PERCEIVED EFFECT OF UNDERFUNDING IN NIGERIAN EDUCATION

The place of funding in every sector of a nation’s economy is paramount, the paper x-rayed the views of educationists and other stakeholders in the education sector with regards to the effect of underfunding in the sector. The problem of the study stems from the fact that none of the over one hundred universities in Nigeria was rated among the best one hundred in the world. This has become a source of worry to Nigerians and other stakeholders and watchers of Nigerian education. The paper therefore examined the effect of underfunding of the educational sector. A sample size of250 stakeholders were randomly selected. Three (3) research questions were raised as follows; 1. What are the effects of under - funding in the Nigerian educational system, 2. What impact does Federal Government funding have on the educational system and lastly, what are the possible funding alternatives needed to revamp the educational sector. A Questionnaire titled PERCEIVED EFFECT OF UNDERFUNDING IN NIGERIAN EDUCATION (PEUNE) was designed and used to elicit responses from respondents. The research instrument is a 2-part questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. Part A consisted of 5 items while Part B had 15 items. Respondents were requested to tick their preferred options. The chi square statistical tool was used in analyzing the results of the collated questionnaire. The result of the analyzed data showed that poor educational output and continued underdevelopment of critical sectors of the economy amongst others are the most significant effects of underfunding of the educational sector of Nigeria. The second research question revealed that there are too little resources allocated to education by the government. The impact is therefore not significant. The third question elicited responses on possible funding alternatives, several options were proposed amongst which is the use of resources from company tax, direct budgetary allocations and several others. The paper concluded by making recommendations on the basis of the research findings. One of the recommendations is the need for the federal government to be alive to its responsibilities by ensuring that the annual budgetary allocation to education exceeds 25%.