Reflections on the bright and dark sides of free education in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Governments in sub-Saharan Africa have, over the years, acknowledged school education as the driver through which the achievement of their countries’ development goals can be accelerated. Indeed, as Amaele (2004) puts it in the Nigerian context, ‘education has ranked as the best legacy any conscious leader, government or parent could leave for his/her people … the quality of education given to a people determines the standard of growth achieved’. Thus, education is seen as key to the development needs of the region.