Disparity in the Admission Process for Unity Colleges in Federal Capital Territory Abuja: Implication on Access to Quality Education in Nigeria.
- Asebiomo (PhD) & Adebayo Lawrence OJO
Abstract
Upon the need to build a more egalitarian society and a more regionally integrated national economy, the quota system and the catchment areas federal government policies was formulated to bridge the gap between the educationally developed states and the educationally less developed states. This study therefore examined the disparity in the admission process for Unity Colleges in Nigeria and it implication on access to quality education in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Nigeria. One research question and a null hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was all staff in the federal unity colleges in FCT Abuja. A sample of 120 was drawn through stratified proportionate sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a structural questionnaire titled “Disparity in Admission Process in Unity Colleges Questionnaire (DAPUCQ). Mean scores and standard deviations were used to answer the research question, whereas t-test statistics were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there is a significant positive influence of the merit system of admission on quality of education in unity schools while there was no significant influence of the categorization of educationally disadvantaged states, catchment area and discretion systems of quota admission on the quality of education. Based on the findings in this study, it is recommended among others, that Unity College’s admission should be purely on merit. The quota system of admission at secondary school level, which has its roots in the federal character policy, negates the principle of fairness, equality and justice and should be abolished.
Keywords: Impact, quota system, catchment area, policy, unity colleges, admission, quality education