EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BY
PROF (MRS) EUNICE OTI OMOREGIE, Ph.D
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
AND MANAGEMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
AMBROSE ALLI UNIVERSITY, EKPOMA
LEAD PAPER PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY, ABRAKA
HELD TUESDAY, 12TH AUGUST, 2014.
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
The aim of this paper was to seek relationship between educational research and national development. Communities are not static, so they keep changing, thereby bringing about new needs and demands. For education to be relevant to the needs of a nation, it too must change with the changing society. This dynamism in education must be based on research. This paper therefore discusses the contribution of research to the development of the nation. The contention in this paper is that the ultimate aim of research efforts in education is for the realization of the five national goals of Nigeria. The conclusion is that the only way to keep education alive is through research, while the nation can only develop through an educational system that is alive.
Introduction
In all intent and purpose, all research efforts are geared towards bridging or narrowing one or more gaps in various areas of endeavour. Speaking generally, if research is geared towards finding solutions to problems, then it could also imply that research is also a life-saving device. It becomes instructive to note that all we do here on earth as individuals, groups, state or nation are geared towards solving one problem or the other. A brief illustration would suffice. One may wish to pause and ask briefly: As an individual, what do you really want to achieve here on earth, or what do you really want? One may ask a group of persons, the governor of a state or the president of a country, and for the different persons or groups there may be various answers, which when analyzed to their logical conclusions may not be more than wealth, fame, legacy and probably, for very few, integrity. Whatever it is, none comes on a platter of gold, so there must be struggles – go to school, learn to trade, get a job, marry, bear children, and the chain goes round and round. In doing all these successfully, there must be problems to surmount. Therefore, research is life and life is research because both end up in acquiring one experience or the other.
It is in the realization of the importance of research to the development of a nation, that all over the world, nations establish research councils, and some nations have several of such councils, including those for education. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) is the highest research council in education. This council was established in 1988 by an enabling Decree No. 53 (now Act No. 53) which merged four Educational Research Bodies into one. The four bodies were Nigerian Education Research Council, Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Centre, Nigerian Book Development Council and Nigerian Language Centre. The Council has its objective to become a Regional Centre of Excellence in Educational Research and Development in Africa and expand to an international status by 2015 (http://erdc.ng/news_detail2014). In a media chat by the Executive Secretary of the Council in February 2014, he unveiled the plan of the Council for 2014 to include the removal of all barriers hindering the realization of the aspirations of the individual and the nation and to realize the full potentials provided under “Education for “All” (EFA). Some areas of focus by the Council includes groups whose futures remain bleak due to inequitable access to education. For example, there is the problem of the boy-child dropping out of school prematurely for the sake of business in the southern eastern part of the country, while in the northern part, there is the issue of Almajiri (a situation where children of ages 3–10 are denied basic education, and they move around with dirty bowls, begging on the streets) with its attendant insecurity issue (Nigeria Pilot, Feb., 2014).
Beyond Nigeria, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) is the world’s leading curriculum organization. The ‘IBE’ is the centre of United Nation’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that specializes in educational contents, methods and structures. Its goal is the facilitation of the provision of quality education throughout the world. Surprisingly, IBE started as a private organization which was created in 1925 by some prominent persons in Geneva. However, became the first intergovernmental organization in 1929; while in 1969, it was integrated into UNESCO. “IBE” is also involved in Community Practice in Curriculum Development (COP). The COP facilitates constructive debates, policy dialogues, and the development of orientations and the guides for quality basic education (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wi). It is also a platform where issues of change in curriculum and processes can be discussed and implemented within a holistic approach towards realization of the goals of EFA. For the sake of dissemination of information, membership of IBE extends to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The concern of the various international and national bodies for educational research is the improvement of the educational system for the sake of addressing problems confronting society. This concern becomes very pressing because of the changing natures of societies with its attendant problems and issues. In Nigeria today, the major concern is that of insecurity, and it behoves on research in Education to address such.
This paper therefore discusses Educational research for national development. Some of the problems facing research in Education are highlighted, with some suggestions proffered.
Education and National Development
It was the former South African President, Late Nelson Mandela who clearly stated that “Education is the greatest engine of personal development through which the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine; and the child of farm workers can become the President of a great nation.” Education therefore provides for social mobility. As far back as 1934, Jean Piaget (as director of the IBE) declared that “only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent or gradual. After about eighty years since Piaget’s statement, the importance of Education has not diminished. It is even more important today with the series of challenges facing individuals and nations. It is in this realization that quality education has been identified in many quarters as crucial to effective implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is no nation that can thrive beyond the level of its education, because people’s ways of thinking and doing things are sharpened greatly by the level of education attained. It is on this basis that all persons and governments show concern to operations within the education system.
The opening section of the National Policy on Education (NPE) clearly brings out the importance of Education thus “A nation’s policy on education is government’s way of realizing that part of the national goals can be achieved using education as tool” (FRN, 2004). It is however the thinking of this author that even the statement as given does not fully capture the place of Education in the life of a nation. The statement gives the impression that some of the national goals can be achieved without Education. A reflection on these national goals and even the overall philosophy of Nigeria is a clear indication that none of them can be achieved without Education. The following are the overall philosophy and the five national goals as contained in the NPE:
The overall philosophy of Nigeria is to:
a) live in unity and harmony as one indivisible, indissoluble, democratic and sovereign nation founded on the principles of freedom, equality and justice’
b) promote inter-African solidarity and world peace through understanding (FRN, 2004).
The Policy further contains the five main national goals as the building of:
a) a free and democratic society;
b) a just and egalitarian society;
c) a great and dynamic economy;
d) a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens (FRN, 2004: 6).
At this juncture, one may wish to pull some puzzles “How much of the listed national philosophy and goals have we achieved, or seem to be achieving? Is there any of them that can be achieved outside education? The contention is that “Education is the nation and the nation is Education.” If with Education Nigeria is still faced with the level of insecurity and other vices, then the issue should be whether we have got it right with the quality of our Education system, and not whether Education is the solution. The Federal Government and governments at all levels globally clearly appreciate this fact. In this vein, in December 1948 the United Nation (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to include “Everyone has the right to education. This shall be free at least in the elementary and primary stages.” All the rights as contained in Article 26 of the Declaration, are guaranteed as the inalienable heritage of every human being (Nwagwu, 2008). No wonder world leaders were at Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 to further assess the implementation of the Right to Education. Since they agreed at that gathering that developing countries had fallen short in meeting the obligation of providing education as a right, the developing nations then agreed to achieve Education for All by 2015. Therefore Education clearly speaking is the greatest force that can be used to bring about change. “It is no doubt also the greatest investment a country can make towards the speedy development of its economic, political, sociological and human resources” (Omoregie, 2013).
Flowing from the benefits of Education to the individual and national development, the Nigeria’s philosophy of Education believes among others that:
a) education is an instrument for national development; to this end, the formulation of ideas, their integration for national development, and the interaction of persons and ideas are all aspects of education;
b) education fosters the worth and development of the individual, for each individual’s sake, and for the general development of the society (FRN, 2004: 6).
Glaringly, the intention of government is that the far-reaching provisions in the policy should be capable of transforming all aspects of the life of the nation overtime.
It would be pertinent at this point to provide answers to the question “What is Education”? There is no clear-cut answer to the definition of Education. However, an attempt is made here to summarize some important meanings of Education as given by Sharma (2011), as follows:
- Education as a process of development.
- Education as teacher training.
- Education as an independent field of study like other subjects of study.
- Education as an investment.
- Education as an instrument of social change and social control.
- Education as a creature and creator of the society.
- Education as filtering process in democracy.
- Education is always for future or futurology.
Therefore, Education is a process of development. It is a process of positive change in the person which impacts on society. It is a process where persons acquire knowledge, skills other experiences that equip them for their future and that of the society. In line with an aspect of Nigeria’s philosophy, Education describes the process and activities that are “geared towards self-realization, better human relationship, individual and national efficiency, effective citizenship, national consciousness, national unity as well as social, cultural, economic, political, scientific and technological progress” (FRN, 2004:7). For Education to achieve all it is meant to achieve, it must be dynamic. Since needs of the society are changing, and Education is meant to address these needs so as to make the society conducive for human survival, the processes and activities must be adjusted to address these changes. This is where Research in Education comes in. for Education to be effective, conscious efforts must be exerted to investigate several issues, both national, international and individual for the purpose of ensuring educational effectiveness and efficiency. This conscious effort at investigating possible problems in the system for the sake of bridging the gaps in educational activities and process is referred to as Educational Research.
Educational Research and National Development
The constant changes and innovations in the education system make education dynamic. In the history of education over the world, change is an inevitable aspect. In Nigeria, long before the 1969 National Curriculum Conference, there were agitations for the need to address the education given in the country. In 1973, a seminar of experts was conveyed; and after the seminar in 1977, the first edition of the National Policy on Education was published, and by 2004, the fourth edition came forth. The reviews of the NPE are clear indications that education is alive through research. Over the years there have been agitations and complaints about so many things that are wrong with the education system/sector in Nigeria. There are complaints about falling standards, poor funding, dilapidated and inadequate facilities, overblown curriculum, administrative deficiencies, poor political will on part of leaders, lack of reliable and timely data, insecurity, among several others. The need to address some of these problems has led to many major reforms and innovations since the 2004 edition of the NPE. As at 2012, there were about nineteen (19) of such reforms (as contained in the 2012 update of the 4th edition of the NPE). For want of accurate data, these reforms and innovations must have increased. As part of the reforms are the adoption of the National Policy on HIV/AIDS for the Education Sector in 2005; the restructuring of curricula for implementation of the 9–3–4 system of education in Nigeria; the launch of the national policy on gender on basic education in 2007, and the introduction and commissioning of Almajiri model schools in 2012. The point being made is that all activities and efforts in education are products of research(es). It is in this realization that the Federal Government in the NPE , stated that modern educational techniques shall be increasingly used and improved upon at all levels of the education system” (FRN, 2004: 8).
What is Research?
Simply put, every research seeks to answer certain questions which have not been answered so far, and the answers depend clearly on human efforts. These answers sought by research are not known by the researcher to be contained in the literature. Therefore, research can be described as the process of arriving at dependable solution to a problem through a planned and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data (Sharma, 2011). The implication of this definition is that research is scientific. Research then is the systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among natural phenomena (Kerlinger, 1973 as cited in Heiman, 1992). By way of elaborating the views given by Kerlinger, Shema (2011:31) presents the characteristics of systematic research. These are that research:
- is always directed towards the solution of a problem;
- is always based upon empirical or observable evidence;
- involves precise observation and accurate description;
- gives emphasis to the development of theories, principles and generalizations which are very useful to accurate prediction regarding the variables under study;
- is characterized by systematic, objective and logical procedures;
- is marked by patience, courage and unhurried activities;
- requires that the researcher has full expertise of the problem being studied;
- is replicable, so that the designs, procedures and results should be such that other persons may assess their validity;
- requires skill of writing and reproducing report.
Research therefore is a conscious inquiry which springs from some agitation or worry within the researcher, complaints and observations of the public for the sake of finding solutions towards satisfying such worries and complaints. Simply put therefore, every research effort is given birth to by a problem situation. The interest of every research is to find solution to problems. Finding such solutions are for the sake of bridging the gaps in societies for the sake of development. The interest in this paper however is “educational research.”
