Early Childhood Education and Care: Reliable Instrument for Achieving Social Justice in Nigeria

Abstract

The private sector has regrettably dominated the provision of education for persons aged 0-5 otherwise called early childhood education and care, thereby making education in Nigeria at this level elitist and this portends great danger to even development and equality of access to education and other social goods in addition to constituting an affront to a state that claims it is committed to the pursuit of egalitarian and welfare policies for its citizens. Employing the philosophical methods, this paper focuses on the benefits of early childhood education and care and how the involvement of the government in its provisions can be a reliable platform for engineering and mounting a sustainable social justice system in Nigeria. The paper strongly maintains that through early childhood education and care, Nigeria can institute a sustainable social justice system where equality of access to education and other social goods can be guaranteed to all Nigerians in addition to Nigeria making positive commitments to changes in her body polity. The paper finally makes recommendations on ways forward for involving the Nigerian government in making social justice a reality through early childhood education and care.

Keywords: Early childhood education and care, social justice, equality, welfare, Nigeria, Private sector