Funding crisis as perceived by Heads of Public Primary Schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study critically investigates the persistent problem of poor funding in public primary schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and examines how school heads respond to the resultant administrative, infrastructural, and pedagogical crises. Drawing on empirical data from 225 headteachers across the eight local government areas of the state, the research adopts a descriptive survey design to assess the impact of funding inadequacies on school performance and management. The findings reveal that poor funding is not only systemic but has led to the deterioration of school infrastructure, acute shortages of qualified teaching personnel, irregular provision of teaching and learning materials, and general inefficiency in school administration. School heads report adopting coping mechanisms such as sourcing community support, personal financing of minor school repairs, and scaling down core academic and extracurricular programmes. These stopgap responses, while commendable, are insufficient to address the deep-rooted fiscal neglect that continues to undermine the goals of the Universal Basic Education programme in the state. The study underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive reform in education financing, calling on federal and state governments to increase budgetary allocations to primary education, ensure timely disbursement of funds, and institutionalise mechanisms for monitoring resource utilisation. By centring the lived experiences of school administrators, this research provides policy-relevant insights into the structural causes of educational decline and offers practical recommendations for rebuilding and sustaining quality primary education in Bayelsa State.