Universal Basic Education and National Development: Issues and the Way Out

Education has been identified as one of the best financial investitment any government can make. Education is a human right and indispensible means of realising other human right. .Studies has shown that a good basic education is a sine qua non for subsequent progress in the life of an average citezen. The Nationalm Policy on Education 2004 opined that basic education is the key to the success or failure of the whole system since the rest of the education is built on it.  A good basic education provides a background and foundation that gruarantees better educational attainment in the future. The Universal Declarattion of Human Right in article 13 (1) of the convention stated that “education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality”. It also added in Article 13(2) that primary education must be universal, ensure that basic learning needs of all children are satisfied and take into account the culture, needs and opportunities of the community. The above stated policies and conventions have serious implication for the financing and management of educational programmes and provision of funds for the realization of the objectives of basic education. Based on this therefore, the paper focused on the discusion of brief over view of universal primary education, conceptual clarification, impact of universal basic education on national development, issues in universal basic education and national developmen. The papewr finally made some suggestions on the way out in solving problems facing universal basic education in Nigeria.