Mandating Capitalism, Shifting Blame: Compulsory Entrepreneurship Education and the Shifting Content of Public Education in Nigeria

• In Event: 21st Century Socialism & Education Panel #6: Capitalism, Neoliberalism and the rise of entrepreneurship discourses in Africa and Asia: A South-South Exchange

Proposal

Public education in Nigeria has, since its inception, been a contested terrain. From the first Western styled missionary schools set up on the early part of the 20th century, to the once famous, now decaying, 'ivory towers' of Nigerian universities modelled after Oxford and Cambridge. Over the last century, advocates for education have pushed against liberal and neo-liberal reforms, pushed both internally and externally, that dictate what kind of education Nigerians will get, how much they will pay for it and what they will learn from their years spent within and educational system, and ultimately, what will become of them afterwards.

This paper contends that the elite forces in Nigeria, coupled with their counterparts in organizations such as the World Bank, have pushed through education policies which undermine the nation's need for critical and engaging education systems that can produce the kinds of public intellectuals needed for Nigeria's equitable growth and development. The paper highlights the trend towards 'entrepreneurship education' and technical and vocational education as reminiscent of the earlier thrusts of the colonial British to create workers and not thinkers.

Entrepreneurship education has been posited as the solution to Nigeria's 'youth problem'; its growing young population and the unparalleled levels of youth unemployment. Using Klees (2017) critique of mismatch theory and human development theory, this paper critically analyses current discourse on entrepreneurship within the context of Nigeria's shifting education policy, which introduced 'entrepreneurship' as a compulsory subject in senior secondary schools and the current investments of state, federal, civic society and the private sector to engage youth in 'skills training' towards self-employment, without putting in place the necessary structures which would enable young entrepreneurs to succeed.

The paper argues that these efforts reflect the efforts of the economic and political elites to make concessions to the Nigerian people while consolidating their hold on power. These incursions into education align with Mohan and Stokke's (2000) concept of revisionist neo-liberalism which changes the role of the state while ignoring larger structural issues. It highlights the importance of discourse in enabling neo-liberal paradigms (Harvey, 2007), by promoting placing the burden of poverty on the individual and the subsequent 'alleviation' of poverty on individual initiative. It also falls in line with the government's continued effort to undermine unionized labor movements, teacher and student movements through rhetoric that embraces individualism.

Harvey, D. (2007). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, USA.
Klees, S. J. (2017). Beyond neoliberalism: Reflections on capitalism and education. Policy Futures in Education, 1478210317715814.
Mohan, G., & Stokke, K. (2000). Participatory development and empowerment: the dangers of localism. Third World Quarterly, 21(2), 247-268.

Author

• Rhoda Nanre Nafziger-Mayegun, Penn State University