History of education

History of Education in
Nigeria
Brief History of Education in Nigeria
Western or formal education was started in
Nigeria in 1842 — only at the primary level —
by the Christian missionaries who managed
the educational system according to their
respective philosophies.
The missionary organizations available then
were the Chord missionary society, the
Wesleyan Methodist, and the Catholic.
Secondary education was established in 1859
and the first secondary school was CMS
Grammar school, Lagos. The reason behind
the delay of secondary schools was not well
known. Though, there are insinuations that it
was because the missionaries thought that
secondary education can induce some critical
thinking in people, which may not be helpful
for their policies.
During this period, the British colonial
government couldn’t interfere in the education
system due to some political and financial
factors. But in 1872, they started to intervene
in the education system by giving donations to
the missionary societies to support education.
In 1882, the colonial government brought a
document- Education ordinance, with the aim
of having total control on education. This was
their first formal pronouncement in education
in Nigeria. Schools were classified then into
Government and private school. The
government school were financed entirely
through public funds but the private only
receive little aid from public fund
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The 1882 education ordinance was
cumbersome to implement in Nigeria because
the curriculum, the method, and the medium of
communication was too foreign for a Nigerian
child. All these led to the failure of the
ordinance and another ordinance was provided
in 1887. The new ordinance was seen as the
first effective effort made by the colonial
government to aid education. Though, only
some metropolises in Lagos were covered
then.
More foreign teachers were employed, more
schools were established and financial
encouragements were given to the missions,
voluntary agencies and private individuals to
establish more schools.
After amalgamation, Lord Fredrick Lugard- then
the Governor General of Nigeria, set up some
new ideas. These ideas form major part of
1916 ordinance. The ordinance came into
existence exactly on 21st of December, 1916.
Since the ordinance took place after
amalgamation, it was able to take care of the
country as a whole.
The northerners had for long been resisting the
intrusion of western education either from the
colonial government or the missionaries.
Lugard met with leaders from the north to
convince them that the education will not affect
the Islamic tradition which is more paramount
to the northerners.
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After 73 years from the date of establishment
of the first secondary school, the first higher
education institution was established in 1932.
The first institution was the Yaba Higher
College. The college was established in 1932,
but commenced studies in1934.
In 1948, The University College Ibadan was
created, starting with just 104 students. The
number of universities rose from one to five in
1962. And in the 1970s and 1980s, an
appreciable number of higher institutions was
established. Statistics show that, in 1980, the
number of students that gained admission into
primary school was about 12 million, 1.2
million for secondary school, and 240,000 at
the university level.
Today, western education has suffered many
damages. The standard of education that the
schools were known for is no more. Nigerian
university graduates lack the proper knowledge
and skills to acquire employment. Measures
must be put in place for Nigerian education to
attain its past glory.