Assessment of the Provision of Educational Services under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Scheme in Southern Nigeria

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, (UNESCO.2002: A) asserted interalia, that access to quality education was a fundamental human right. This assertion was embraced by the world community, and further elaborated in several subsequent instruments emanating from world conferences such as the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA), the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development of 1994, and the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development. The Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (EFA) foresaw the need for comprehensive policy reviews at the turn of the 1990s for the purpose of enabling all nations to assess and re-assess their efforts for reaching their own Education-for-All (EFA) objectives and revise their plans accordingly. The most in-depth evaluation of basic education ever undertaken was the EFA 2000 Assessment which facilitates such reviews. The assessment underlined significant gains since the Jomtien World Conference on EFA in the provision of basic education in many countries. The 2000 EFA Assessments recognized significant efforts made by governments, international organizations, Non-governmental Organizations and Civil Society. However, in spite of the effort made, the achievements and development in several areas, especially the education of girls and women, presented unsatisfactory results. There is no doubt that the devastating effects of economic globalization and the social, political, and economic impact coupled with the disparities they are creating around the world represent key challenges for educational endeavors, especially in developing countries. It must be recognized that a broader vision of basic education needs to be promoted in order to enhance or boost human development and socio-economic progress. Article 2 of the Jomtien Declaration holds that what is needed in basic education is an 'expanded vision' that surpasses present resource levels, institutional structures, curricular and conventional delivery systems, while building on the best in current practices (UNESCO 20002:b). The expanded vision of basic education involves several concerns such as the contemporary emergence of knowledge society organized around the creation and management of knowledge, information and ideas. It also involves the education of people of all ages from early childhood to adulthood with lifelong learning as an essential component of basic education. As the needs for basic education and lifelong grew, the current democratic government in Nigeria took the bull by the horn by introducing the Universal Basic Education Programme (UBE) in September 1999 in the country in an attempt to enhance access to education especially among children irrespective of their socioeconomic status and geographical background. The introduction of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) in Nigeria represents a milestone in the enhancement of individual's right to formal education, especially to the disadvantaged groups which are identified as the children of nomadic pastorals, migrant fisher folks, migrant farmers and hunters, who due to their lifestyle are unable to have access to the conventional educational provision (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). The declaration of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) was, therefore, in response to advocacies of the Jomtien World Conference on Education and also a national action plan for achieving the globally agreed EFA goals. Analyzing education from human rights angle tend to give UBE a sound ground. Education is a pre-condition for the emancipation of the individuals from ignorance, poverty and human slavery and for economic empowerment. Lynch (1997) posits that the fundamentals basis for education is the fact that it is a right in itself. Lynch (1997) and Fagerlind and Saha (1989) see education as an instrument for changing traditional attitudes, beliefs, and practices that are inimical to human and rational development. …