How much time does Nigerian Student spend in school and have contact with Teachers?

1. StatiSense® -Wale Micaiah © How Much Time Do Nigerian Students Spend in School?

2. Let’s verify this!

3. LAGOS STATE 2014/2015 Academic Year Calendar
1stterm
Resumeforthefirstterm
Mon,15thSept,2014
13 WEEKS
Mid-term break
Thurs,27th&Fri,28thNov,2014
End of term
Fri,12thDec,2014
Vacation
Mon,15thDec&Fri,2ndJan,2015
3 WEEKS
2ndterm
Resume for the 2nd term
Mon,5thJan2015
12 WEEKS
Mid-term break
Thurs,19thFeb&Fri,20thFeb,2015
Mock Examinations for SS III students
Tue,24thFeb&Fri,6thMar2015
Unified Examinations
Tue,24thMar&Fri,3rdApr,2015
End of term
Fri,3rdApril,2015
Vacation
2 WEEKS
3rdterm
Resume for the 3rd term
Mon,20thApr,2015
12 WEEKS
Junior School Certificate Examination (JSCE)
Tue,16thJunetoMon,29thJune, 2015
Mid-term break
Thurs,4thandFri,5thJune2015
End of Session Unified Examination
Tue,7thandFri,17thJuly2015
Endofterm
Fri,17thJuly,2015LAGOS STATE 2014/2015 Academic Year Calendar

4. DURATION OF SCHOOL HOURS?
Schools resumes at 7:30am; Monday to Friday.
Academic activities starts at 8:00amThis makes 6hours of Students being physically present in School. 8:00 –2:00How many Hours do they really have contact with Teachers?

5. TERMWEEKDAYHOUR1ST
13
65
3902ND
12
60
3603RD
12
60
360TOTAL371851,110HOURS SPENT IN SCHOOL
By the foregoing, Nigerian Students spend 185 days in school which equals 1,110 Hours. 185 x 6hrs = 1,110

6. DURATION OF SCHOOL HOURS? TIMEACTIVITYHOURS
8:00am–10:15am
Lectures
2hours15mins
10:15 –10:30am
Short Break
15mins
10:30am–12:45pm
Lectures
2hours 15mins
12:45pm –1:15pm
Long Break
30mins
1:15pm –2:00pm
Lectures
25mins45mins5hrs.45mins6hrsStudent contact hours with Teacher per day8am –2pm
Hour is expressed in 60minutes.
45minutes = 1 Lecture.

7. DURATION OF SCHOOL HOURS?
The effective number of hours Student have contact with Teachers is5hours 15minutes per school day.
DAY
WEEK
YEAR5 HOURS15 MINUTES26 HOURS15 MINUTES
971 HOURS
I5 MINUTES
Academic Year

8. DURATION OF SCHOOL HOURS? TERMWEEKDAYHOURCONTACTBREAK1ST
13
65
341hr:15min
48hr:45min2ND
12
60
315hr
45hr3RD
12
60
315hr
45hrTOTAL37185971hr:15min138hr:45min
However, the number of contact hours is without considering Mid-term breaks, Public holidaysas well as other unforeseen circumstancesthat sometimes make school inaccessible to Students. Let’s consider all these and see what the table above comes to.

9. MID-TERM BREAKS & PUBLIC HOLIDAYSTERMMID-TERMBREAKDAYS
1st
Thurs,27th&Fri,28thNov,20142
2nd
Thurs,19thFeb&Fri,20thFeb,20152
3rd
Thurs,4thandFri,5thJune201526DatePUBLIC HOLIDAY
DAYS
January 1
New Year's Day1
moveable
Good Friday1
moveable
Easter Monday1
May 1
Worker's Day1
May 27
Children’s Day1
May 29
Democracy Day1
October 1
Independence Day1
December 25
Christmas Day1
December 26
Boxing Day1
Moveable
Ramadan2
Moveable
Mawlid2
Moveable
Eid al-Fitr2
Moveable
Eid al-Adha217Total Holidays: 23DAYS
May 27 -Children day

10. WEEKDAYHOURTOTAL37185971.25PublicHoliday23120.75Effective Contact162850.50HOURS SPENT IN SCHOOL BECOMES…
Schools are opened 162 days a year, and the total number of contact hours lostdue to Public Holidaysper academic year is20 Hours 45 Minutes.
Therefore, the total number of contact hours per academic year is850 Hours 30 Minutes.

11. Nigerian Students spend 850 Hours 30 Minutes in Schoolper year, is this competitive?

12. In reality, Nigerian students actually spend less than 850 hours of contact or instructional time per year. These are some of the reasons:
Schools close at 1:00pm on Fridays –this is 1hr less than the normal closing time;
State Governments can unilaterally declare public holiday (Adamawa State a case in point);
Some South-West States celebrates Democracy Day on June 12;
Traditionalist may decide to hold some special rituals/festivals mandating school closure;
Political, Ethnic or Religious unrest
Inadequate Teachers;
Strike actions.

13. ? ?

14. HOW IS INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS IN OTHER CLIME?
Most countries require between 175 and 180 days of school
In Nigeria, Schools are opened 162 days a yearNigerian Students spend 850 Hours 30 MinutesMost countries spend between 900 & 1,000 hours of instructional time per year
In Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), primary students should receive an average of 802 hours of intended instruction time peryear. Only in Australia, Canada, Chile, the French Community of Belgium, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal does it exceed 900 hours

15. Korearequires1,020hoursofinstructionatthehighschoollevel.
InIndia,schoolsopen200daysayearforgrades1-5,foratotalof800instructionalhoursperyear,comparedto220daysand1,000instructionalhoursingrades6-8(WorldDataonEducation).
IntheUnitedStatesofAmerica,schoolsopenfor180days.
InOECD,Lowersecondarypupilsshouldreceiveonaverage122morehoursofintendedinstructionperyearthanprimarystudents. Thedifferenceexceeds200hoursintheCzechRepublic,Finland, France,Hungary,KoreaandMexico
Atthemiddleschoollevel,totalhoursofinstructionrangefrom777hoursinFinland(atopperformer)to1001inItaly(anaverageperformer).
Inmostcountries,thereisasignificantincreaseinthetimestudentsarerequiredtobeinschoolatthehighschoollevel.IntheU.S.,moststatesrequirethesamenumberofhoursinhighschoolasinmiddleschool.Justastheydidatmiddleschoollevel, Finland(856hours)andItaly(1,089hours)requiredthefewestandmosthoursofinstructionrespectively.

16. 32
On the assumption that our Primary Schools also follow the calendar of 8 –2pm
Nigeria

17. Failures in National examinations; such as in UTME, WAEC, NECO, GCE, NCEE, could be as a result of inadequate instructional hours!

18. Thisisacalltoorder,forourGovernmentsandourEducationAdministratorstoreviewcurrentinstructionalhoursandequallycompensateforincessantschoolclosuresduetoPublicholidaysandotheridentifiedreasons.
If Nigeria must compete with the rest of the World and be part of the Top 20 Economies; having our Instructional hours less than the rest of the world is definitely a disadvantage to this quest.

19. NEXT RESEARCHDo Private and Public Schools spend the same instructional hours? Does instructional hour differ Among Nigerian States? What is the instructional hour per Subject?

20. StatiSense® -Wale Micaiah ©
Freelyshare,freelyuseandfreelyrecognizethesource–©WaleMicaiah
Datasource:
-Eurydice Network http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/
-OECD Education Indicators in Focus (April 2014)
Analysis by: Wale Micaiah
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m: 08078001800
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