Abstract
To address the issue of out-of-school children, primarily attributed to insufficient financial investment in Nigeria’s public education sector, the Nigerian government enacted a policy promoting the liberalisation of the country’s education system. This policy, articulated in the National Policy on Education (2014), encourages a dual education model that allows privately established schools to compete with and complement government-funded public schools at all levels of education. As a result of this policy, there has been an increase in the number of private schools, particularly in south-west Nigeria. However, while financial constraints in the public-school sector initially contributed to the expansion of private schools, access to finance has now become a major challenge for these private schools. Many private schools struggle to secure adequate financial resources and provide the necessary school resources. If this issue remains unaddressed, it could lead to further decline of Nigeria’s education sector.
Based on the aforementioned, this study aims to understand and explain the challenges associated with financing private schools in south-west Nigeria. Adopting a pragmatic philosophical approach, this study acknowledges that financial challenges in the private education sector cannot be generalised. Rather than imposing predetermined conclusions, the study seeks to allow participants to share their experiences and insights. This study is grounded in resource-based theory and resource-dependent theory, which focus on how access to resources influences an organisation’s ability to achieve its goals and how institutions must engage with external entities to secure necessary resources.
The study employs a concurrent triangulation mixed-method research design. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a protocol titled "Edupreneur Access to Finance Among Private Schools in Nigeria." In the quantitative phase, three research instruments were utilised: “Edupreneur Access to Finance Questionnaire (EFAQ),” with a reliability of 0.80: “Edupreneur Financial Literacy Test (EFLT),” with a reliability of 0.82, and “Private School Resource Checklist” with a reliability coefficient of 0.78. A purposive sampling technique was used to select ten participants for the qualitative phase., while a multistage sampling technique was employed to select one hundred and fifty respondents for the
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quantitative phase. The qualitative data were analysed using a narrative data analysis approach, whereas quantitative data were examined using descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods, including correlational matrix analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and mediation analysis.
The findings of this study indicate that private schools in south-west Nigeria rely on seven major sources of financing: school fees, loans, Edupreneurs’ savings and family support, grants, school-run businesses, parental contributions, and philanthropic donations. However, Edupreneurs face multiple challenges in accessing these financial resources. The study also found a positive correlation between Edupreneurs’ financial literacy and their ability to access finance for private schools in south-west Nigeria. Additionally, findings suggest an interconnection between different financing sources, where access to one source (e.g., grants) enhances the likelihood of obtaining others (e.g., income from school business). Access to finance contributes to the provision of school resources in private schools, which, in turn, attract parents and enhance the competitive positioning of private schools in the education market. The study further finds that Edupreneurs' financial literacy mediates the relationship between access to finance and the provision of school resources.
The study proposes several policy and institutional interventions to address the challenges Edupreneurs face in financing private schools. First, the government should develop a sustainable financial policy by engaging stakeholders, including Edupreneurs, researchers, and financial regulators, to clarify the opaque financial requirements for private schools management; reintroduce grants for private schools, and provide non-interest and long-term loans to facilitate sustainable financing; reform tax policies to alleviate financial burdens on private schools; establish a dedicated education bank to support school financing, and implement mandatory loan quotas for female Edupreneurs to promote inclusivity in school financing. The recommendation also includes reclassifying private schools as social enterprises to improve access to alternative financing options and introducing edupreneurship and financial literacy training into the curricula of undergraduate and graduate programs in faculties of education to equip future school leaders with financial management skills; encouraging Edupreneurs to enrol in certified edupreneurship and financial literacy programmes to enhance their ability to manage private school finances effectively and optimise school resource allocation.
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keywords
Access to finance; edupreneur; financial literacy; private school; school resource.