of education in Tanzania are:
a. Education to foster the social goal of living together for the common good;
b. To prepare the young people to play a dynamic and constructive part in the
development of society;
c. To develop a sense of commitment to the total community while accepting the values
appropriate to the kind of future of Tanzania and not of the colonial past;
d. To prepare the young for the work they will be called upon to do in the society which
exists in Tanzania, a rural society where agriculture is the predominant practice;
e. To prepare people for their responsibilities politically, economically and
intellectually; a people that will be able to think and make judgements in all issues
affecting them and citizens brought up to have enquiring minds, ability to learn from
others, adopt to built needs and have a basic confidence in themselves as free and
equal to others;
f. To encourage individual productivity;
g. To learn and understand that Africans are brothers of themselves by means of sharing
pains;
h. The Tanzanians should learn positive act and nobody should be enslaved; and

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i. That even with the coming of colonial education, the unity of Africans and
their meaningful living should be promoted.
The educational system of Tanzania is centrally controlled by the Ministry of National
Education and that of higher education. It has, among other things, the responsibility of
making and implementing policies on education at all levels. Education is free and
compulsory for ages between 7 and 14.

Educational Structure:
The structure of education is based on 7 – 4 – 2 – 3 system. This means 7 years of primary
school (standard), 4 years of secondary school leading to ordinary level exams in nine
subjects. In the second year in secondary school, there is a national assessment examination
which allows those who pass to continue to study for another 2 years leading to advanced
level exams in nine subjects. The last stage is the 3 or more years in the tertiary institutions.

Funding of Education in Tanzania

There are 3 basic sources of funding education in Tanzania, they are:
 Government Generated Revenue: These are through taxes, levies and fines, and the
government allocates up to 20% of its budget to education.
 Pupil/Student Productive Activities: Pupil/student productive activities as a part of
finance for education. The policy spells out that each educational institution is
expected to meet 25% of its catering bill.
 External Aid for Education: External aid for education comes to Tanzania from
many international agencies through loans and grants. Some of the major donors are,
The World bank through International Development Agency (IDA), Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA), Danish International development
Agency (DANIDA), Norwegian Aid Development Agency (NORAD) and Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA).

Adult Education:
Specific programmes have been designed by the Tanzanian government to further combat the
problem of literacy and to complement permanent literacy. Adult education is a special
government preoccupation and, as such, centres have been created in every Ujama as well as
other towns in various places of work. Correspondence institution are also known to be
effective adjusts of the adult literacy scheme.

Teacher Education:
No system of education, however well planned, can record any reasonable measure of
success unless it has effective and efficient teachers to support it. There are implicit and
explicit recognition to the above fact. Teachers in Tanzania are professionally trained and
well groomed to deliver the goods in a manner required for the achievement of national
educational aims and objectives. There are 3 categories of professional teachers. Those that

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trained for 3 years in a residential teachers college and obtain teachers’ certificate, these are
restricted mainly to primary schools. Teachers’ diploma certificate holders are those who
have completed form 6 and train in residential colleges for two years, and have completed
one year of compulsory national service, these teachers teach mainly in secondary schools.
The bulk of the other teachers for the higher levels and secondary schools are those who have
been professionally educated in the university as B.A/B.Sc/B.Ed graduates.

ACTIVITY II:
1. Explain the administration of education in Tanzania
2. Explain the sources of funding education in Tanzania

ASSIGNMENT
1. Give a comprehensive history of the development of education in Nigeria.
1. Give a detailed account of the current developments of education in Tanzania.

SUMMARY
 The system of education in Nigeria has gone through a lot of metamorphosis since
independence. However, Nigeria is yet to reach the Promised Land in terms of
formulating affordable and virile educational system. The incessant change in
educational system and policies in Nigeria has dissipated the free flow of education.
Most importantly, the Federal Government has given education its rightful place of
honour in terms of budgetary allocation and improved welfare of teachers. The unit
also treats you to the case study of education in Tanzania. In each, case the structure
and administration of schools as well as the sources of financing education are treated.

REFERENCES
Education System http//www.tcu.or.t2/education%20system.html. Retrieved on 15th June,
2007.

Frida Mwenegoha, Cultural Affairs Assistant and Educational Adviser. Tanzania.

Nigeria’s Foremost Portal. http://www.setlin.com/education.htm. Retrieved on 14/06/2007.

Osokoya, I.O (2002), History and Policy of Nigerian Education in World Perspective.
Ibadan, A DM Publishers Agodi.

Segun, A. et-al (ND) Nigeria Education: Trends and Issues. Ile-Ife, University of Ife Press
ltd.

Teacher Mind resources (2002) The Meaning of Education

http://www.teachersmind.com/education.html. Retrieved on 14th June, 2007.

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