Understanding quality education for children within a multi-cultural setting like Lagos state is embedded in complex networks and cycles in various social, economic and political domains. Many of the respondents identified the internal structure of the political terrain in Nigeria, and specifically in Lagos state, as germane to quality assessment in ECCE. Activities and decision that emanate from the political system, which is pluralistic and complex, seem to have dominated assessment measures in early childhood institutions. Ibiyemi, a teacher, remarked, “education has been politicised”. During a further discussion with Ibiyemi, she described the controlling influence of politically minded officials in education thus:
“When a politician without requisite skills takes over the work of a technocrat and starts dictating what is supposed to be done in schools, there is bound to be failure. Also, there are so many people who gate crashed into the teaching profession. We need professionals who will be able to give advice on the care and education of children” (Ibiyemi)
There have been multi-layered influences of political interventions on educational programmes that have spanned through political parties’ dispensations and ideologies in Lagos state. In the opinion of Wallin and Gunnar (1982), educational institutions are subset of political affairs, which are in turn susceptible to pressures from outside world. The implication is that
educational ideologies that emanate from the Nigerian political processes underlie ECCE provision and management and are significant to understanding quality in children’s services. Moreover, the school system is perceived as made up of institutions where governments’ aspirations and concerns for the citizens are established. This places the understanding of quality education in schools within the active role that government plays. For instance, school policies are subject to national and state policy directives, which are further influenced by global protocols.
Undoubtedly, over the years, educational services in Nigeria have continued to witness increased governmental intervention. This might be connected with the assumption of Baguma and Aheisibwe (2011:31) that education seems to remain chiefly a “global public good” because of government vested interests in international relations. It might be that government continued pursuit of this good indicates that they do not want to lose benefits from international politics and interventions in educational programmes. Odogbolu, a teacher naively talked about this by stating:
“… ECCE in public schools is a new initiative in the state and the country. All state governments are making sure that we meet up with international requirements and standards.” (Odogbolu)
During a discussion with Odogbolu, it became clear that quality education can be understood within the framework of political intentions for the aims of education for young children at a specific time. All the teachers were aware of the import of political order on the notion of quality in any educational setting. The older teachers revealed this by constantly referring to changing and
different emphases of education. For instance, they talked about the roles of defunct school inspectors, emphasis on practical work in agriculture and creative art, high moral discipline and respect as opposed to high academic performance in the present era.
Specifically, the educational context of children’s care and education in Lagos state can be said to have an entrenched admiration for the moral and intellectual essence of education. Young children, who used to be seen as naïve and feeble, are expected to be fixed into the formal order of acquiring knowledge in order to produce learned and economically productive citizens. Emphasis on learning achievements and standards through acquisition of measurable skills are the focal points of government’s recent declarations (see Section 4.5 for more details). There is no doubt that the government’s sole support for the formal aspect of schooling for children aged 5-6 years (NERDC, 2013) elucidates the perceived aim of education in contemporary times. Government seems to be interested in anything that can yield tangible results from objective evaluation. Over the years this has affected teachers’ professionalism as public ECCE settings are handled by staff who do not have pre-requisite certificates in child development. Invariably, ECCE settings are seen as any other classroom learning environment for older pupils.
The representation of children as “young adults” and not “children” (Dahlberg, Moss and Pence, 2007) appears to have permeated political and educational institutions, and caused a change in the socio-cultural perception of childhood. This can be traced to what Postman (1985) argues as “the disappearance of childhood through media and international relations” (see Chapter Two). For
instance, the National Policy on Education (NERDC, 2013) states that “education as an instrument for national development and social change... is based on the development of the individual into a sound and effective citizen”.
Many of the respondents perceived assessment as a formal procedure that often showcases government interventions and its concerns for unifying quality standards across the state; these standards are expected to be in line with international prototypes. A teacher stated:
“You know…. One thing I discovered about early childhood education programme is that all over the world, the issue of ECCE is now very important; our government too are also buying into the idea. It achieves government’s goal of children being able to read and write” (Fuluya)
Moreover, the dawn of modern realities signalled by significance of paper work has led to the neglect of traditional principles and skills in the Nigerian educational system. It looks as if the assertion of Dewey (1986) that “the
subject-matter of education which consist of bodies of information and of skills that have been worked out in the past” does not apply to the organisation of
young children’s learning activities. Over time, the aims of education and learning outcomes have been reduced to economic importance and labour market operations. In many of the classroom observations, children’s learning was characterised by academic activities in Literacy, Mathematics, and other subjects. There was minimal time for play activities. However, as relevant as this educational ideology may seem to be, postmodern perspectives on ECCE assessment have called for its criticism. Dahlberg, Moss and Pence (2007) argue that one of the dominant emphases of the modern approach to quality assessment in ECCE, which measures how much technically manipulated
knowledge a child has acquired, does not represent a hegemony of progressive education in every context. What I observed is that education as a means of pursuing a career and securing a better future has been rigorously pursued in Lagos state, Nigeria. Ayo, a parent, remarked:
“Paper work is what the society recognises; society will judge you on how much paper work you are able to do and use- your qualifications. If that is what the society wants from the school system, then it has to be so… but note that there has been a distortion of values somewhere along the line" (Ayo)
Another defining feature of the contextual particularities in Lagos state ECCE is the area of the socio-cultural value system. Lagos state ECCE settings are characterised by differentiated social and cultural attitudes to children care and education based on the cultural position of children’s families. Observational studies revealed that whilst traditional childrearing practices are mostly not being practised in schools, teachers relate to children based on their prior knowledge of children’s family cultural background. In other words, teachers relate with children according to parents’ stance on childrearing practices. There are different levels of social stratification based on class, economic background and cultural identity. However, I observed a divide between modern and traditional cultural practices. Fuluya, a teacher described the situation thus:
“…it sometimes depends on the parents. There are some parents that will dictate the kind of approach they want the teachers teaching their wards to adopt in the classroom. For instance, I have some parents who even teach me on the latest modern way, while other will tell you to train them according to what the culture demands” (Fuluya)
As noted by Kasongo (2010), culture syncretism, an amalgamation of cultures, is an aspect of globalization which has continued to evolve transformations in economic and social development across the globe, not least in relation to the cultural outlook of the affected community. In the opinion of Sijuwade (2006) and Baguma and Aheisibwe (2011), the importation of international cultural practices have brought some level of changes to childrearing cultural heritage in many African countries, which have consequently resulted in the concomitant loss of control over what goes on in ECCE settings. It can be adjudged that the educational context in Lagos ECCE reflects an environment of cultural anxieties and dilemmas in an attempt to achieve radical change towards a very modern way of bringing up children.
Parents and teachers at some points have had to reach painful compromises on the appropriateness of what constitutes quality education for children, while upholding socio-cultural values. Such compromises include discipline, language use, and the preservation of traditional music and art. From observation, it is clear that society is segmented along economic, social and cultural inequalities. Ade, a teacher respondent described the state of economic inequality that privatisation of education has brought into the educational sector and its consequent social stratification effect on the society and education of children as follows:
“There is so much inequality in the country now. Everyone is just trying to find their levels when it comes to education, the rich have their own schools and the poor know their levels; the rich knows what is good for them and can afford it. The poor accepts whatever they are offered as suitable” (Ade)
“… As a nation, we have always been struggling with how our educational sector can really meet our needs. More so, during this economic downturn period, I hope we will get it right one day” (Nifesi)
From these teachers’ perspectives, economic decisions within the political sphere affect the ways to think through quality education for children. They referred to the deplorable state of facilities in schools, inadequate funding and late payment of teachers’ salary as some of the challenges.
Furthermore, a remarkable feature of ECCE in Lagos state is the distinction in educational and care delivery between public and private schools. It was observed that although both service providers follow the same guidelines for teaching and learning, public providers do not give attention to modern ECCE practices like their private counterparts. In many of the public pre-schools, there exist traditional ways of child’s training. Many of the respondents admitted that though there is increased government intervention, private provision will continue to take the lead in delivering contemporary ECCE services.
4.3. Educating children in Nigeria: Exploring global processes