Impact Of Formal Education On Community Development
ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of formal education in Umuabi community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. In order to do it effectively, three research questions were raised and answered. The review of related literature to this study was reviewed under the following sub-headings. They are as follows: the meaning of education, the advent of format education in Nigeria and other parts of the world, the impact of formal education in community development and the people’s attitude towards formal education. the research design is survey. The area of the study is Umuabi Community. The population of the study was 220 teachers and 220 students. The sample of the study was 25. The instrument used for data collection is questionnaire. The instrument was validated by two experts in the school of Science education. Data were collected using the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using decision rule. The result showed that teachers and students of Umuabi expected positive outcome in social, economic and political life of Umuabi people, teachers and students of Umuabi expected positive outcome on patterns of growth and also expected positive action as a result of missionary visit to Umuabi. Therefore, the conclusion draw from these results of this study indicated that 3 people were the brain behind the origin of formal education in Umuabi, education come to Umuabi through churches and accommodated schools and Catholic Church was the first church established in Umuabi.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Every government strives through investment to achieve development for the well being of her citizens. Development according to Nyerere (2006) is the expansion of man‟s own consciousness and therefore of his own power over himself, his environment and his society. Ofuebe (1992) defined it as a phenomenon in which individual and society interact with their physical, biological and inter-human environment, transforming them for their own betterment and in the process, lesson that are learnt are passed on to future generation to enable them improve their capacity to make further valuable changes. Development must be dedicated to the improvement of all round well being of people but it can only make meaning when the people for whom the development is meant for appreciate and understand the value of the services rendered. Hence, Sesay (1997) notes that development can be energy-sapping, time consuming and a waste of effort and resources, if the people for whom the development services are being provided are kept underdeveloped to the extent that they lack understanding of the value of the services provided and hence do not care to maintain and sustain them.
It is evident from the above that development is meaningful only when it is sustained. Hence World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defined sustainable development as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development must involve an all round development of the individual and the society. International Council for Formal education (ICAE), (2006:89) notes that the essence of sustained and integrated balanced development is to achieve social, economic and political justice that leads to the liberation of mankind and in so doing eradicates such scourges as mass poverty and mass illiteracy. It is therefore evident that every nation has the preoccupation of providing sustainable development for her citizens.
Nigeria is one of the developing nations of the world with communities that are still highly underdeveloped. Eboh, Okoye and Ayichi (1995) report that about two- thirds of 85.5 million citizens of Nigeria still live in an estimated 97,000 rural communities. UNICEF (1990) then states that the lives of these people living in these communities are characterized by poverty, misery, morbidity and underdevelopment. Their income remains low and agriculture which is their major preoccupation has been on the decline because of lack of mechanization. Despite these handicaps, these communities still occupy strategic position in the development of the nation. UNICEF (1990) further notes that the rural sector of the economy provides employment for about 70 per cent of the nation‟s labour force and the inhabitants produce 90 per cent of the food marketed and consumed in Nigeria.
Despite all the development policies and plans rolled out by the colonial government and the Nigerian government to develop the rural sectors of the economy, the communities are still underdeveloped in most cases. Koinyan (1991) states that the poor state of development reflects cumulative policy neglect and faulty planning from colonial period because there was no systematic programme for development, rather the development policy was an extraction of surplus from the communities to meet imperial priorities. Nwosu (1990) also opined that people living in rural areas are poor and still experience underdevelopment. The poverty he further notes is not because they are deficient in natural endowments but rather, as a result of the fact that they lack the potentialities to effectively and efficiently tap fully their valuable gifts of nature. One of the major ways by which the potentialities can be developed is through broad based education.
People‟s intellect must be brought to bear on development, as such there is need to empower people for development through education. Without intellectual development, all efforts towards development will be a waste. This is the idea behind human capital as a development strategy. People must be encouraged to help themselves to develop, using their intellect. Education at this point becomes a pre- requisite for development. Education is an instrument with which to change structures and ideologies that keep people subordinate. Through education people can gain access to resources, contribute to decision making, gain control over their lives, gain self respect and improve on their societal values and image. These are conditions for development. Nyerere (2006:78) in support of human capital development notes that “people cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves. Man develops himself by what he does, by making his own decisions, by increasing his own knowledge and ability, and by his full participation as an equal in the life of the community he lives”. Wolfensohn (2000) also reports that South Korea, Malaysia and Mexico have given us ample evidence to demonstrate that broad-based education is associated with a wide range of indicators of well being, including a nation‟s increased productivity and competitiveness as well as social and political progress. Education is a basic human right and frees the human mind from ignorance and slavery for developmental purpose.
If education is an instrument for development, Formal education which is an aspect of education has the potentiality of contributing to development through the empowerment of individuals politically, socially and economically. To Omolewa (1981) and Aderinoye (1997) formal education is an organized and sequential learning experience designed to meet the felt needs of the adults. Nzeneri (2002:7) opined that it is in formal education that emphasis is placed on lifelong learning, education as a process and agent of liberation, a tool for adjustment, for self and national development, for cultural awareness and integration, for conscientization and group dynamism. He then defined formal education as “any education given to adults based on their social, political, cultural and economic needs or problems to enable them adjust fully to changes and challenges in their lives and society.” Formal education is an empowerment strategy through which adults can uplift themselves socially and economically to enable them participate fully in the development of their communities.
This study will determine the strategies Formal education Programme will adopt to achieve sustainable development. Various challenges or problems that can inhibit Formal education Programme from achieving community development will be discussed. The problems in communities include – lack of good roads, illiteracy, low income, unemployment, poor electricity supply, degraded environment, absence of portable water and lack of adequate political structures and knowledge.
Nigerian government in recent times has made huge investments in education. However, it is disheartening that these investments are mainly in the areas of primary, secondary and tertiary education neglecting the area of adult and non-formal education. There has been progressive decline in Nigerian government‟s capacity to implement projects that respond to the needs of formal education in terms of personnel, funding, collaboration and methodology. It is against this background of underdevelopment of Nigerian communities and the critical role of education generally and formal education specifically in the development of these communities that the researcher intends to identify specifically what formal education can do and what it has done in achieving community development.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Udi Local Government Area which is one of the local government areas in Nigeria is yet to achieve sustainable development. This local government, made up of various communities, is still characterized by serious signs of underdevelopment. Some of these general signs of underdevelopment as made manifest in the background of the study include unemployment, lack of good roads, inefficient communication system, illiteracy, low income, absence of portable water, lack of adequate health facilities, degraded environment, inadequate technical skills, low agricultural productivity, poor electricity supply, and lack of adequate political structures and knowledge. This has made life very unconducive for the inhabitants of the communities. Despite all political structures and plans put in place in the past, these signs of underdevelopment have persisted.
Education in form of human capital development plays significant role in the process of development of any location or community. Hence, governments have invested heavily in formal education at all levels and in all forms to enable the formal schools produce the needed manpower for development. Formal education for a long time has only received meager share of government‟s investment in education. This is mainly because people including governments do not have very clear knowledge of the potentials of formal education in achieving community development. This being the case, it is now the problem of this study to clearly and specifically determine how formal education can be effectively utilized in achieving community development.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The general purpose of this study is to find out how formal education can be utilized in achieving community development. The specific objectives are as follows:
- To investigate the characteristics of the formal education participants in Udi Local Government
- To identify the contributions of formal education in achieving community development.
- To determine the strategies formal education can utilize in achieving community development.
- To identify the challenges that inhibit formal education in achieving community development.
- To examine possible solutions to the
1.4 Research Questions
- What are the characteristics of the formal education participants?
- What are the contributions of formal education in achieving community development in Udi Local Government?
- What are the strategies formal educations can utilize in achieving Sustainable development?
- what are the challenges formal education faces in achieving community development?
- How can these challenges be ameliorated?
1.5 Hypotheses
The following hypotheses stated in null form were tested at .05 level of significance by the researcher.
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of formal education Instructors and participants on the extent to which formal education adopted the identified strategies or ways in achieving community development.
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of formal education Instructors and participants on the challenges that face formal education in achieving community development.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The result of this study will be significant in a number of ways. It will be beneficial to instructors and participants of formal education programmes. It will enable them determine the extent to which formal education is utilized in achieving community development. It will also enable them contribute to future directors of formal education for greater effectiveness.
It will also be beneficial to Udi Local Government Area and other local government areas that run formal education programmes. The findings of the study will enlighten the local government administrators on the significant position formal education occupies in the development process. This will make them give better attention to formal education through better funding, personnel development and better o33rganization of the programmes.
It will also be beneficial to Governments at both the national and state levels. The findings of the study will be an eye opener to those in government because it will help change their view of formal education as a disorganized programme. It will give them an insight into the real role formal education plays in sustainable development.
This will help them pay better attention to formal education and probably give formal education equal status with other types of education. This they can do through adequate funding and management of formal education programmes and through policy review.
It will be significant to formal education curriculum developers. Knowledge of the extent of the utilization of formal education in sustainable development will enable the curriculum developers determine how far formal education has succeeded in its quest for development. This will help them review the curriculum in relevant areas where they are deficient and also design new curriculum, as the case may be, to facilitate the use of formal education in development.
The study will also be significant to policy makers. It will enable them critically look at the current policy on formal education and determine the need to make the policy more relevant and stronger than it is at present.
Finally, it will be useful to the general public because it will help change the wrong image people have about formal education. They will know the role of formal education in development and accord the support needed to make formal education grow.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study determined how we can effectively utilize formal education in achieving community development. The study restricted itself to Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. It covered the characteristics of formal education participants, the contributions of formal education in achieving community development, the strategies formal education programme can adopt to achieve sustainable development, the challenges that inhibit formal education in achieving community development and how these challenges can be ameliorated.
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