Governance and Finance Analysis of the Basic Education Sector in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has achieved remarkable milestones in its development over the last decade. The country has enjoyed sustained economic growth, averaging 6 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2004, and has outperformed the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regional average growth rate of 4 percent for much of that period. The main objective of this economic and sector work (ESW) is to support the government reform agenda in the education sector by providing analytical input in the areas of governance, and finance to enable the sector to address its key issues. The report focuses on two of the most salient education challenges highlighted in the first policy note; equity and quality of basic education, and investigates the root causes of these two key challenges utilizing a problem driven approach within the governance, and finance framework. The report provides a holistic approach to the analysis by considering all facets influencing service delivery. Section one gives introduction. Sections two and three provide a brief overview of the country context in terms of its macro-economy, political economy, and education sector in Nigeria. Section four provides the legal, institutional, and accountability framework pertaining to the basic education governance system. Section five provides an overview of the education sector finance, and the political economy of resources allocation. Section six focuses on the two key education challenges, equity and quality of education, and provides a problem-driven approach to analyze the issues in the context of governance, accountability, and finance. The main conclusions and policy recommendations are provided at the end of each sub-section of the analysis.