GOVERNANCE OF EDUCATIONSERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIAFragile states seminar

7 January 2009

Stephen Baines

Does Nigeria qualify as fragile? World’s sixth largest oil producer Most populous African country A democracy with the army in barracks A functioning federal system of government A political vision for Nigeria’s future role in

the world: 20-2020 A memory of civil conflict that drives a

desire for compromise and ethnic, geographical and religious even-handedness.

On the other hand…

Economy highly dependent on oil A poor track record in using national

resources to develop the economy Very high disparity between rich and poor Social sectors that have seriously declined

through neglect and mismanagement. Government services dysfunctional and

inefficient Pervading culture of lack of trust Continuing lawlessness in the delta and

occasional inter-ethnic violence

How does this affect education? Low levels of participation in education (girls

in the North, boys in the South) Poor attainment in basic literacy and

numeracy Poor physical infrastructure and lack of

facilities, sanitation, learning materials etc Bad teaching Lack of management Serious under-funding at the point of delivery Little sense of community “ownership” of

schools

What are the reasons for the dire state of public education? The problem is not lack of overall funding, but

how the funding is accessed and used. Under-utilisation of funds due to Federal-State

government tensions e.g. UBE Intervention Fund No clear relation between planning, budgeting

and what actually happens Off-budget expenditure and diversion of

allocations for other purposes Funds allocated not always released Proliferation of parastatal bodies

21 federal bodies under Federal Ministry of Education

11 bodies responsible for inspecting schools in Kano State

More problems…

Overlapping constitutional roles and responsibilities

Unwieldy institutional structures and concentrated decision making

Politicisation of public service appointments Low levels of performance and capacity Lack of transparency and adherence to due

process Policies and decisions based on intuition

rather than data and analysis

Who is responsible for education? Federal system: constitutional roles -

Federal government – tertiary education, policy, standards and quality assurance

States – secondary Local Government – primary

But it is not as simple as that: Basic education is the responsibility of the

Universal Basic Education Commission and the SUBEBs

Most of local government budgets spent by SUBEBs

Funding Structure of UBE

UBEC

State Governments

Federation Account

State Ministry of Education

Primary & UBE JSS Salaries

Local Government Allocations

SUBEB

LGEA

Primary & UBE JSS Salaries

Recurrent Expenditure

SUBEB

Capital Expenditure

Schools: ECCE 5%, Primary 60%,

JSS 35%

Contracts awarded by

SUBEB

LG Councils

Communities

Contracts awarded by LGC –

renovation and construction of

classrooms

Transport to exams; JS1 materials for

girls; etc Other recurrent

expenditure*

* Such as maintenance of vehicles, sponsoring of teacher training courses, exercise books, etc

State Joint Allocation Committee

Remaining LG Allocations

SUBEB salaries; overheads for SUBEB; LGEAs and schools

overheads for LGEAs* and schools

Schools

overheads for schools

*includes HT allowances, etcTeaching and

non-teaching staff

Salaries and allowances

Federal Consolidated

Revenue Fund

Intervention Fund – paid on quarterly / annual

basis once 70% completion has been reported – the most

advanced states are now on 2007 allocation

2%

Counterpart funding which matches monthly

UBEC contribution

Annual budget

Federal Government

10% of State Revenue

Support to SUBEB for renovation of

classrooms (Jigawa)

SUBEB office capital expenditure UBE FTS salaries

UBE FTS salaries

UBE FTS salaries

What sustains this system?

System suits small elite in whom power is concentrated

Network of vested interests due to patronage Weak accountability

Supine legislators Sensationalist press

“Big man” complacency Buoyant economy Opt-out from public education

Private education Islamic education

Is change possible?

Political will exists amongst some political leaders

Growing public disquiet over performance of the education system Private sector influence on politicians Influence of traditional leaders Influence of the Diaspora

Downturn in the economy may expose weaknesses and prompt desire for change

What role is there for development partners Combined aid budgets less than 2% of GDP -

influence therefore limited Isolated donor projects on e.g. teacher training

or textbook provision unlikely to have much impact

Need to leverage domestic resources Need for a system-wide approach that also

takes in other sectors e.g. governance and public administration, health, voice and accountability

But this is a high risk strategy.

Establishing a framework for improving basic education Federal government: to promote an

enabling environment for reform States: strategic planning, budgeting,

financial management and HR/performance management

Schools: transformation to demonstrate that improvement is possible

Community: voice and demand for improvement

In conclusion…fragile or not? Optimists look to:

Relative political stability and functioning political and legal systems

Vibrant private sector Continued petroleum revenues

Pessimists look to: Fragile political, ethnic and geographical

consensus Collapsing public services Economic slowdown and increasing social

problems Mounting lawlessness

Take your pick.