FINANCIAL ALLOCATION TO EDUCATION: TRENDS, ISSUES AND WAY FORWARD IN NIGERIA
FINANCIAL ALLOCATION TO EDUCATION: TRENDS, ISSUES AND WAY FORWARD IN NIGERIA

Summary/Abstract: In spite of the importance of education in nationaldevelopment, education has not been enjoying commensuratefinancing in Nigeria. One of the approaches the governmentadopts in financing education in Nigeria is the annualbudgetary provision to the sector which is distributed assubvention/grants to the different levels of the educationalsystem. Over the years, financial allocation to educationsector in Nigeria leaves much to be desired. The trends offinancial allocation to the sector, right from the preindependenceto the present moment, reveals fluctuating andlow allocation. This trend even fell short of therecommendation of the United Nations Educational Scientificand Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that the developingcountries should allocate at least the 26 percent of their totalannual budgets to the education sector. Aside this, issues suchas political interference in the allocation to education;allocation in preference for higher education; pooraccountability of funds allocated to education; as well asdelay in the release of funds allocated to education, areexamined in this paper. To achieve improved and adequatefunding and move education forward in Nigeria from itspresent state, encouragement of participation of NGOs andprivate sector in education financing, mobilization of externalsources through appropriate bilateral agreements, andeffective monitoring of funds allocated to education, amongothers, are recommended.

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