THE ROLE OF EDUCATION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN EKITI STATE
ABSTRACT
The role of education in the lives of
peoples socially, morally, physically and most importantly economically on
which this research study was based can not be underestimated simple random
sampling was used to select the sample for the study. eighty respondents were adequately given
research questionnaire that is, eighty questionnaires were distributed in each
of the area visited within the state capital of Ekiti
State (Ado – Ekiti precisely). There research question and research
hypothesis were tested using simple cartage.
It was deduced and crystally show that economic and education were the
pivotal of development, technology and good standard of living. It is therefore recommended that education
should take priority in the scheme of team, in government policy, parent should
unanimously send their children to school.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of content
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background to the study
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the study
Research Questions
Research Hypothesis
Significance of the study
Limitation to the study
Delimitation of the study
Definition of study
CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
Introduction
The Importance of Education in
Economic Development
Education and Health Services
Education and Productivity
Education and Income
Education and Family
Education and Trade
Challenges: Access, Equity, Quality,
and Speeding Up Reform
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology
Introduction
Research Design
Population of the study
Sample and Sampling Techniques
Research Instrument
Reliability and Validity of the
Instrument
Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Presentation, Analysis and
interpretations
Introduction
Research Objectives
Presentation of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary, Conclusion and
Recommendation
Introduction
Summary of Findings
Conclusion
Recommendations
REFERENCES
QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Ezeaku in Ndu and Emenogu (1996),
reiterate that national development and education are inseparable since
education is instrumental to the economic, political, social, administrative
and legal aspects of national development.
Education enhances economic growth, intellectual, social and legal
improvements of individuals and society to which they belong as well as the
political emancipation and international power of a nation.
Prior to the nineteenth century,
systematic investment in human capital was not considered especially important
in any country. Expenditures on
schooling, on – the – job training, and other similar forms of investment were
quite small. This began to change
radically during this century with the application of science to the
development of new goods and more efficient methods of production, first in Great Britain,
and then gradually in other countries.
During the twentieth century, education, skills, and the acquisition of
knowledge have become crucial determinants of a person’s and a nation’s
productivity. One can even call the
twentieth century the “Age of Human Capital” in the sense that the primary
determinant of a country’s standard of living is how well it succeeds in
developing and utilizing the skills and knowledge, and furthering the health
and educating the majority of its population.
Although different, human capital and
life – skills are jointly dependent. The
three human capital categories suggested by Lanzi: basic skills (reading,
writing), professional competencies (applied knowledge, technical skills), and
complex functionalities (problem solving ability, self learning skills) affect
human freedoms, and vice versa (Lanzi 2004, 5-6). No country has achieved
constant economic development without considerable investment in human capital.
Previous studies, Daudu (1987),
Oladebo (1990) and Ezenwafor (2009), have shown handsome returns to various
forms of human capital accumulation: basic education, research, training,
learning – by – doing and aptitude building.
For instance, professional competencies increase human capital
determining, higher productivity and income, but it has also a capacity to
enlarge human freedom because obtaining a better job can raise the level of
personal satisfaction, which remunerations for families including better family
health and nutrition, improved birth spacing, lower infant and child mortality,
and enhanced educational attainment of children. Education is also an important contributor to
technological capability and technical change in industry. Statistical analysis of the clothing and
engineering industries in Sri
Lanka, showed that the skill and education
levels of workers and entrepreneurs were positively related to the rate of
technical change of the firm (Deraniyagala, 1995).
Statement of the Problem
The relevance of education as a
panacea to individual and the national economic problems has been acknowledged
by both the government and several researchers.
Consequently, government has made huge investments at different times
for an effective implementation of education curricula which is a welcome
development in our educational sector.
However, the educational sector to
couple with the reaction of majority towards the ideology behind educational
development has failed the society in terms of birthing genuine and reliable
human capitals that would become a competitive resources for economic
development needs, equipping school leavers and tertiary institution graduates
with necessary competencies and skills for success which is adversely affecting
the nation economic developments etc. Ukeje (1983) had sounded a note of
warning about this development when he contended that what was happening in the
country was mass schooling rather than mass education because of the large
number of people who went to school and obtained certificates without being
educated.
The inefficiency in the educational
systems is a great burden on the percentage of the poverty level of individual
in Nigeria economy today and also a higher proportion of unemployed Nigerian
school leavers and graduates of different fields, who in the actual sense, are
unemployable as many of them lack the requisite competencies for economic
development and skills to meet employers’ demands for human capital needs, has
continued to rise and the society pays highly for the situation with increased
social vices such as cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping, political thuggery,
prostitution and different other forms of criminal activities which are capable
of ruining the image and reputation of the nation in the global arena and of
important is that they create a higher level of set – back for our economic
development.
Improving the level of training given
to the trainers (teacher), exploring and modifying the students curricular to
such that permit for standard required for human capital need and of important
economic development needs; in these regards the economic development of
individual as well as the country revenues are guaranteed.
Purpose of the study
The study focus on the role of
education on economic development in Ekiti
State. Specifically, the study seeks to determine
the following objectives in this study:
1)
To
examine socio – economics characteristics of the respondents in the study area.
2)
To
identify various problem of education in the study area.
3)
To
identify if there is a notable economic developments in the area with respect
to the level of educated respondents.
4)
To
assess the relationship between education and economic developments in the
study area.
Research Questions
The study will be guided by the
following research questions:
What role does education play in
economic development of Ekiti
State relative to:
1)
What
are the socio – economics characteristics of the respondents?
2)
What
are the various problem of education in the study area?
3)
Is
there a notable economic development in the area with respect to the level of
educated respondents?
4)
What
is the relationship between education and economic developments in the study
area?
Research Hypothesis
The following hypothesis will be
tested
Hypothesis 1:
Ho: There is no
significant difference in relationship between education and economic
developments in the study area.
Ho: There is significant
difference in relationship between education and economic developments in the
study area.
Significance of the study
Investment in quality education is
imperative to continue economic growth.
To foster a healthy, educated workforce, policymakers must make more
investments in effective education methods.
Moreover, there is increasing evidence that education has strong
economic returns and constitutes a major source of development. Also, reforms demand for efficient use of
time and enhance quality of education are absolutely necessary to sustain
growth.
Owing, to all this importance role of
education on economic development, it is very imperatives to put forward this
study, which will be made available for policy maker to style for operative
policy construction.
The proposed study will also reveal
the gaps in education preparation programs and policy in the state to enable
government take appropriate measures to bring the programs to world
standard. If this happens, educators and
their students will benefit immensely because it will adequately equip them
with required competencies for man power use and progress as well as enhance
their global competitive ability.
Nigerian employers, business and industries will as well benefit
immensely because they will have middle level manpower with relevant
competencies and skills for effective performance and greater productivity.
The state and the Nigerian society
will benefit because as more of its youths are educated and progress on the
job, unemployment and its attendant consequences of cultism, armed robbery,
political thurggery, prostitution and youth restiveness generally will be
significantly reduced.
Finally, all the foregoing benefits
will earn the nation and its government enhanced reputation and competitive
ability in the global arena to attract foreign investors for greater
socio-economic development.
Limitation to the study
This main limitation of this study
are constraints of resources, access, and time.
This finance and materials resources
needed for a larger sample size for this study is inadequate. It is also not likely that the resources
would have access to every locality of Ekiti State
and its suburbs for respondents to fill the questionnaire.
Language is also another access
limitation as it is difficult translating some questions and statements into
the local dialects perfectly.
This limitation in particular,
accounted for delimiting this study into searching for a notable learned fellow
to answer some of the question as it is educational base.
This study is also constrained by
time. It is contracted within limited
academic time. Unfortunately, that diet
not allow us to use a larger sample population which is a perquisite for reliability
of a surveys that aim at generalizing findings and making inferences about the
collected data.
Delimitation of the study
The study was delimited to only a
selected town of Ekiti
State for the role of education in their economic development to make
inferences for the whole state.
Again only notable learners fellow
are selected for the sampling. Moreover
respondents in this study is based only on an individual rather an
institutions.
Finally the population sampled in
this study is delimited to a sizeable number of respondents.
Definition of study
Economic development: can be defined
as “a sustained community effort to improve both the local economy and the
quality of life by building the area’s capacity to adapt to economic change”
(Loveriolge Morse).
It also refers to the enhancement of
economic activity in the community.
It is also define as an increase in
what an economy can produce if it is using all its scarce resources.
Education: can be defined as a form
of learned in which the knowledge, skills and habits of a group of people are
transferred from one generation to the text through teaching, training, on
research.
