CAUSAL FACTORS OF LOW ENROLMENT RATES AT PRIMARY LEVEL OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: FOCUSES ON OYO AND OGUN STATES OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper is a descriptive survey which sought to ascertain the causal factors of low enrolment rates at primary level of education in Nigeria. This study was conducted in Oyo and Ogun States. The sample comprised 1554 primary school teachers in which were drawn by simple random sampling techniques. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was a 16 item questionnaire tagged ‘Socio-economic variables question (SEVQ) and school location factors questionnaires (SLFQ) developed by the researchers. The instrument was validated and an internal consistency of 0.89 and 0.81 respectively was calculated using Cronbach Alpha techniques. The data collected was analyzed using means and percentages for research questions and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for hypotheses at p<0.05. The finding revealed that children from a low stratified home with a low income were not allowed to have enrolment to primary school. Based on the findings, recommendations were that government should provide financial assistance or full scholarship to children at all level and evolve strategic planning method before new primary schools are established.