Equality Of Educational Opportunities In Access To University Education: A Case Of Policy Implementation In Sokoto State, Nigeria
Loading...
Date
2016-06
Authors
Jibirin Salihu, Muftahu
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The overarching aim of the study is to investigate the policy implementation towards the equality of educational opportunity which focuses on the context of higher education in Sokoto State, Nigeria, with specific attention to the issue of access to university education. In line with this principal aim, this study looks into several issues in relation to policy implementation towards access to university. These include the policymakers and policy implementers’ views on the existing university admission policy, the state of practice of the policy implementation in addressing the issue, the views on other policy practice and the recommendations for changes or improvement on the existing policy as well as its implementation on access to university education. The study adopted qualitative approach to gain insightful understanding on the issue of the study employing a semi-structure interview and policy documents as the means for obtaining the data and other relevant information for the study. The participants of the study were purposively chosen which comprise of a number of individuals from related organisation which responsible for the policies development and implementation of Nigerian higher education system. The major finding of the study indicate that the policy implementation in addressing the problem of equal opportunity to access to the university education was intended to bridge the gap between the two main regions (southern and northern) of the country. Despite the policy granted the quota for the states which considered being educationally less developed, there still exists a huge gap between the southern and the northern region of the country in relation to the opportunities in access to the university education. The study has also identified a number of problems and challenges in the implementation of the policy,
including the failure of some states to fill the allocated quota granted due to the lack of qualified candidates, as well as the situation where some other states produced multiple qualified candidates beyond their allocated quota. Several initiatives have been taken in the policy implementation stage to address this problem including the introduction of the University Matriculation Program as an alternative route for enhancing opportunity to access to the university education.
Description
Keywords
The equality of educational opportunity which focuses on the context , of higher education in Sokoto State, Nigeria.