Introduction: An Appraisal of Nigeria's Implementation of the “Quality Education” Goal

Abstract

We are happy to announce that beginning with this issue, The SDGs Monitor Magazine will begin a new style of presentation that combines its popular magazine focus with original data-based and researched articles that include some technical language in support of upper level academic research on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.

We continue to be grateful for the support of the Ford Foundation which has enabled us to shun affiliation with any institution, political organization or government body, and to be obligated only to our readers– the general public and most especially, the academic and civil society communities. As such, we maintain a level of independence and objectivity that few other publications in Nigeria can achieve.

This issue focuses on education. After an in-depth appraisal of Nigeria's implementation of the Quality of Education Goal (SDG 4), we find that Nigeria has a long way to go to achieve quality education. Our review of the sector finds moribund education policies, woeful underfunding of the entire sector and little political will to establish policies that promote quality education. Consequently, many Nigerian children are not reaching minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. The country is hardly producing enough citizens who areboth well-educated and properly skilled for employment in the 21st century. Nigeria faces a truly severe learning crisis especially in its northern region, a crisis that threatens its hopes of attaining SDG 4. We therefore focus our research on the education of Nigerian youths. We investigate the determinants of youth literacy in the country using the 2016/2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS5) dataset for Nigeria. We show that youth literacy differs by sex and across geopolitical zones. And that sex, age, area of residence, wealth quintile, geo-political zone and educational attainment of household head are key determinants of youth literacy in Nigeria. The study written by our two consultants, Dr. Joseph O. Ogebe of the University of Ibadan and Dr. Adedeji P. Adeniran of the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), recommends that policies aimed at meeting the SDGs should focus on improving the quality of education in lagging geopolitical zones and rural areas, boosting access of the girl child, enlightening household heads, and targeting poor households to improve literacy rates across Nigeria.