Rural Education for What? A Critical Analysis of Schooling in Some Rural Communities in Nigeria

One of the most enduring concerns of government and educational planners in developing countries is how to reduce rural-urban inequalities in educational provision. The aim is to ensure that all children have equal access to education of good quality irrespective of region, ethnicity and social class. This paper critically examines the provision of primary education in some rural communities in Nigeria. It analyses the teaching of the four core subjects of the National Curriculum in terms of teacher quality and supply, the availability of adequate teaching and learning facilities and the quality of the teaching-learning process; and demonstrates that, despite the quantitative expansion of the school system in rural areas, rural-urban inequalities in education still persist, particularly in terms of the quality of educational provision. The paper's major claim is that, in underdeveloped nations like Nigeria, rural schooling, despite its rhetoric of intent, is a veritable tool for the reproduction of social inequalities in the wider political economy.