Nigerian Educational System: In the Pursuit of Right Physical Environment for Learning

Abstract

The right physical environment of learning is a sine qua non for the realization of positive outcomes in any country's educational programme. Right environment in this work will include the combination of physical structures, right timing of teaching and learning, seating arrangement, level of sanitation and pollution of the environment, climate conditions within the environment and closeness of the learning environment to varied noise effects. According to Nigeria's National policy on education, one of the five sets of beliefs of the policy is that education in the country should be qualitative, comprehensive, functional and relevant to the needs of the society. The thrust of this paper is to assess the present status of the physical environment of institutions of learning, government policy directions and the philosophical orientation of the educational system. The method employed is a combination of descriptive and philosophical analysis of the physical environment and government policies and issues. The pathway to standard quality education for nation building, the paper suggests, is found in the right combination of effective resource management, adequate educational infrastructural development and appropriate governance structure that will drive all the other factors in the quest for attaining Nigeria educational goal. The paper concludes that there exists a wide infrastructure deficit in spite of government intervention mainly due to lack of political will and mismanagement of scarce resources while a marked improvement is manifested with the intervention of the private sector. The paper recommends among others, a purposeful synergy between parents and government for an improved physical learning environment.

Untitled

“…However, no significant relationship was found between the type of school and the reading comprehension scores of the participants. This finding supports the findings of Nazir and Matto (2012) and Ngene, Quadri, Bamigboye and Tenebe (2018). These researchers found that the school social environment was directly related to academic achievement and that a positive social environment played an important role in developing students' academic abilities.…”

“…Similar studies on learning environment in a school system and school success indicated that school environment has a significant impact on student learning (Chepkonga, 2017;Chikezie & Ekott, 2019;Duruji, Azuh & Oviasogie, 2014;Ngene, Quadri, Bamigboye & Tenebe, 2018). In addition, Michalak (2014) found that a school environment that is safe and supportive, where student motivation and classroom diversity are promoted is among the factors that facilitate literacy learning.…”

Examining the fragments and causes of increasing out-of-school children in Nigeria

“…In many countries of the world, development is often a qualitative measure of the literacy rate, the productive capacity of skilled labour, level of technology, education and so on. Ngene et al (2018) stated that the educational *Corresponding author. E-mail: mnzuma1@gmail.com.…”

Unaffordable Education and Criminality as a Choice among Youth in Ondo State, Nigeria

“…This right is recognized by the international human rights conventions as established by a succession of UN Conventions, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which acquired the status of international law in 1990. It was clearly stated in Article 28 of the Convention that governments have the responsibility of making primary education compulsory and available free to all (Ngene, Quadri, Bamigboye & Tenebe, 2018).…”