The Nigeria education system and vision 20: 2020: A critical development planning perspective

The study examines the call for Nigeria becoming one of the twenty most developed economies by the year 2020, as it relates to development planning in Nigeria using the educational system as a unit of analysis. It aims at examining the relevance of this call within the context of existing facilities in the Nigeria educational system--both material and human--from the point of view of academic planning. It adopts a historical research methodology of analysis using purely secondary data drawn from statutory documents and other sources. The study observes among other things, a worrisome disposition of the country's educational system in terms of worsening commitments of stakeholders to the maintenance and expansion of existing facilities and poor funding of this sector by the public authorities. Thus, the study believes has seriously imperil the country's readiness for the Vision 20:2020 as education remains the bedrock of any form of national development. The study therefore suggests, among other planning strategies, an improved funding for education, and a deliberate effort at improving the status, motivation and the overall conditions of service of teachers which it is hoped, will help in reversing this ugly trend in the Nigerian educational system if the vision 20:2020 is ever to be realized.