REINVENTING THE LEGAL POLICY OF STATE REGULATIONS OF EDUCATION FOR EXPANDING THE FRONTIERS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The importance of the human rights to education and national development and their link is highly evident. No serious government takes the right to education of the citizens lightly because education impacts on national development. Certain efforts have been made by the Nigerian government to grant the right to education, among which are free, universal basic education and special intervention funding of tertiary institutions which has been limited to public tertiary institutions. A doctrinal study of the relevant legal frameworks and statistics available shows that the government needs to show more commitment to grant the basic level of education rights it is posturing to be serious about. The study also shows that there are gaps in the coverage of the laws regulating free basic education and in funding of tertiary education through the tertiary education tax but not with respect to Petroleum Technology Development Fund, both of which has not been applied to favour private tertiary institutions. This paper recommends some legal and policy thrusts to make the grant of free universal basic education more meaningful; to extend the application of the proceeds of tertiary education funds to all tertiary institutions, public and private, and to place priority on scholarship and research sponsorship in Nigerian tertiary institutions; all with the goal of enhancing national development.