Nigeria/U.S. Curriculum Translation

*Should have had consistent schooling with minimal gaps in education
**Assuming English is at a Novice Mid to Novice High Level

Education System

School Year: September to July | Compulsory Education: 1st – 9th | Graduation: 1st – 12th

Nigeria/U.S. Grading Scale

Transition Supports

Education Practice:

Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of six- to 11-year-olds regularly attend primary school, and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge (Onyukwu, Clark and Ausukuya 2017).
Gender, like geography and poverty, is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalization. States in the northeast and northwest have female primary net attendance rates of 47.7 percent and 47.3 percent, respectively, meaning that more than half of the girls are not in school. The educational deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls (Onyukwu, Clark and Ausukuya 2017).

U.S. Educator Implications:

Considering Nigeria’s high number of out-of-school youth, it will be imperative to understand Nigerian students’ academic history. They may need additional academic supports to scaffold any educational gaps. Additionally, females may be at greater risk due to Nigeria’s culture regarding women and girls. Providing social-emotional supports by coordination with the school counselor could be a beneficial intervention to assist in their transition.

Strategies for Transition

• Get to know your students by building positive relationships.
• Provide multicultural education where texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives represent people from different cultural backgrounds..
• Allow a reasonable amount of transition time.
• In Nigeria, the students attend class three days a week for at least two hours each day and are provided basic school materials. 
• Due to extreme violence in their home country, students may have had interrupted education.
• The consequences of poor education in Nigeria over the years is already evident in the extremely high unemployment rate of educated youths, gross dependence on foreign technology, and lack of technical expertise for even simple tasks (Onyukwu, Clark and Ausukuya 2017).
• Most of the schools lack basic learning facilities and a complete set of teachers. In some cases, a school with the services of an English Language teacher will lack that of a mathematics teacher or have the English teacher teach Literature, C.R.S., and government. This is one reason why the mass promotion syndrome has been in practice in schools. The system itself is not balanced (Onyukwu, Clark and Ausukuya 2017).
• Many schools lack basic equipment for conducive learning, most especially for science practical classes, and those that claim to have are managing the old ones. Hence, the students only learn the theoretical steps rather than carrying out the practical aspect. Also, the libraries in schools are lacking the needed books, journals, and magazines (Onyukwu, Clark and Ausukuya 2017).