THE 9-3-4 SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AND ITS EFFECT ON EDUCATIONAL STANDARD IN OSUN STATE OF NIGERIA: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

Education is the right of every child and government is to ensure that every child has access to quality education in order to have a developed and decent society. This empirical study assessed the 9-3-4 system of education and its effect on educational standards in Osun State in order to engender areas of improvement. Using the purposive sampling technique, 6 private schools, 3 of which were private primary schools and 3 private secondary schools, 5 public primary schools, 5 public middle schools and 5 public high schools were selected from each of the three selected local government areas making a total of 61 schools. 5 members of staff including the head mistress/masters at the primary level, principals and at least one vice principal at the secondary level and two senior teachers were purposively selected from each of the schools and copies of questionnaire were administered to them. Interviews were also conducted in order to elicit information about the 9-3-4 system of education in Osun State of Nigeria. The study revealed that the system was fully implemented across the public secondary schools in the State while it was moderately implemented across the private schools that were sampled in Osun State. Also, the study revealed that the system had no positive effect on students' and teachers' performances and most of the mandates of the 9-3-4 system of education were not fulfilled. The study therefore concluded that there is no relationship between standard of education in Osun State and the 9-3-4 system of education. The study recommended that the state government should make adequate funds available to the coordinating agencies and recruit more qualified teachers to teach students in the various primary and secondary schools in the State