Increasing access and students’ enrolment in basic education: A challenge to quality education in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

The drive to improve basic education delivery in Nigeria has been given tremendous impetus in recent years. The goal of basic education can only be realised through provision of inclusive, equitable and quality education; several indicators have shown that authorities jettison quality to focus in increasing access. This paper, therefore, reviews the provision and delivery of basic education in Kano state. Specifically, the paper revealed how increasing enrolment in affects the efforts to improve the quality of education in the state. While the government initiatives made significant differences by increasing access to education of children who would have been denied schooling, quality indicators which include teachers-pupil ratio, students’ academic achievement, attrition and completion rates have stagnated at best or dropped. Efforts to ensure and maintain quality education in the state are reported to face serious challenges, including mainly inadequate funding that will ensure provision of essential teaching and learning facilities and insufficient trained and competent teachers. Finally, the paper recommends among others that, adequate funding and ensuring judicious management of the funds, competent teachers should be engaged and their welfare be adequately improved, as well as the supply and maintenances of teaching and learning facilities. Sincerity in the implementations of these and other recommendations would positively affect the over 3.5 million children in basic education, encouraging further enrolment and improving the quality of education they receive.

Keywords: Access, completion rate teaching, enrolment, quality education