Introduction
OVER the years, education has always been known to be a catalyst for development. It drives long term economic growth, makes people live well and also contribute to the wellbeing of their environment. It drives innovation, supplying the products and systems that provide solutions to societal problems. An enlightened citizenry sustains their political systems and the institutions which make for orderliness and national development. That same citizenry participates effectively in the choice of leadership in their country, preserves the environment, preserves their heritage and hands it over to the next generation.
Little wonder, therefore, that wise nations make the education of their children a top priority, making sure that nobody is left in ignorance which in itself engenders poverty. Many nations of the world provide free, universal and compulsory education for their children from the elementary school through secondary school. This prepares the child for functionality in the society by empowering him or her with literacy, numeracy and life skills needed not only to survive in the society but also to make meaningful contributions to the society.
Nigeria is not an exception with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme which effectively commenced in 2004. Though it did not cover the whole of secondary education, it attended to nine years of continuous education of children between the ages of six and fifteen, focusing on the drastic increment in school enrolment, the provision of basic education to school children, improvement of adult literacy and the elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education.
How the programme has fared and the challenges of the programme are veritable topics for discussion. Our concern here, however, is the relationship between the goals of the programme and the book ecosystem. How have the developments in the ecosystem affected the programme and how are we attending to that, going forward. These are the concerns that will define our discussion in this address.
Universal Basic Education
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme was launched in 1999 by President Olusegun Obasanjo in order to realize the educational goals of the country and attend to some of the challenges of education. Though it did not effectively commence until 2004, the programme sought to attend to children between the ages of six and fifteen to make sure that they have access to quality and basic education which focus on literacy, numeracy and life skills, among others. With these, it was envisaged that school enrolment would greatly improve and poverty would reduce in the land (CPI, 2017).
The UBE programme has had some achievements. School enrolment at primary and junior secondary levels greatly increased as children who could not have had access to schooling enrolled because it was free. However, the programme faced a lot of challenges of which funding is major. This has made the provision of toilets furniture and other infrastructure inadequate. There is also the challenge of low quality of teachers implementing it and this, together with inadequate learning facilities and resources reduced the level of public confidence in the programme.
The Universal Basic Education programme has been well conceived but its implementation cannot be said to be without challenges. This has impacted on its results. Although, the enrolment of primary school pupils increased from 79% in 1981 to 93% in 2001, that has further reduced to 77% in 2010 (Ayodele, 2022)). As it stands, it is obvious that there are still a lot of out-of-school children roaming the streets of Nigeria, hawking during school hours or walking about and begging for alms. This means the 2015 target was not achieved otherwise, by now, it would have become the norm.
The literacy rate in Nigeria is still low, 65.1% as at 2019 (Fabunmi, 2019) and this is an indication that many still do not have access to basic education either through the regular school system or the adult school system. On the issue of achieving gender equality by 2015, one cannot say that in itself has not become counter – productive as it appears there are now more girls in the Universities than boys, which means that the boys now seem not to have enough encouragement to forge ahead in their education.
One major challenge of the UBE is inadequate funding and this is not unconnected with the competitive demands of other sectors on the budget of the country. This has affected implementation in different ways. The book component of the scheme was certainly affected as most schools did not have functional libraries and neither did many students have access to needed text materials. This aspect of the challenge must be a concern to every component of the book ecosystem.
The Book Ecosystem
The book ecosystem is central to the success of the Universal Basic Education programme in Nigeria. This is because it has the capacity for fostering intellectual discourse and enhancing the quality of learning in the schools. The ecosystem comprises the publishing industry, the writers and scholars, the libraries, wholesalers, book sellers/retailers, literary organisations and the reading culture (parents and pupils/students).
The publishing industry in Nigeria has come a long way from the press in Calabar in 1846 by Rev. Hope Waddel of the Presbyterian Church and has attended immensely to the basic educational needs of Nigerians. From houses like the University Press Limited, Macmillans, Heinemann and Longman, among others, to independent presses and self-publishing platforms, Nigeria can be assured of an array of literary support for the UBE. It is commonplace to find the publishing of different editions of the recommended textbooks for primary and secondary schools as well as preparatory books for Common Entrance and Junior NECO examinations by publishers in Nigeria. This has gone a long way to enhance the quality of learning in the schools.
The writers and scholars are also part of the ecosystem. Nigeria parades ample intellectual people who are willing to put pen on paper to project their thoughts and intellectual process to readers and also to explain concepts in simple terms to students. Many have even made names through these and contributed their quota to learning and scholarship, home and abroad. The likes of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, J.P. Clark, Mabel Segun, S.M.O. Aka, Dotun Oyewole, Idodo Umeh, Chimamanda Adichie, etc. still come to mind. Although marketing realities and other forces may discourage some, as long as they continue to have value for their labour, scholars in Nigeria will continue to contribute to the book ecosystem.
The libraries and librarians also have a solid part to play in the ecosystem, whether they are public, private or institutional/school libraries. These serve as repositories of knowledge, resources for research, and agents of motivation to students and they make learning more concrete. Related to libraries in the book ecosystem are the readers and the reading culture in Nigeria. If there are no readers there would probably be no books to read. The reading culture in Nigeria is not encouraging. But that is not to say that Nigerians are not reading. Efforts have been made in different quarters to encourage Nigerians to read. There are public libraries in many states (though the funding may be another issue) and certain individuals also have private libraries. Moreover, some institutions like Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti have Book Readers’ Club. I am also aware that there are literary festivals and competitions and reading campaigns at some quarters. All these are geared towards ensuring that Nigerians keep reading.
The activities of wholesalers and retailers (book sellers) cannot be undermined. They ensure the distribution of published books, bringing them to the reach of the readers. They also assist the publishing houses in the advertisement of the books through posters and leaflets made available to potential buyers. Nigeria has had well-established book stores which had assisted a lot in the basic education programmes of the country. Examples could be found in the famous Odusote Bookshop, the CSS Bookshop, the Booksellers, Toyin Bookshop and the bookshops of the Universities. There are several other outlets that are doing very fine and contributing their quota to the development of education, especially basic education in Nigeria.
There is also the literary organisations like the Association of Nigerian Authors and the Nigerian Book Fair Trust. They provide opportunities and assistance to authors to interact with readers and industry experts as well as showcase their products. They also provide common fronts to tackle the challenges that may affect the smooth running of their enterprises.
Challenges of the Book Ecosystem in Nigeria
The challenges of the book ecosystem in Nigeria, just like many other ecosystems, are many. But a few would be mentioned here. Finance is a major problem in Nigeria and publishing is not an exception as it is expensive and obtaining loan from banks is not an easy task. The publishing houses certainly have limited access to distribution networks and book stores especially in the rural areas. This affects their reach and by implication, also effective learning in the rural areas. Though the solution could have been found in advancement in digital publishing and online platforms, the rural areas also lack electricity most of the time and other gadgets needed to effectively access digital books for learning. Moreover, with the depreciation in the value of the Naira against the Dollar in recent times, replacement and maintenance of publishing equipment became more difficult and this also had its effect on publishing. Again, textbooks produced are not colourful enough to attract readers like some foreign based books printed on glossy paper. This is not unconnected with the need to bring down the cost of production.
Writers also have their challenges as marketing patterns and forces in Nigeria make it imperative to have a national outlook in the authorship of certain books so they could be acceptable all over the country. This has brought emergency partnerships which were not prepared for and which could tamper with the flow and style of writings in some of the books. Piracy is also a major challenge which not only affects the writers but also the booksellers and the publishers. It is devastating in its effects but it is not as endemic as it had been before now.
Libraries are poorly funded in Nigeria. Most schools have no functioning libraries and where they exist, neither do they have furniture nor books. Trained librarians are not also engaged by the schools. Moreover, most schools do not have specific times for students to use the library and neither do the teachers give assignments that would make the students visit the library before attending to them. Most school libraries do not also have digital resources where online books can be accessed.
The reading culture is still very poor and this is due to lack of interest warranted by widespread poverty and the inadequacy of functional libraries where quiet reading could be done. Moreover, many of the recommended texts for students do not pass through any readability test before recommendation as this is made probably by patronage or connection. Therefore, many of the basic education students read books that are not suitable for them. One readily comes to mind, that is, a primary computers textbook that had on its cover the danger sign of the skull and the crossed humerus. That could be regarded as violence on the pupils.
Relationship Between the Book Ecosystem and the Universal Basic Education
The relationship between the book ecosystem and the Universal Basic Education is an inevitable one. Tomomowo-Ayodele (2018) found that indigenous books were available to the educational sector and that supplementary reading of indigenous books impacted much as they were also useful in teaching and learning. A school without books in rather joking as textbooks and instructional materials have direct impact in what is taught in schools. Reading quality books is the foundation of education. You can’t educate a child without books and any person who is not reading books is not furthering his or her education (Mason, 2020).
In the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (Policy Paper 23), it was stated that textbooks are recognized as core for the new sustainable Development Goal on education and that the amount a country spends on learning materials is a good indicator of its commitment to providing a quality education for all (UNESCO Digital Library, 2016). This underscores the relevance of books in attaining quality education especially in a country like Nigeria where a lot of learners are from the low income group, where a lot of classes are large, where there is a dearth of qualified teachers being utilized and where instructional time is limited.
Books, workbooks, teacher manuals and related materials serve as principal sources of study materials for students. They often represent the totality of school curriculum therefore, often serve as the de factor or surrogate curriculum (Larson, Allen and Osborn, 2010). One could still remember that many private candidates to the General Certificate Examinations (GCE) in the past only read textbooks to sit for the examinations and they passed.
The literacy rate in Nigeria in 2023 was 54.77% and that means the U.B.E. programme is yet to perfectly achieve its goals. The Federal and State Governments may have to partner with publishers and booksellers to ensure supply of adequate books to schools. This supply is needed to ensure that the goals of the programme are further adequately attended to. Government cannot continue to expect the fulfilment of the goals of basic education without pupils and students having access to quality books as learning materials. Currently, the situation is not encouraging as many students do not have the necessary books due to the inability of their parents to buy the books. This is mostly common in public schools. Therefore, there must be a functioning library in every school and the library must be stocked with the relevant books. Observations show that Nigerian students are getting less motivated to read and this is not unconnected with the lack of the books to read, apart from the socio-economic realities of the country.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The Universal Basic Education programme has been examined and observed as a programme that had been achieving its objectives but not without challenges. Part of the challenges have been placed at the doorstep of the inadequate utilisation of the books ecosystem in achieving the set goals. The book ecosystem was also examined as a system that is vital not only to the educational development of the country but specifically to the implementation of the basic education programme in question. Challenges of the book ecosystem were discussed and the relationship which should exist between it and the Universal Basic Education programme was affirmed. It is hereby concluded that Government should ensure adequate and functional interaction between the basic education programme and the book ecosystem if the goals of the programme are to be fully realized. The following recommendations are, therefore, made:
- Updated book reviews should be commissioned in all subject areas in the basic education programme and Government should ensure adequate supply of these books to basic education students. Publishers, partnering with government can help to make this happen.
- The first recommendation should normally follow a determination by government to ensure, like before, a free supply of learning materials to all pupils in the schools.
- Government should ensure that every school has a functional library which is adequately furnished, equipped and stocked and which is manned by a trained librarian or assistant librarian.
- The Nigerian Book Fair Trust should put more effort to organising activities that will enhance the reading culture of Nigerians. Books fairs can be organised locally within States and Local Government Areas in collaboration with some other stakeholders in the ecosystem. So also should there be festivals and reading competitions.
REFERENCE
- Ayodele, J.B (2022). The Basis and the Basics of Basic Education for Sustainable
- Development in Nigeria. 62nd Inaugural Lecture, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.
- Centre for Public Impact (2017), Universal Basic Education in Nigeria Retrieved from www centre for publicimpact.orgat17.47 hrs on13th April, 2024.
- Fabunmi, M. (2019). Management in Education: The Integrity Question. 24th Inaugural Lecture, Modibbo-Adama University of Technology, Yola.
- Iorver, T.R. and Thomas, Y.A, (2022). The Role of School Libraries in the Implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme in UBE Junior Secondary Schools in Kwande Local Government Areas of Benue State, Nigeria.
- Larson, J, Allen, A.R. and Osborn, D. (2010), Curriculum and the Publishing Industry. U.S.A: Elsevier Ltd.
- Mason, C. (2020). The Importance of Books. Retrieved from takingjoyblog.wordpress.com at 11.58hrs on 17th April, 2024
- Tomomowo-Ayodele, S.O. (2018). Impact of Indigenous Publishing on Education Development in Nigeria: A case Study of Selected Publishers in Ibadan. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) 1803, https://digitalcommons.un/.edu/libphilprac/1803.
- UNESCO Digital Library (2016), Every Child Should Have a Textbook. Policy Paper 23, Global Education Monitory Report. Retrieved from Unesdoc.unesc.org at 12.09 hrs on 17th April, 2024.
