CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education has become one of the most powerful instruments through which a child acquires knowledge, skills, habits, values and attitudes in modern societies. It is also used for laying the foundation for sustainable growth and development of a nation. This explains why the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) stipulates that every Nigerian child has a right to education for the purpose of engendering national development. National development is achieved through pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. At the lower and middle basic education which is from primary 1-6, the child is expected to develop the ability to read, write, and do arithmetic. According to the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004), primary education is the education given to children aged 6 to 11 plus. It is at this level that the rest of education system is built upon; it is the key to the success or failure of any educational system. The World Bank (2006) has rightly stated that primary education is the foundation of all learning and the first phase of lifelong education. Primary education is one of the levels of the educational system, and it runs for six years. It is aimed at developing basic skills as well as transmission of the culture of the people to younger generations.

These basic skills prepare a child for future life in society. In other words, primary education helps to eradicate illiteracy which seems to be one of the strongest predictors of poverty. Primary education appears to be the only level of education that is available in both developed and the developing countries as well as in urban and rural areas.