Primary Enrolment and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Abstract

Over the years, enrolment rates of school-aged children have significantly been declining in spite of government efforts at stimulating school enrolment in Nigeria. It is equally discovered that while primary enrolment is nominally increasing, in real terms, it is abysmally nose-diving. Therefore, this paper examined the impact of primary school enrolment on economic growth in Nigeria between 1980 and 2010. The study utilized the Ordinary Least Square estimation techniques to analyze the empirical model of the study. The findings of the empirical investigation confirm that primary enrolment is veritable tools through which appreciable economic growth can be enhanced in Nigeria. The study equally observed that primary enrolment exhibit a strong predictive power in explaining variation in economic growth in Nigeria. The paper therefore recommends that there is need for government to adequately and conscientiously fund the education sector in the light of weak and sluggish trend of primary enrolment in Nigeria. Effective collaboration between the government and private sector is also considered indispensible for the development of education sector in Nigeria.

Keywords: Government expenditure on education, Minimum wage rate, Students-Teacher ratio and Primary enrolment