Reassessing the Link between Government Spending on Education and National Development in Nigeria (Published)
The study examined the relationship between government spending on education and national development in Nigeria using secondary data from the period 2001 to 2017. The study adopted gross domestic product as proxy for national development and the dependent variable; while government spending on education (representing Federal Government annual budgetary provision for the education sector) and inflation were used as the explanatory variables. Time series data for the study period was collected from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Official Gazette. The study employed descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis based on the E-view 10 software as techniques of data analysis. The results provided evidence that government spending of education had significant positive effect on national development (at 5% level), while inflation had an insignificant effect on national development (at 13%). Overall, the study concluded that government spending on education has statistically significant positive effect on national at 5% with a probability of F-statistics value of 0.000000. This means that government spending on education will enhance the availability of high level manpower that will ultimately bring about improvements in productivity leading to increase in national development. Based the findings, the study recommend that government should increase annual budgetary allocation to education sector to 26% of total annual budget in line with the UNESCO requirements; that the responsible organs of government should set targets and goals aimed at minimizing as much as possible (if not completely eradicating) misappropriation of funds.
Keywords: Education, Government spending, Inflation, National Development, Output, Productivity
Organization and Management of Early Childhood Education Program: An Evaluation on Subur Sejahtera Kindergarten, Kendari, Indonesia (Published)
The objective of this research is to describe the implementation of early childhood education program (ECEP) at Kindergarten of Subur Sejahtera Kendari, Indonesia. This research uses qualitative method, with Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) model evaluation design adopted from Daniel Stufflebeam (2003). The results of the study indicate that: (1) the context component covering the legal basis of the program has been fulfilled; (2) the input components that include human resources in the form of teachers and staff have been fulfilled, with appropriate academic qualifications, and adequate facilities and infrastructures; (3) the learning process implementation component has shown sufficient circumstances in accordance with those required in the national curriculum; and (4) product components covering output and outcomes are in good category. Thus, it can be concluded that the implementation of ECEP at Subur Sejahtera Kindergarten, Indonesia is in accordance with national standards of early childhood education. The suggestions that can be put forward are: (1) the competence of the kindergarten teachers still need to be improved; (2) the quality of teaching and learning process need to be improved; and (3) the teaching and learning process need to be managed more effectively by taking into account the developmental aspects required in accordance with national standards of education.
Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Management, Organization, Output, input.