EFFECT OF VITAMINS C AND E INTAKE ON BLOOD ... - EuroJournals

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Volume 2, Number I (2006)
Making Education Services Work for Rural Population
M. A. Adelabu
Department of educational administration and planning
Obafemi awolowo university,
Ile-ife,
Osun state
Nigeria
dupeadelabu@yahoo.com
Introduction
Since modern formal education was introduced in developing countries, there have been complaints
that education was too academic, not preparing children for life. The relevance of education was
challenged, particularly so, for rural areas ( Bergman 2002) This is not limited to primary education
only but also touched on secondary education. In view of this the Education For All Program for Sub-
Saharan Africa identifies the need to consider accelerated and non-formal alternative approach for
teaching underserved children particularly in remote and deprived environments. The bricks and mortar
systems of education appear not to have given desired results in terms of individual achievements and
skill development. Schooling in rural areas often has little to offer and has produced unemployable and
unemployed citizens without any marketable skills. Observations have also shown that the curricula
and textbooks in primary and secondary schools are often urban-based irrelevant to the needs of rural
people and seldom focused on crucial skills for life.
One of the six Education For All (EFA) goals agreed upon at Dakar in year 2000 stipulates that
learning needs of all young people and adults are to be met through equitable access to appropriate
learning and lifeskill programs. This is important in Nigeria in particular because of some identified
gaps in the education of the underserved rural population education. The rural population in Nigeria is
about 70% of the total population. The rural youth and children represent a substantial majority of this
population, yet their educational needs had been largely ignored. The rural schools operate the same
syllabus and the same curriculum with the urban schools without addressing the common problems of
the rural dwellers. The danger here is that a large number of learners in rural communities are
subjected to curricula that are irrelevant and hence incapable of nurturing their individual potentials as
well as their human rights. Today, growing up in the rural areas in Nigeria means growing up without a
decent education. This implies that school attendance is generally low, absenteeism is high particularly
during planting and harvesting seasons and drop out is generally high. Rural people are caught in the
vicious cycle of having no access to quality education, to gainful employment and to other services that
might lift them out of poverty.
Seventy eight percent of the rural population and 34% of the urban population in Nigeria live below
poverty line (Clearer and Donovan1995) see table 1. Education is a major determinant of poverty. Any
education given therefore must not only be qualitative, but must also address the needs of the people.
To this extent, the National Policy on Education (2005 revised.) section 1 (d) stipulates that there is
need for functional education for the promotion of a progressive and united Nigeria. To this end,
school programs need to be relevant, practical and comprehensive while interest and ability should
determine individuals direction in education. Nigeria’s philosophy of education therefore is based on
the integration of the individual into the community (section1, 5b). In consequence, the quality of
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