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 quality of basic education throughout Nigeria. The UBE Programme objectives include y Ensuring an uninterrupted access to 9-year formal education by providing FREE, and COMPULSORY basic education for every child of school-going age under. I Six years of Primary Education II Three years of Junior Secondary Education Providing Early Childhood Care Development and Education (ECCDE) y Reducing school drop-out and improving relevance, quality and efficiency; and y Acquisition of literacy, numeracy, life skills and values for lifelong education and useful living. Basic Features of the UBE Programnme y Free Formal Basic Education y Compulsory, Uninterrupted Nine years of Primary and Junior Secondary School education. y Emphasis on Curriculum diversification and relevance to effectively and adequately cover individual and community needs and aspirations. y Disarticulation of Junior Secondary Schools from Senior Secondary Schools. y Introduction of rudiments of computer literacy. y Appropriate continuous teacher professional development. y Community ownership of schools including participation in decision-making process in schools. KEY ISSUES IN THE COMPULSORY, FREE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION ACT 2004 1. The Federal Government's intervention shall provide assistance to the States and Local Governments in Nigeria for the purposes of uniform and qualitative basic education throughout Nigeria. 2. Every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.

3. Every parent shall ensure that his/her child or ward attends and completes (a) primary school education; and (b) junior secondary school education. 4. The stakeholders in education in a Local Government Area shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs the duty imposed on him/her under the Universal Basic Education Act, 2004. 5. Transition from Primary to Junior Secondary School (JSS) should be automatic; as basic education terminates at the Junior Secondary School level thus entrance examination may no longer be necessary. Emphasis will be placed on effective continuous assessment, while final examination and certification will now be done at the end of the nine-year basic education programme. 6. The Secondary School system should be restructured so as to ensure that the JSS component is disarticulated from the SSS as stipulated in the National Policy on Education (NPE).

EDUCATION FOR ALL IN NIGERIA: ITS PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES Jomtien was not for Nigeria the beginning of the journey towards universalising education. It dates back to the introduction of universal primary education in the 1950s in two of the then three regions of the country and its introduction at the national level in 1976. Thus, by joining other countries, agencies and organisations in adopting in March, 1990 the World Declaration on Education For All, Nigeria was merely reaffirming that in which she believed, and had already taken steps towards its attainment. The National Policy on Education, (1977, revised 1981, 1985, 1998) attests to Nigerias commitment to Education For All, in particular, basic education for all. The policy lays emphasis on universal, functional and qualitative education. The guiding principle of the Education For All programmme in Nigeria is the equipping of every citizen with such knowledge, skills, attitudes and values as will enable him/her to derive maximum benefits from his membership of society, lead a fulfilling life, and contribute his own quota towards the development and welfare of the community.

For Nigeria therefore, Basic Education comprises both the range of formal schooling as well as a wide variety of non-formal and formal public and private educational activities offered to meet the learning needs of groups of people of all ages. Thus basic education refers to early childhood and pre-primary education, primary education, the first three years of secondary education and basic and functional literacy for out of school children, youth and adults, as well as nomadic education for school age children of nomads and migrant fishermen. EFA Goals and Targets Not long after the Jomtien Conference, Nigeria took specific measures aimed at translating the Jomtien Declaration on Education For All into reality. The activities embarked upon included a sensitization drive mounted not only in the mass media, but also through the agency of the two key national advisory bodies on education policy, namely, the Joint Consultative Council on Education which brings together various officials in Federal and State Ministries of Education, and the National Council of Education which is composed of State Commissioners of Education and the Federal Minister. The discussions and consultations of these meetings resulted in a clear perspective of what State and Federal Government priorities were within the context of basic education and a sharper focus was obtained as to what remedies were considered most urgent. Using the resulting information, a national plan of action on Education For All was drawn up. A Task Force (which metamorphosed into the present EFA Assessment Group) was set up to coordinate all activities related to EFA. The Master Plan articulates the EFA goals and targets in all dimensions including the six target dimensions recommended in the EFA Assessment Guidelines. The goals and targets on the various aspects of basic education as follow: 1. Expansion of Early Childhood Care and Developmental Activities Formal education begins from pre-primary education which is the education given in day-care centres and Nursery schools to children aged 3 to under 6 years. It is enriched by the informal traditional up-bringing given to children from 0 to under 3 years which makes them ready for school. Although Government is not directly involved in the establishment of day-care centres and nursery schools, it is however responsible for:
y y y

Provision and distribution of policy guidelines for the establishment and management of pre-primary institutions; Production and development of appropriate National Curriculum and textbook in Nigerian Languages; Approval of relevant supplementary reading materials and teachers/instructors manual;

Provision and approval of appropriate certification of work done and training received.

According to the National Policy on Education, the purpose of pre-primary education are to: a. Effect a smooth transition from the home to the school; b. Prepare the child for primary education c. Provide adequate care and supervision for the children while their parents are at work (on the farms in the markets, offices etc); d. Inculcate social norms; e. Inculcate in the child the spirit of enquiry and creativity through the exploration of nature, the environment, art, music and playing with toys, etc; f. Develop a sense of co-operation and team-spirit; g. Learn good habits, especially good health habits; and h. Teach the rudiments of numbers, letters, colours, shapes, forms etc. through play. In consonance with the Jomtien Declaration, World Summit for Children, the Convention on rights of the child, ECCDE has become an important part of basic education programme. This has provided supportive policy implications for different sectors such as health, social services, agriculture, nutrition among others. Furthermore, the Convention on the Rights of the Child led to the setting up of implementation committees that have harmonized national laws and policies. As a practical demonstration of governments commitments to children, the Federal Government in co-operation with UNICEF instituted a project on Early Childhood Care Development Education (ECCDE) which draws great strength from the concept that life begins at birth; the project took off in 1991. The project goals are to: a. Afford children access to early childhood education through informal, low-cost, community-based child care; b. Train para-professional corps of pre-school workers, and ensure a system of ongoing support for the relevant activity; c. Improve the mothers knowledge of nutritional practices and their relation to the physical intellectual and social development of the child; d. Develop positive community attitudes towards children in terms of increased freedom based on the childs rights, needs and likes, as well as improved parentchild interaction and reinforcement of creative behaviour. These goals are in accord with the EFA Master Plan that seeks to: i. expand the early childhood services in order to cover at least 25% of children under the age of six years who are enrolled in pre-primary by the year 2000;

ii.

provide universal access to basic education to at least 80% of primary schoolage children through formal and non-formal education with emphasis on improving enrolment of girls and for children in difficult circumstances. Concerning early child care, available statistics from a sample survey conducted in 1991 revealed that only 4.7% of the pre-school age population had pre-primary education in Nigeria. Today, the situation is different owing to the rapid expansion of the ECCDE project.