Provision of secondary education in Nigeria: Challenges and way forward

Abstract

Secondary education is critical to the education of a child, being the bridge between primary and tertiary
education. In this paper, the challenges militating against the achievement of the objectives of secondary
education in Nigeria were examined. They include: inadequate fund; inadequate and decay infrastructural
facilities; inadequate and low quality teachers; negative attitudes of teacher; indiscipline of students;
examination malpractices; low quality students-intake and poor academic performance of students; wastage;
inappropriate curriculum; as well as the dilemma of disarticulation of schools. To tackle these challenges, and
move secondary education forward in this decade and beyond, the paper suggested the provision of adequate
fund for secondary education; effective administration of secondary schools; curbing examination
malpractices; recruitment and training of more teachers; commitment and effectiveness of teachers; rearticulation
of disarticulated schools; regular and effective inspection of secondary schools; recruitment of
quality candidates into secondary schools; and review of secondary education curriculum.