Challenges Facing the Implementation of Teacher-Students Ratio Policy in Nigerian Educational System and the Ways Forward

Abstract

The National policy on (1) prescribes a student-teacher ratio of 1:25 for pre-primary classes; 1:35 for primary and 1:40 for secondary schools. The policy are supposed to be adherence to by all educational institutions in the country but it is unfortunate that many public and private schools classroom are overpopulated. This articled examines the challenges facing the implementation of student-teacher ratio policy as drafted in the National policy on education. The article used secondary data to thrown light on points raised in this article. We identified the following as the challenges facing the implementation of student-teacher ratio policy and they includes: inadequate funding, inadequate teachers, inadequate infrastructural facilities, weak quality assurance agencies, lack of political will and corruption. To solve the challenges identified and to ensure implementation of student-teacher ratio policy in Nigeria, the article suggests that the government should: provide adequate funding, employ more professional teachers, provision of more infrastructural facilities, strengthen the quality assurance control agencies, fight institutional corruption and ensure population control.