Appraising Relationship between Education and Economic Sector in Nigerian Economy

Abstract

The main thrust of this paper was to appraise the relationship between education and economic sector in Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was guided by two research questions and one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population comprised 720 senior staff of public tertiary institutions (academic staff = 310 and non-teaching staff = 410) in Anambra State, Nigeria. The sample was 500 respondents randomly drawn from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli. An instrument developed by the researcher and validated by three experts was employed to gather data. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The result of data analysis showed a positive relationship between education sector and the economic sector in Nigeria. This implies that the decline witnessed in the economic sector is as a result of poor attention given to the education sector in Nigeria by the stakeholders. The paper therefore recommends increased funding for the education sector and a review of the school curriculum to make it more relevant to the needs of the Nigerian society.