An Assessment of Stakeholders’ Perception of the Implementation of Universal Basic Education in North-Central Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria

The study was carried out to investigate the perception of stakeholders on the implementation of the Universal Basic Education in the North-central zone of Nigeria. The perception of school heads, parents, teachers and the learners on the implementation of UBE were compared. The study was a cross-sectional survey which employed. The evaluative design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised the major stakeholders in the UBE in North-central zone of Nigeria. The sample for the investigation consisted of Seven Hundred and Twenty (720) respondents: 60 Head teachers, 120 parents, 120 teachers and, 360 learners. An instrument tagged: Assessment of Implementation of UBE Questionnaire (AIUBEQ) was used for data collection. The findings were as follows: (i) Implementation of the UBE Programme in the North-Central zone of Nigeria according to school administrators is not satisfactory (mean = 2.31). (ii) Parents of learners in UBE Schools in North-Central zone of Nigeria perceive that human resources are inadequate for the effective implementation of UBE Programme. (iii) Funding of UBE Programme as perceived by school administrators is inadequate for effective UBE Programme delivery in North-Central zone of Nigeria. (iv) Learners in UBE schools in North Central zone of Nigeria perceive that the programme has been satisfactory. (v) The major factors militating against the effective implementation of UBE Programme in North–Central zone of Nigeria are overcrowded classroom (32.50%) inadequate funding (25.02%) and dilapidated buildings (20.61%). It was concluded that the implementation of the UBE Programme in the North-Central zone of Nigeria is unsatisfactory. It was therefore recommended that government should consolidate on the provision of funds, recruitment of teachers, construction and renovation of classroom facilities and, carry out periodic programme evaluation to ascertain areas of needs. Key words: Assessment, Stakeholders. Universal Basic Education, Implementatio

Evaluation of the Relationship between Covid-19 Pandemic and Research Productivity among Academic and Medical Staff Of Public Universities and Hospitals in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

This study evaluates the relationship between COVID-19 pandemic and research productivity among academic and medical staff of public universities and hospitals in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Correlational research design was used in this study. The researchers purposively used 2,543 respondents with 2 public universities and 2 public hospitals as the population of the study. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select 228 respondents with the same number of public universities and hospitals. The instrument used for data collection was COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic and Medical Staff Research Productivity (COVID-19 PAMSRP). The instrument was validated by the experts using e-face validity and the reliability index was 0.93 using Cronbach alpha method. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) was used for the analysis. The findings from the study revealed that, there was negative relationship between COVID-19 pandemic on academic and medical staff research productivity in Nasarawa State. By implication, COVID-19 pandemic affects both academic and medical staff. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that both school and medical management should organize conferences, seminars and workshops for staff in such a way that it would improve the levels of their research productivity and services delivery for the safety of lives and Nigerian academics and medical staff should engage in reliable research that will lead to development and innovations for the improvement of education and health sectors. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, research productivit