OPINIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS ON IMPACT OF FUNDING ON THE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1        Background to the Study

The history of modern education in Nigeria could be traced to the efforts of private organizations, especially the Christian Missionary Socieities.    Ayodele (2004) confirmed emphatically that „one of the incontrovertible facts in the history of Nigerian education is that the first schools, whether primary, secondary or teacher training, were set up            as private institutions.‟            In fact it took the then colonial government several decades after the first private schools had emerged before delving into the enterprise of education. Although Fafunwa (1974) affirms that      „the     missionaries  without           exception       used    the       school as         a          means of conversion”. There is no doubt that the schools established during these periods served as a springboard for the emergence of nationalized government schools in Nigeria.

The  issue  of  government  neglect  of  educational  sector  is  not  a  newphenomenon, for as Fafunwa (1974:92) postulates: “Up to 1882, the colonial government in Nigeria paid little or no attention to the educational needs of the people and the field was left entirely to the missions. This period can therefore be justifiably termed the era of exclusive Christian missionary education in Southern Nigeria”

During this period, the Church Missionary Society (CMS), The Western Methodist Missionary  Society, The      Roman            Catholic          Mission,         The      United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, The Qua Iboe Mission, The Primitive Methodist Missionary Society and the Based Missions, firmly established themselves with each having a school for teaching their devotees. In addition to the teaching of their religious doctrines, Fafunwa (1974) confirms that „subjects like carpentry, bricklaying, ginnery and agriculture were taught‟ especially, at missionary schools located in places like Abeokuta, Onitsha, Lokoja and Calabar in 1876. The Roman Catholic Mission established the famous TUPO, that is Industrial School for delinquents near Badagry. By the end of 1912, there were already ninety-one mission schools as against government‟s fifty-nine schools in Southern Nigeria. Below is a tabular presentation of schools owned by each of the missions and the government:

OPINIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS ON IMPACT OF FUNDING ON THE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA