An Appraisal of Equal Educational Opportunities and its Implications for Peace and Development in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper appraised the concept of equal educational opportunities and its implications for peace and development in Nigeria. In the age of Plato, education was meant to make each person contribute his best in the stratum that he belonged. In consequence, all children were educated together at the nursery, kindergarten and primary school levels at the end of which they were streamed in accordance with their observed and demonstrated natural abilities. In Nigeria, equal access to education for all citizens of the country at primary, secondary and tertiary levels is guaranteed by the National Policy on Education. In equalizing educational opportunities, Plato outlined that education should be financed and controlled by the state. Impliedly there should be no private proprietorship. Again, education should be compulsory and not sex based, examining these against Nigerian education, the prevalence of private schools, non-prosecution of parents whose children roam the streets during school hours and low enrollment of the girl-child made the achievement of equal educational opportunities in Nigeria impossible. Resulting from the above failure, a sizeable number of school age children are out of the school. This category of Nigerians unleash vices of varying dimensions in the society ranging from suicide bombing, arm robbery, kidnapping and political thuggery. These cannot make for development thus unemployment; poverty and disease are prevalent in Nigeria. It is on the basis of these that it was concluded that in the absence of equal educational opportunities, Nigeria remains under developed. For her to develop, it was recommended that the National Policy on Education should be reviewed and Nigerians should be banned from going to school abroad.