THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPACITY BUILDING AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR AN EXAMINATION A CASE STUDY OF SOKOTO STATE TEACHER’S SERVICE BOARD

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPACITY BUILDING AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR AN EXAMINATION A CASE STUDY OF SOKOTO STATE TEACHER’S SERVICE BOARD

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The concept of capacity building has become a buzz word in education reform discourse internationally both in developed and emerging economies. However, despite its wide usage, it is an often misunderstood social construct. For conceptual clarity then, capacity building has to  do  with the allocation of, and investment in resources- physical, intellectual or human especially when other intervening variables have failed within a given institutional or social context.

To a certain extent, a systematic focus on capacity building within a given social sector in most societies, is a indication of disequilibrium within that particular sector even though capacity building should, ideally and

proactively, be an integral part of strengthening social institutions and providing enabling conditions of premium performance by the individuals within the sector. Why should governments and other policy makers focus on capacity building? According to McDonnell and Elmore (1991, as cited in Delaney, 2002) the benefits of capacity building are consequential, “in the short term, (they accrue) to the specific individuals and institutions that are their recipients, but the ultimate beneficiaries are future members of society, whose interests cannot be clearly determined in the present”. Crucially, for capacity building to be effective, it must respond to the growth and development needs of the individual as well as those of the relevant institutions. For all practical purposes, building

teacher capacity is, ultimately, engendering development, growth and excellence within an education system.

Why advocate capacity building and what is the likely impact on teaching and learning and subsequently, the educational success of students in Nigeria, the problems within the teaching sector in Nigeria are by now quite well known even to cursory observers who have only a passing interest in education. Currently, there is a general perception that a significant number of Nigeria teachers are not equipped to deliver quality education for a number of interconnected reasons chief among them being training- related issues (policy, structural and curricular), infrastructural limitations and low morale.

Many agree that Nigerian education no longer offers to beneficiaries what is used to. The colossal level of student

failure in the country is a clear indication of the fact that there are significant problems within the system. Data  from

W.A.E.C and NECO examination results from the last several years show that less than 30% of the students who sat for these examinations received credit in mathematics and English Language, This means that students in Nigeria are not receiving the kind of education that will prepare them for life in a competitive 21st Century world that demands innovation, creativity, critical thinking skills, vision, adaptable and transferable skills.  Increasing  student achievement depends on teachers whose performance in turn, hinges on building their capacity.  With regards to economic development, it should be emphasized  that the  quality  of education  as demonstrated

by the quality of teaching, facilities and curricula, matters  in very important ways (Todaro and Smith, 2012).

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPACITY BUILDING AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR AN EXAMINATION A CASE STUDY OF SOKOTO STATE TEACHER’S SERVICE BOARD

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPACITY BUILDING AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR AN EXAMINATION A CASE STUDY OF SOKOTO STATE TEACHER’S SERVICE BOARD