The emergence of Free education in Nigeria
In 1955, the government of the Western Region of Nigeria introduced a free primary education programme. That scheme suffered a fatal blow following the military takeover of the government in 1966. However, the programme left an indelible imprint on education in Western Nigeria and the country.

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme was introduced in 1999 by the Federal Government of Nigeria as a reform programme aimed at providing greater access to and ensuring the quality of education throughout Nigeria. Under the programme, the Federal Government assists the States and Local Governments in Nigeria with uniform and qualitative education throughout Nigeria. The UBE shall provide free, compulsory, and universal basic education for every child that reaches primary and junior secondary school age.

Advantages of Free education in Nigeria
The UBE programme has brought about equity and equality of opportunity in education.
Poor children have access to the formal education that they deserve.

It also provides educational opportunities for rural dwellers, so they do not need to migrate to urban areas or towns in search of education.
The policy is for the entire nation. This decision means it covers the populace, unlike when the states or other levels of government handle it.
The programme has contributed immensely to reducing illiteracy and increasing the country's literacy rate.

It has also helped reduce the crime rates in rural areas by providing occupations for uneducated people.
It has also increased the living standards of people through the provision of employment opportunities.

Challenges of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria
Lack of Adequate funds
Misappropriation of available funds
Lack of qualified and trained personnel
Corruption, lack of integrity, nepotism, and favouritism
Improper inspection
Lack of proper planning and management

Free Education is not just a means to an end. It is an enabler of human development
"Education and Democracy have the same goal; the fullest possible development of human capabilities."

The human mind makes possible all developments, from health advances and agricultural innovations to efficient public administration and private sector growth. Countries can only reap the benefits of the human mind by utilising education to unleash its potential. Therefore, education is a crucial component of human development.

Free Quality Education is a gamechanger
Free quality education is expensive and resource intensive especially because education is a continuous process. However, the rewards are exceedingly greater than the cost. Thus, the government must commit resources to supporting the vast majority of low-income beneficiaries.Nigeria’s record in the education sector remains dismal but with a more goal-oriented approach to free education, it could inspire more decisive actions to improve the entire education system.

Education is the systematic process of sharing knowledge, especially in a school. The various stages of education lead to the ultimate goal of equipping people with the knowledge and skill to achieve their potential and actualise their goals- personally and professionally.

Education serves various purposes, including passing on history, providing vocational training, and aiding language and cultural exchanges. It also offers vital info about health and general well-being.

Education is one of the main drivers and indicators of societal development. It has been recognised as a priority not just at a national level but also at the international level with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 to work towards inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

According to UNICEF, one in every five out-of-school children in the world is Nigerian, often due to economic barriers and socio-cultural practices where girls are disproportionately affected. An education gap remains, leaving people from rural areas and low-income households more disadvantaged.

A benefit of education is that it puts one in a better position to access opportunities to help them overcome socio-economic vulnerabilities. It also helps to boost upward social mobility. Therefore, marginalised people become more marginalised and worse off without education.

The impact of education may be hard to notice because it is difficult to measure or quantify. After all, life goes on even in communities without formal education.

However, studies have shown that education is vital to economic and social development. In addition to reducing harm from unhealthy practices, it births future leaders in governance, science and technology, entrepreneurship, and other fields. These people contribute to a thriving economy and a stable society.

Education minimises the risks of adolescents giving in to societal ills and creates a conducive environment for discourse and people skills development. It equips people with the knowledge and skills they need to add value to the world around them, provides a sense of community among peers, and ensures the well-being of the people by keeping them informed. These elements are difficult to measure or qualify. Thus, education is an invaluable resource, and we see its impact in daily life even though we may not realise it.

From basic sciences that help us understand the world around us and equip us with information to ensure good health and hygiene to civic education that informs us on our rights and responsibilities. Education enables continuity in society by preparing people to play their part in the present and future.

Thus, we must work towards spreading quality education and ensure decisive action to bridge the education gap. For impact, more education projects ought to target those who have been marginalised and left behind in the process. For a sustainable solution, we need to design policies that address the lapses in our education system and implement programmes to ensure inclusive education is distributed proportionately across the country.

Collaboration is the process of two or more entities working together to help each other reach their goals. Collaboration is a meeting of the minds. It is the coming together of two or more people to make something.

Collaboration is more prevalent now than ever before. Collective intelligence can accomplish tasks much more quickly. It also achieves better results than if an individual worked alone. By combining diverse skills, know-how, and experience in collaboration, we encourage efficiency, creativity, innovation, and productivity.

Collaborations are necessary for advancing society. Many important fields, such as technology, science and politics, require it.

Advantages of Collaboration
1. Networking and Future Opportunities: When we collaborate, we build our network. Having a good network can help create opportunities in the future.

2. Innovation and Invention: Collaboration is one the most powerful mechanisms for new invention and innovation. Collaborations help bring the best out of people. It helps us solve problems and generate ideas in ways that would never have been possible if we worked alone.

3. Greater achievements: We are more capable as a result of collaboration. Collaborations are beneficial because they allow everyone involved to achieve more than just one person could accomplish alone.

Everybody wins when we collaborate
Collaboration is a concept in our society that is misunderstood. It is not just an efficient way of getting a job done. It is also a necessity owed to every person involved. Collaboration increases the scope for personal growth for all involved. Its benefits are not limited to personal gain only. They can have an even greater effect on the world around us. This is why we are collaborating with the good people at Woo Network at their activation on Saturday, 9th of September and it’s titled ‘Crypto Meetup Lagos; The next market cycle’.

We will have a stand at this event where we will be answering questions as well as giving out special packages to donors at the venue.

If you'd like to attend, click here to register and don’t forget to stop by to say hi when you’re around.

Background of the ASUU strike?
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for over six months. It has led to the closure of Federal and State Universities across Nigeria, halting the growth and development of students nationwide.

It started as a four-week warning strike on February 14. By March 14, the union extended the strike by another two months. They then announced a 12-week extension on May 9. The strike has continued with ASUU refusing to back down.

What does ASUU want?
The union is striking against the non-payment of university revitalisation funds promised in 2009. It will supposedly cost the government about N1.1 trillion. However, the Federal Government claims there is no money to pay such an amount.

The union is also striking over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), which they believe they have improved. They have built an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), and are demanding that the government employ their program instead.

President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said, “It is not just about wages. It has to do with the system, funding, the structure, the autonomy and other issues; and how to fund universities.”
Resolving the ASUU issue and moving forward
At the root of the ASUU strike is one problem. Funding.
Nigerian education funding does not meet the standard. The education funding in Nigeria has not been up to the UNESCO minimum standard of 26% of the national budget. Using the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin, public budgetary funding for education in Nigeria ranges between 4-13 percent. This level of investment in education is egregious and must be improved upon by the government.

Analysing the demands of ASUU, they are not unbearable. They are reasonable demands from stakeholders who want to see Nigerian education flourish. The Nigerian education sector is expected to deliver optimal results with suboptimal resources/funding. It cannot go on like this.

The government should invite the striking lecturers to meet face-to-face with representatives of the government to discuss the causes of the standoff. The government must also show their commitment to resolving the issues. It is time for the stakeholders in the education sector to meet and discuss a way forward.

Students have been at home for months now. Their futures are handicapped by a government declaring bankruptcy while spending lavishly.

The Federal government needs to drop its negotiating and renegotiating tactics and start working to improve the quality of education through provisions of the necessary education infrastructures.

ASUU is willing to negotiate its reasonable demands from 2009 if the government is honest. So far, the Nigerian government has not shown that it is capable of that sincerity of spirit.

Nigerian education system pre-colonization
Prior to the presence of the Europeans, Nigerian communities had their own systems of educating their children. There were two main types of education pre-colonization. They were religious and traditional education.

Traditional education helps the young understand the norms and nature of the society into which they were born and live. Through traditional education children were to acquire knowledge, skills and also develop the correct attitudes and values that would be needed not only for them to live in their local communities but also for them to be able to play their own role in and make their own modest contributions to society at large.

Islamic Education was for members of the Islamic religion across all Muslim communities. The religion of Islam had arrived through the activities of the Muslim Dyula (Wangarawa) merchants from the ancient West African Empire of Mali, first to Katsina and then to Kano in the 14th century. Islamic education was limited to teaching students about the Qur’an and the Arabic alphabet.

The introduction of western education
Western education was introduced by British missionaries in the 1840s. The Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) opened many schools in the mid-1800s. The colonial government gave the church financial aid, but in the early twentieth century, the government began building primary and secondary schools. By the time the British amalgamated the northern and southern regions into one in 1914, 11 secondary schools were already in operation.

Western education slowly entered the northern region. In 1947, only 66,000 students attended primary schools in the north, but ten years later, the number enrolled had expanded to 206,000. In the western region, over the same period, primary school enrollment increased from 240,000 to 983,000 students. The eastern region experienced the most dramatic growth in primary school enrollment during this period, jumping from 320,000 to 1,209,000 students. The number of secondary school students in the entire nation grew much less dramatically, increasing from 10,000 in 1947 to 36,000 in 1957. Most of this growth, 90 percent, was almost entirely in the south.

Post-independence educational reforms
Nigeria, on the attainment of her independence on the 1st of October, 1960, retained the educational policy bequeathed by the British Government. The first serious attempt at reforming the educational system in Nigeria took place in 1969.

In September 1969, there was a National curriculum conference held in Lagos. Participants at the program wanted to see Nigeria chart a new course in its educational system. They criticized the colonial education system as lacking in vitality and relevance.

The conference recommended changes in the system, from 6-5-2-3 system to 6-3-3-4 system; that is 6year primary, 3year junior secondary, 3year senior secondary and 4year university education. The recommended new system is simply the American system of education which Japan ably copied after 1945 and succeeded.

The national policy on education moved on from the educational policy bequeathed by the British colonialist. Other reform policies include:

- The Federal Government take over of regional universities in 1975
- Universal Primary Education Programme of 1976 (Adamu, nd.)
- The Universal Basic Education Programme of 2000, among others.

The civilian administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo also embarked on significant educational reforms particularly at the tail end of his tenure.

Nigerians should appreciate how far the country has come with regards to education
The progress of the Nigerian education system has been slow, but it is progress nevertheless. With a population of around 180 million and an immense desire for improvement, the Nigerian government has tried to respond to demands for schools and improvement in the sector. Nigerians can appreciate how far the country has come with regards to education. We've come a long way since the olden days of pre-independence to get where we are today. We have created many successful individuals from Nigerian education who can be seen worldwide. Despite all the challenges, especially funding and lack of teachers, education in Nigeria has grown tremendously since the 1960's.

What is Informal education?
Informal Education is a form of learning that does not rely on a curriculum or structured syllabus. It can be delivered by trained facilitators or volunteers through workshops, camps, seminars, and lectures.
Informal learning covers a wide range of subjects that people learn in their everyday lives. It also includes learning methods such as self-study and informal classes, where individuals seek or want to learn specific skills or look into certain areas and don't use formal or non-formal ways to learn.

Most importantly, informal learning does not require any form of fee payment, nor learners to possess any prior qualifications for access.

Informal Education as a tool
Underprivileged children with access to informal education fare much better in life than those who do not. With impactful informal education, these disadvantaged children become responsible leaders, ready to solve practical problems on their own, creative thinkers prepared to think outside the box and capable of setting their own goals.

We need to empower underprivileged children to be able to compete with their counterparts in the formal education setting. Informal learning provides underprivileged children with the required self-initiative, leadership, basic life and critical thinking skills they need to survive and thrive in their communities, business and governance.

Informal education is a long-term approach, teaching children life skills they need to survive and thrive. It is an effective way to reach out to underprivileged children who cannot access or benefit from formal learning because of various reasons.
Ways to provide impactful informal education for children in Africa

Considering the challenges underprivileged children in Africa face, they must be provided with quality informal education. Informal learning has a great potential for helping a wide range of learners achieve more desirable and rewarding circumstances for themselves and their communities.

Impactful informal education can be achieved through the provision of quality skills- based informal education programs that stress critical thinking. Without these crucial life necessities provided by informal education programs, development cannot happen across the continent.

We don't need to solve all poverty-related problems at once. If we start with a small subset of those, then we can make sure that the impact of our work is high and that we can succeed within a couple of years.
Informal education is an appropriate means of reaching out more effectively to underprivileged children.

Education is a tool that provides the bearer with the necessary knowledge and skills to improve their future prospects especially in this part of the world where there are more ‘out-of-school’ and underprivileged children.

In one of our previous blog posts, we talked about education being the greatest leveler between socio-economic classes because of its unifying nature, especially when it’s beyond the four walls of a classroom.

The Challenge
One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria (UNICEF)

With the fact that the majority of primary education is free and compulsory, almost 10.5 million of the country’s children between the ages of 5-14 years are either dropouts or have never been in a school. Just about 61% of children between the ages of 6-11 regularly attend primary school and only 35.6% of children between the ages of 3-5 receive education early in their lives. (Statista)

In Northern-Nigeria, the case is much worse and pathetic with an attendance rate of 53% with many of them getting out-of-school.

There are various factors that contribute to the detrimental state of education in Nigeria. Some of which are: gender, geographical location and earning power and age. These are important factors that contribute to the marginalisation of education. States in the north-east and north-west have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7% and 47.3%, respectively, meaning that over half of the girls are out-of-school. The education deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls.

Ensuring educational provision in predominantly rural areas and the impact of insurgency in the northeast present significant challenges. In north-eastern and north-western states, 29 percent and 35 percent of Muslim children, respectively, receive Qur’anic education, which does not include basic skills such as literacy and numeracy. The government considers children attending such schools to be officially out-of-school.

In the north-eastern part of Nigeria, over 2.5 million children are in need of education-in- emergencies support in three insurgent-bound states (Borno, Yobe, Adamawa). In these States, at least 802 schools remain closed and 497 classrooms are listed as destroyed, with another 1,392 damaged but repairable, especially in Borno where almost 200 girls were kidnapped in a small town, Chibok.

The Solution
UNICEF's education programme aims to aid the Nigerian government in achieving SDG 4 by 2030 through improved planning and by addressing key strategic barriers that hinder the implementation of effective education in the country.

It is proposed by UNICEF that this work will be achieved by creating an enabling environment for education, improving the quality of education, increasing demand for education, and humanitarian assistance, including through ensuring:
● The education system at federal and state levels has strengthened capacities to deliver quality basic education.
● More teachers have core knowledge and competencies to use proven teaching methodologies to deliver appropriate quality education.
● Parents and communities have improved knowledge and commitment to contribute to enrolling children at the right age in quality learning in safe and protective school environments.
● Children in humanitarian situations have timely and sustained access to quality education services.

The Nigerian Education Sector

The dysfunctionality of the Nigerian education sector is alarming. Nigeria is currently embroiled in an out-of-school-children crisis threatening the West African nation at its core. At the moment, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike since February – students are left stranded. This strike came after another lengthy strike that coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020.

From top to bottom, Nigerian education is a mess that needs cleaning up. Nigeria's educational system suffers from a lack of infrastructure and investment, neglect, and waste of resources. It has been plunged into a deep crisis that will take massive effort to overcome. To get a sense of how bad the situation is, we decided to look at the numbers.

10 Worrying Stats About Education in Nigeria
1. One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. (UNICEF)

2. Nigeria has more than 11 million out-of-school children between the ages of six and fifteen years old. They represent one in twelve out-of-school kids worldwide. (World Bank)

3. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. (UNICEF)

4. The states in the north-east (47.7%) and the north-west (47.3%) have a female primary net attendance rate of less than 50%, meaning that more than half the girls are not in schools. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

5. In north-eastern and north-western states, approximately 29% and 35% of Muslim children respectively receive Qur’anic instruction, which does not include the basics of literacy and numeracy. (UNICEF)

6. There is a deficit of over 230 thousand classrooms in Nigeria (Statista)

7. Out of the 1.1 million classrooms surveyed by Educeleb in 2019, about 315,579 were in bad condition. (Educeleb)

8. In 2021, Nigeria’s budgetary allocation to education for 2022 was 5.4%. UNESCO’s recommended budgetary allocation to education is 15%-26% (Various)

9. Approximately 51% of Nigerian children between 5-17 engage in some form of child labor. (National Bureau of Statistics)

10. 60 million Nigerians, or 30 percent of the population, cannot read or write. (Nigeria’s ministry of education)

Improving education in Nigeria is a matter of pressing importance
Education is important to sustain and develop the people. It helps to develop human intelligence and skills necessary to create wealth and maintain a decent and democratic society. However, the state of Education in Nigeria is a cause for concern. The stats above paint a very gloomy picture. The current state affairs is one that should cause an uproar, but sadly not enough is being done to address the problem - the government continues to ignore this problem.
Nations cannot develop beyond the level of their education. With over 90 million Nigerians living in abject poverty, education is the only hope for a better tomorrow. It is a matter of pressing importance to address the problems of the Nigerian education sector. We need to put conscious effort into providing quality education for young children. We need to equip them with education to break the vicious cycle of poverty.

The Nigerian Education Sector
The dysfunctionality of the Nigerian education sector is alarming. Nigeria is currently embroiled in an out-of-school-children crisis threatening the West African nation at its core. At the moment, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike since February – students are left stranded. This strike came after another lengthy strike that coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020.

From top to bottom, Nigerian education is a mess that needs cleaning up. Nigeria's educational system suffers from a lack of infrastructure and investment, neglect, and waste of resources. It has been plunged into a deep crisis that will take massive effort to overcome. To get a sense of how bad the situation is, we decided to look at the numbers.
10 Worrying Stats About Education in Nigeria
One in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria. (UNICEF)

Nigeria has more than 11 million out-of-school children between the ages of six and fifteen years old. They represent one in twelve out-of-school kids worldwide. (World Bank)

Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. (UNICEF)

The states in the north-east (47.7%) and the north-west (47.3%) have a female primary net attendance rate of less than 50%, meaning that more than half the girls are not in schools. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS))

In north-eastern and north-western states, approximately 29% and 35% of Muslim children respectively receive Qur’anic instruction, which does not include the basics of literacy and numeracy. (UNICEF)

There is a deficit of over 230 thousand classrooms in Nigeria (Statista)

Out of the 1.1 million classrooms surveyed by Educeleb in 2019, about 315,579 were in bad condition. (Educeleb)

In 2021, Nigeria’s budgetary allocation to education for 2022 was 5.4%. UNESCO’s recommended budgetary allocation to education is 15%-26% (Various)

Approximately 51% of Nigerian children between 5-17 engage in some form of child labour. (National Bureau of Statistics)

60 million Nigerians, or 30 percent of the population, cannot read or write. (Nigeria’s ministry of education)

Improving education in Nigeria is a matter of pressing importance
Education is important to sustain and develop the people. It helps to develop human intelligence and skills necessary to create wealth and maintain a decent and democratic society. However, the state of Education in Nigeria is a cause for concern. The stats above paint a very gloomy picture. The current state affairs is one that should cause an uproar, but sadly not enough is being done to address the problem - the government continues to ignore this problem.

Nations cannot develop beyond the level of their education. With over 90 million Nigerians living in abject poverty, education is the only hope for a better tomorrow. It is a matter of pressing importance to address the problems of the Nigerian education sector. We need to put conscious effort into providing quality education for young children. We need to equip them with education to break the vicious cycle of poverty.

What is a slum?
A slum is defined by UN-Habitat as a household where people live together in an urban area without any of the following; durable housing of a permanent nature, sufficient living space for not more than three people to share the same room, easy accessibility to safe water in sufficient quantities at an affordable price, adequate sanitation facilities in the form of a public or private toilet shared by a reasonable amount of people, and security from eviction. A slum is usually not recognised and addressed by local authorities as an integral or equally important
part of the city.

Numbers of people living in slums
According to estimates by UN agencies, approximately 200 million people lived in slums in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2010. The National Library of Medicine estimates that about 62% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population resides in slums. The uncontrolled population of African urban areas has led to slums across SSA. The phenomenon has been described as the urbanisation of poverty. Urban poverty and deprivation are characterised by high levels of residential crowding, exposure of residents to environmental hazards, and poor social conditions. There is also no financial infrastructure from the government to help citizens get reasonable housing.

For children, the matter is much worse. In slums, education takes a backseat to more pertinent struggles like fetching water, a roof above one’s head, and meals for survival. Children in slums cannot access the basic services required for child development. Most kids in slums don't go to school. Even though they still live with their family, their parents don't have the financial means to support them financially. According to UNICEF, the youth residing in slums are some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable youth globally.

Education in slums/adopting Child-focused policies
With an estimated one billion young people living in cities today, the future of urban kids and teens is central to global development. Poor children make up a significant proportion of the urban poor population in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are usually those who are most vulnerable to the environmental conditions and social conditions of informal settlements. Adopting a child-focused educational approach to interventions in slums in sub-Saharan Africa provides an opportunity to improve the well-being of large groups of young people. Focusing on the education of children living in slums will help millions improve their lives. It gives these
children the chance to overcome urban inequalities and secure safe and successful futures.

There is hope
Hope for solving the big social problems associated with urban poverty seems to be centering increasingly on educating the depriv-ed children of the slums. Bringing sustainable change in the lives of underprivileged children and youth starts with improving access to education. Education in many African nations has been lagging behind education standards in other parts of the world for quite some time. Underinvestment, corruption, and poor policies are some of the many reasons. Things could change if we adopted more slum child-focused educational policies. It is the only way to increase social mobility and close the rapidly widening income gap on the continent.

A doctor can’t be taught what to do by the patient, neither can the society compel them on how to treat an ailment. Same with how a passenger cannot dictate a pilot’s route to them, brother can the society force policies down their throat. In Nigerian society, we have not gotten used to the fact that teachers are also professionals, just like the doctors and the pilots. Today, we will see why teachers should be included in the formation of educational policies.

Teachers are an important part of society
One can argue that teachers play the most important role in society. Apart from simply imparting wisdom and knowledge, they shape the young ones and the future. Teachers set children up to be successful citizens of the world. Good teachers are an asset that our society should hold on to dearly. Only they, can build positive and inspired generations. This is tremendous pressure, but they do it so casually, underrated by many because of how noble the profession is. Teachers act as role models to young students, opening them up to learn values like discipline, organization, punctuality, communication, and dedication.

Are the teachers being heard?
Speak to many teachers today, and they will tell you that their concerns are NOT being heard. From classroom level policies to state policies and national policies, we are not listening to our teachers. We are not listening to the people we tasked with shaping the design of society locally and internationally. We ignore the opinions of our teachers. A grave mistake! Our teachers need to be heard across all levels.
How to listen to our teachers

There are several steps school leaders and policy makers can take to hear our teachers out. Surveys and evaluations can help to acquire meaningful feedback from our teachers. Surveys can help pinpoint any concerns teachers have and help with solutions to address them. We also need to create a nexus between the teachers and parents/society so we can be more understanding of their plight. Teachers should be able to engage parents more often and work hand-in-hand towards child development. Policy makers must also try not to exclude teachers from important conversations.

In Conclusion
For proper child development, education policies must be a joint-venture between school leaders, teachers, parents and policy makers. Teachers should get a say in policy matters as they are the experts at child development. We need to recognize their voices more and take their opinions more seriously.

In honor of June 12 Democracy day in Nigeria, we examine the interconnection between education and democracy

What is a Democracy?
Democracy is a system of government where the majority prevails. It is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. In a democracy, everything is geared towards improving things for the majority, not for a few.

Education & Democracy
The relationship between education and democracy is evident on many levels. The structure/organization of schools influences the building of the civic society. Classrooms are designed and delivered with instructions that affect the learning and practice of democracy. Classroom elements like questioning, discussions, debates, group work are upstanding pillars of democracy. Education also embraces excellent democratic values like inclusion. At higher levels, students form their own governments with clearly defined roles and separation of power. Also, in a democracy, education gets attention because it is a prerequisite for the survival and success of the former. Democratic governments need to allocate resources to education because it enriches the mind of citizens, enabling them to make rational/analytical decisions. Education has a positive effect on political engagement and participation.

What has been said?
Two quotes embody the synergy between education and democracy. The first is from American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey. “The devotion of democracy to education is a familiar fact. A government resting upon popular suffrage cannot be successful unless those who govern and obey their governors are educated.” The other is from Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist George Bernard Shaw. He said, “education is the major means to enrich the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of the people. It is also a means for the widespread diffusion of democratic values.” To go further, you can say that a democracy cannot function properly without proper education. Education provides individuals with the range to enjoy democratic values.

In conclusion
Education and democracy uphold each other. Mass education is essential for democracy. Higher levels of education produce a more active and articulate public. An educated public is more likely to hold its government accountable. Education is the great instrument of social emancipation, by which democracy establishes, maintains and protects the spirit of equality among its members.

Formal vs Informal Education (II)

In this two-part series, we will be discussing the tenets of formal and informal education. Last week, we discussed informal learning and this week, we will be analyzing formal education.

What is Formal Education?
Formal education is a structured and systematic form of learning. It runs from primary (and in some cases nursery) school to university. Formal education includes specialized programmes for vocational, technical and professional training. This form of learning is standardized and based on a curriculum – trained teachers educate pupils within the four walls of a classroom at prearranged times. There is usually an assessment of what the pupils have learnt, and it does not conform to individual needs and preferences.

“Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.”- Laozi (老子)[i][/i]

Characteristics of Formal Education:
• Formal learning is planned and structured. It follows a program/curriculum
• Qualified teachers/expert deliver knowledge to students
• It is delivered within a specific time
• It is subject-oriented
• Formal learning is deliberate. The teacher makes a conscious decision to impart knowledge while individuals go to schools to receive knowledge.

Benefits of Formal Education
Formal learning is important to survive in today’s cutthroat society. It gives people good social reputations, jobs and has many other benefits. Formal Education is an early launchpad – it gives individuals a solid foundation to lead successful and fulfilled lives. When you complete your formal education, you get degrees and certificates that you can use to earn a living. It helps individuals build skills [/b]for a livelihood. Formal learning increases the well-being of individuals by allowing them to gain skills – both cognitive (e.g., literacy and numeracy) and noncognitive (e.g., social and organizational skills).

Formal education in schools is also an [b]important agent of socialization. The importance of early social relationships formed in classrooms cannot be overstated. Schools help to establish that early peer relationship. Formal Education helps individuals develop critical reasoning ability. Despite the notion that man is a rational being, a formal education helps to polish one’s reasoning faculties.

Formal Education aids economic growth and development. It plays a role in societal prosperity. A country’s economy becomes more productive as the proportion of educated workers increases. The education and training of any country’s workforce determines how well the country’s economy will perform.

In this two-part series, we will be discussing the tenets of formal and informal education, starting with informal education.

Informal vs Formal Education
Informal education is a free and natural system of learning that does not happen within the four walls of a school. It is derived from lived experiences. People learn informally from their life experiences. They can gather knowledge from friends, family, and their environment. It never stops. The difference between formal and informal education is that informal education does not have the structure and levels that formal education has. Informal education is structured from Kindergarten to university. Classes are timed and structured. In informal education, there is no timing, guideline/curriculum, and structure for gathering the knowledge. It is spontaneous and coincidental! For example, if a child watches an older sibling clean the house, they can pick up the skill required, and very soon, the younger child can assist the elder one. That is informal learning.

Is informal education as important as formal education?
No. Formal education is of utmost importance to the well-being of every individual. However, informal education cannot be dismissed so easily. They say life is the best teacher, and this is what you encounter with informal education. Learning to survive, drive, and cook. These are essential life skills that you will never acquire within a school. However, some of these skills are important down the line.

Benefits of informal education
You don’t need to learn from a teacher or someone who is an expert in a particular field. Informal knowledge can be passed on from anyone, in any way, and with no one forcing you to learn, it is not as burdensome as formal education. There is zero to litle pressure. It is also free and can be done at any convenient pace.

In conclusion
Informal learning is helpful to those who are open and willing to learn. It is a spontaneous mode of learning. While it may not be considered valid learning by some, those detractors will admit that there are some things you can learn better through real-life experiences and not by sitting down to study it in a classroom.

The educational sector in Africa was already at a setback before the pandemic breakout. According to reports, in 2019, over 250 million children of school-going age were out of school. This means that these children are missing out on valuable learning opportunities. They miss out on the opportunities education offers them to be meaningful shareholders in society.

The covid-19 pandemic brought more problems for an already battered sector. Not only did the virus contract the economy, making people lose more money, but it also forced the closure of schools. And while we tend to focus on the economic benefits of school, we forget the health services and security that schools provide to children.

There is the risk of being left even further behind for the most marginalized children. The World Bank estimated that the cost of missing out on education is about $10 trillion in future earnings.

Counterbalancing The Effects Of The Pandemic
The only way to fight the out-of-school problem is through deliberate and targeted government financing. Government officials in Africa need to start setting funds aside to correct this dangerous occurrence. Many African countries depend on aid from foreign economies, but that investment is also shrinking. The governments have to respond. They have to commit to financing schooling. This investment is key to a productive workforce. It will also lead to future growth and development.

Financing learning has to be one of the priorities of African governments as we recover from the effects of the pandemic. Significant funding has to go into the schooling system to prevent the continent from falling further behind and having more students out of school. There is already a major backlog that needs to be addressed and more has to be done to secure the future. Governments need to allocate more public funds toward financing education, and they need to be efficient with it.

A problem cannot be solved on the same level it was created. There’s a need for a higher authority to look down on the problem, and solve it. This is why information should be available to all and sundry, either it’s free or it’s paid for.

With happenings around, we are obviously no longer in the Stone Age where pigeons deliver letters. The internet has localized the whole world, and now, the world has become a global village where people can connect with one another in real time and in different parts of the world. Education is no longer local, news no longer takes time to break, information spreads like wildfire through the dry bushes.

Technology evolves daily, and so does our lifestyle have to, in every sector and ramifications. Learning could now be done at the palm of your hands, your classrooms are now in your pocket because every day, we see new online resources to get information. These online courses have been able to teach students what they will learn in universities within the said time frame or less. You can learn how to code, how to be a programmer, and how to build a business and grow it just by having access to the internet and an electronic device like your smartphone or computer.

Are you thinking of returning to school? There are so many people who would like nothing but a return to the four walls of a school to get a degree. However, it’s impossible at this time. It could be caused by financial constraints that keep them from being able to go full time or part-time; maybe they work full-time and simply do not have time available for classes. Maybe they have children at home that need supervision during the day; whatever the reason may be, anyone can still go back for their degree if enough planning goes into it ahead of time. The first step is finding an accredited school that offers either all their classes online or a hybrid program of online courses along with some on-campus courses (like night classes once a week).

Africans are Very Intelligent and Resourceful - See Facts!
It might shock you to hear that on a per capita basis, Africans receive the most patents in America.
You might even be more surprised to find out that Africa has the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world.

To further shock you, Africans have won more Nobel prizes than any other continent except the Europeans (who you can argue are racially Africans). And if you’re counting by continent, then we have a problem: Europe is not even some kind of supercontinent with significantly more people. It’s about the size of Saharan Africa.
The combination of intelligence and resourcefulness makes African people successful abroad when they migrate. There are more black millionaires in America than white ones, which is especially surprising given how tough it was for black Americans to build their wealth during the second half of the 20th century (and indeed today).
There are many Africans in the world with the tools to be leaders and helpers.

Africa is home to 7.3% of the world's population, so it makes sense that there are Africans in the world with the tools to be leaders and helpers. Some of these people may have a talent for music or art, some may have an aptitude for building communities or understanding how things work.

There are also many ways to be a leader and/or helper. You can start by leading a group of friends on a hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, or perhaps you can help others learn about your culture and share ideas with them about what it means to build a community.

Africa Once Ruled the World - Pangaea
While it may be hard to imagine, Africa was the centre of the world for a time: Pangaea. It was an enormous continent with no competition. Then, due to continental drift, Pangaea fell apart and became today’s continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Eurasia and North America.

Today, however, Africa has most of what it takes to once again rule the world. It is one of the richest continents in natural resources that are vital to technology like lithium and cobalt. Tools not only help us live more efficiently but also have helped propel some countries into economic powerhouses. The brainpower needed to create these technologies is growing quickly on this continent too; over a third of all Africans are under 15 years old! Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Africans have proven they can lead themselves out of poverty through tenacity and hard work when given opportunities.

Africans, ARISE!! This is yet another opportunity to rule the world, and it starts with YOU! This is why we at the Molara Foundation are working overtime to impact knowledge into the next generation through our scholarship programs, online and vocational courses and hence, secure the future of the world as we strongly believe that WE will rule the world; but first remember, EDUCATION IS THE ENGINE TO SUCCESS!

Passion! A strong word; a strong feeling. A feeling of being strong, resilient and tenacious

Our passion is to reduce the financial barrier to education by enabling students and their families to meet basic consumption needs, protect them from having to sell their assets, or having to force their children to work as opposed to schooling.

Being educated isn’t just receiving lectures in the four walls of an institution or attending seminars and taking courses. It is identifying your strength and focusing towards that direction, be it professional or artisan craft.

It is our passion that every underprivileged child is given equal opportunities to thrive, regardless of religion, gender, ethnicity, social or financial status. That is why, at Molara Foundation, we create a pathway to education through scholarship programmed through higher institutions as well as vocational schools. We have taken it upon ourselves to create opportunities for underprivileged young people in Africa through education and career guidance.

Our passion is driven by our core aim and mission ‘to transform the development of next generation students by providing more educational opportunities through scholarships’.

At Molara Foundation, we are passionate about you!

A new dispensation indeed. It’s a new dispensation where students will no longer wander around. It’s a new dispensation when students no longer look at finances before choosing a course to study in the higher institution or vocational schools. Truly, a new dawn is upon our society, and we at Molara Foundation are proud to be coveners.

Molara Foundation is a non-governmental organization established with the mission of reducing the financial barrier to education starting with Nigeria and with a goal of taking this mission across the rest of Africa. The organization aims to support education across the continent by providing scholarships to out-of-secondary school students who are aiming to further their education in either tertiary or vocational schools.

Molara Foundation scholarship program augments the income of very low-income households in Africa. We are aware that most families in Africa have no social protection whatsoever. We have heard and seen thousands of families who have had to walk out of cities in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, to return to their villages with nothing, followed by weeks and months of economic uncertainty.

Molara Foundation launched its scholarship program to protect families against significant income losses during spells of unemployment. Molara Foundation scholarship program will help families stabilize their income during recessions.

Our goal is to enable students and their families to meet basic consumption needs, protect them from having to sell their assets, or having to force their children to work instead of going to school.

Welcome to Molara Foundation; welcome to a new dispensation.