Nowadays, a number of countries demonstrate good attempts to improve their political, economic, and social relationships. As a rule, positive changes are associated with education and the level of literacy that people are able to achieve. Shapiro (2015) explains education as the key to global development and underlines his concerns about the impossibility of identifying its shortage as an international priority.
Countries are divided into developed and developing in accordance with their statuses, achievements, the quality of life, and other factors that contribute to social inequality. In this essay, attention will be paid to Nigeria, as a representative of developing countries, and Sweden, as one of the developed countries, to understand the connection between financial problems and education systems. Foreign aid, additional funding, and access to new credible resources are obligatory for many developing countries to change their status and get an opportunity to obtain improvements in education and, thus, in employment or human resource management.
The evaluation of the education systems in Sweden and Nigeria will prove the need for increased literacy levels and the solution of financial problems to find out the balance between developed and developing countries.
Research Methods and Their Worth in Discussing Education
The discussion of education systems and related social inequality is a considerable part of this social science research. The goal is not only to discover the major challenges and find out a solution but to build scientific knowledge and explain the chosen social phenomena through the prism of appropriate methods. To gather enough material and answer the questions about the effects of social inequality in education and the connection between financial and literacy problems, qualitative and quantitative methods can be offered. Bryman (2016) introduced content analysis, structured observations, interviews, and focus groups as the major sources to gather information on a topic.
These methods are effective in defining personal and common facts and obtaining direct answers to the questions. However, in the majority of cases, such information remains biased due to the presence of a personal factor in the discussion. Meta-analysis and literature search are the methods that contribute to the field of education and enhance the comparison of the education system in the chosen countries. The use of key performance indexes and the results of recent reports in developed and developing countries will be used.
Effects of a Developing Country in the Education System
A cycle of poverty has a tremendous impact on developing countries. In addition to the absence of credible resources and poor identification of basic needs, such countries do not have an opportunity to change something. Recent statistics are not promising because Winthrop (2015) discovered that, using available systems, the student population of developing countries might need about 100 years to catch up on the literacy level of students in developed countries.
Education is one of the basic human rights that becomes a serious global burden as many children who live in poverty cannot develop their learning abilities. In his article, Rieckert (2019) identified such barriers in education as the lack of funding, untrained personnel, no classrooms or their distance from homes, poor nutrition, high costs, and even gender biases. These effects must not be ignored because it is hard to solve many of them, and some of them continue growing and challenging the quality of life in such a country like Nigeria.
Evidence for low achievements may be discovered by evaluating the Global Innovation Index that measures sophistication in different fields or the Global Competitiveness Index that defines an overall situation in a country. Nigeria represents a lower-middle-income group with a rank below 100 (114th) (Dutta, Lanvin, & Wunsch-Vincent, 2019). It says about the impossibility of the country to improve its education system using available human capital and infrastructure. Sweden, as a representative of developed countries, demonstrates high results in innovation (2nd position), which influences its opportunities in the field of education and knowledge absorption (6th position) (Dutta et al., 2019).
In regards to national competitiveness, Sweden continues improving its positions by adding one point in the rank, and Nigeria has lost one point, showing its weaknesses in different areas (Schwab, 2019). Education remains dependent on various economic and international factors in Nigeria, and the government fails to find an effective solution to close the existing gap.
Nigeria Without Financial Problems
Taking into consideration the current situation in Nigeria, a number of problems turn out to be evident. Being a middle-income country, it continues expanding its financial, technology, and manufacturing departments to stabilize its economy and discover new ways to improve the system of education. Today, the economic problems are rooted in the inability of the government to make the right decisions and cooperate with society and other countries (Kalau, 2019). A good education is one of the ways to increase human capital and stabilize economic growth (van Hiel et al., 2018). Therefore, it is important to identify what future can be observed in Nigeria if no financial problems would be there.
As soon as Nigerians solve their financial concerns, they would get a chance to focus on their personal development and education. Corruption is a threat to the economic sector when huge sums of money remain uncontrollable and are spent for unknown purposes (Human Rights Watch, 2019). Nigeria could be a leading exporter of oil due to its access to natural oil resources and reserves (Rafindadi & Ogidan, 2018; Salami, 2018).
The need for oil is observed in many developed countries, and they would be ready to cooperate with Nigeria and fund its development. For example, Sweden shows good results in management, business relationships, and education, but it does not have constant oil resources, so it tries to find credible partners for import (Kaijser & Högselius, 2019). Nigeria can be an excellent option with the possibility to exchange human resources and experiences in the improvement of their education systems. Thus, the absence of financial problems is not only a chance to avoid negative outcomes of corruption but a great chance to influence the development of literacy in Nigeria.
Increased Levels of Literacy in Developing Countries
Modern developing countries are challenged by the need to search for additional sources of funding, professionals, and support. The example of Nigeria proves the possibility of the country to take reasonable steps and observe improvements in different fields. In the middle of the 1900s, the Nigerian government successfully implemented a variety of policies in the education sector, which strengthened its military base and readiness to protect (Kolade, 2019). Today, social changes are hard to control, and such events like abductions, bombings, and regular attacks occur (Human Rights Watch, 2019). They prevent children from visiting schools and continue their learning processes, which influences their level of literacy and further development.
The solutions to such problems depend on both the government and society. The government must restructure the sector and find additional funding sources. Cooperation with Sweden or other developed countries where oil resources are restricted is the first step that can be taken. The analysis of education standards in the country and comparison with other countries should help identify the main roots of problems (Kolade, 2019).
Right investments, as well as strong management, are encouraged (van Hiel et al., 2018). If the government defines specific grants, people could demonstrate their desire to compete and develop their research skills (Olawale, 2017). Corruption control and the removal of malpractices should also change the attitude of young people to teaching and learning processes.
A Balance of Education System in Nigeria and Sweden
A balance of education systems in Nigeria and Sweden is a cherished dream of many Nigerians. However, the differences in Global Innovation and Competitiveness Indexes that contain more than one hundred points prove the impossibility to achieve the desired results in the nearest future (Dutta et al., 2019; Schwab, 2019). However, the example of Sweden and the success of its governmental activities can encourage Nigerian leaders to think about the potential improvements in education in their country.
Society’s desire to improve their literacy and learn new material is a core principle for changes. Nowadays, people have extensive access to technological devices and the Internet to exchange information and enhance their levels of knowledge. In exchange for oil resources, Sweden may share its innovations with Nigeria and contribute to learning opportunities. Therefore, the balance in education between developed and developing countries should not be interpreted as the same levels of literacy and the number of human resources but the level of impact education can have on its citizens.
High Education System in Sweden
There are many examples and stories that prove the effectiveness of education in Sweden. One of the core reasons for high standards is the identification of the learning needs of children by parents (Sandström, Lundqvist, & Axelsson, 2019). A high level of professionalism among class teachers, the role of policy-makers, and the promotion of inclusive and special education strengthen the education system in the country (Sandström et al., 2019).
Another important implication is the role of the government and the presence of funding and financial support for learners. There are no distinctions between students, and all people, either males or females, poor or rich, young or old, have equal opportunities to be educated. Participation in social activities, personal contributions, and cooperation are the qualities that are appreciated by the country. Attention to people’s needs and encouragement of their learning abilities promote a high education system in Sweden and should be a good example for Nigeria as a starting point.
Conclusion
In general, the education system in Nigeria is not as good as it can be at the moment. Social inequality, external political and economic factors, and poor government management prevent the development of effective education policies and programs. The example of Sweden and the comparison of the conditions that contribute to a high literacy level should help Nigeria recognize its weak points and elaborate on new strategies.
Education should not be the area where retrenchment or neglect occurs. As soon as children are able to learn and improve their background knowledge, they may participate in various social activities and stabilize the situation in the country. The exchange of experiences between developed and developing must be promoted at global levels, and this paper is one of the first steps to be taken to define priorities and think about available resources.
References
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