The Nigeria Education system comprises (1)-6-3-3-4 formula, one-year pre-primary education, six years primary, three years junior secondary education, three years senior secondary, and a minimum of four years of tertiary education. The model had been used successfully in countries like Germany and China before Nigeria adopted the system in 1989.
The education system in Nigeria is in assorted crises of infrastructural decay, neglect, waste of resources, and sordid condition of services. Nigeria has over 10 million children. Millions of Nigerians are half-educated, and over 30% of Nigerians are illiterate. Many of them can't gain admission into private universities.
Unfortunately, the biggest problems facing Nigeria's education include poor funding and thus, poor educational infrastructure, inadequate classrooms, lack of quality teachers, poor polluted learning environment, poor governance, corruption, lack of responsibility and control, the politicization of education, indiscipline, poor parenting and background, lack of good teacher welfare and lack of teaching aids.
Another problem facing Nigeria Education is the ongoing strike (strike is viewed as the stoppage of work resulting from the mass refusal of employees to work, as a reaction to employers' grievances). The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) was formed in 1978 as an umbrella body for the academic staff members of universities, as a channel to making their requests and grievances to the management of universities and the government. The union has constituted a force in recent times.
Strikes are used to impose pressure on the government to provide infrastructure, improve workers' working conditions, and change policies (Arabian journal of business and management review 2015). The remote causes of the strike usually centre on unfavorable working conditions of workers and poor policies, which do not enhance the effective execution of job functions of the lecturers. As the academic staff union of universities embarks on a one-month strike, the preparation of a possible indefinite strike over the federal government's non-implementation of the agreements reached with the academic staff union.
Nigeria institutions urgently need to find alternative sources of revenue after the protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) in 2020; one would think the federal government would do its best to immediately meet the academic staff union's demands so that universities can cover the lost ground. But that isn't the case, the strike, which started in March 2020, was later suspended in December, and the academic activities commenced in January 2021. After several series of threats and appeals to the government for the right thing, ASUU is hereby prepared to proceed on another indefinite strike. On several occasions, the ASUU strike is closely followed by a strike by the sisters' union universities and other tertiary institutions, bringing the system to a complete halt.
The academic staff union is protesting the federal government's refusal to sign and implement the 2009 renegotiated agreement with ASUU and the revitalization of the public universities. It is said the 2009 renegotiated agreement contained a holistic package that includes the welfare of the university staff, how the universities should be operated, the scheme of services, and others.
The academic staff union is seeking the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information system (IPPIS), which is currently used to pay the member's salaries. The ASUU is calling on the government to try and regulate the proliferation of state-owned universities. It is alleged that some of these governments owe staff salaries and payment of university subvention, leaving the universities with failing infrastructure.
The effects of the strike one of the obvious effects of the strike are the disruption of academic activities, which prolong student years of study. Students at public universities are not certain of when they will graduate when admitted; they can't ascertain the exact years because of the issue of strikes here and there, unlike the private universities that have a regular academic calendar. Other effects of the strike include declining the education quality, churning half-baked graduates, a lack of confidence in the public universities, decaying infrastructure, and the proliferation of unapproved private universities and other institutions.
Many of the youths have opted to study abroad, not only abroad, including in the neighboring countries. Lecturers, students, and parents rejected stakeholders' suggestions on alternative funding sources. Many years back, some education stakeholders have suggested alternative sources of funding for public universities since the government has admitted that it can bear the burden alone. The suggestion also includes the introduction of tuition and accommodation fees, commercializing activities on campus, and endowment funds. ASUU and students kicked against the introduction of tuition and accommodation fees.
The union's position is that funding universities are the government's sole responsibility. The student hereby staged peaceful and sometimes violent protests against increased fees in the past. To generate revenue, some universities introduced part-time, diplomas certificate programs, and business ventures; most institutions are currently setting up an endowment fund.