CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGS)
originated from the Millennium Declaration product by the United Nations. The
Declaration asserts that every individual has the right to dignity, freedom,
equality, a basis standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and
violence and encourages tolerance and solidarity. The MDGS were made to
operationalize these ideas by setting targets and indicators for poverty
reduction in order to achieve the right set forth in the declaration on a set
fifteen-year timeline. The aim of the MDGS is to encourage development by
improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries. The
MDGS call for a global partnership to address the most critical issues of our
time (Mfam, 2009). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) are eight
international development goals that were officially established following the
Millennium Summit of the United Nation in 2000, following the adoption of the
United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 193 United Nations members and at
least 23 International Organizations have agreed to achieve these goals by the
year 2015. The goals are includes evaluating extreme poverty and hunger,
achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering
women, reducing child mortality rates, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
disease, ensuring environmental suitability anddeveloping a global partnership
for development.
Aremu (2008) observes that, the UN
declaration stormed the world with a sort of refreshing atmosphere of hopewhen
world leaders adopted the MDGS which besides embracing most of the objectives,
included poverty dimensionconnected to hunger, water diseases, HIV/AIDS,
orphans and urban poverty among others. Each of the goals hasspecific stated
target and dates for achieving those targets. To accelerate progress, the G8
finance ministers agreed inJune 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the African Development Bank (ADB)
to cancel an additional $40 to $55 billion in debt owned by members of heavily
indebted poor countries (HIPC) to allow impoverished countries to re-channel
the resources saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving
health and education and for alleviation poverty.
Business Education can contribute significantly to accomplishment
of millennium development goal in Nigeria and ensuring that the young learners
have the skills, knowledge, and capabilities to perform their full role in Nigeria
in the 21stcentury. Business Education enables young people to
appreciate the interplay between modern society and its supporting economic,
financial, and administrative structures by using models, techniques, and
technology; and to understand and make informed judgments about aspects of
society in local, national, and international contexts.
Business Education through Business Management,
Administration and IT, Economics and Accounting makes a significant
contribution to preparing young people for work and life through developing
skills, including literacy, numeracy, health and well-being, enterprise,
financial literacy, global citizenship, communication,problem solving, and
Information Communications Technology.
However, Business Education ispart of the
experiences and outcomes at each stage and every student in Nigeria should be
able to engage and develop through the subject. Practitioners and stakeholders
involved in Business Education are now keen to ensure that all learners benefit
from excellence in learning and teaching.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The major focus of business education is
the development of the individual vis-à-vis the society. It is also a major
tool for the quicktransformation of any nation. The National Policy on
Education (2004) has rightly described business education as instrument
perexcellence. In recognizing this crucial role of business education to human,
entrepreneur and social development and the Millennium Development Goals(MDGS,
2000), have led to a greater attention being paid to advancement in business
education. However, business education has contributed to the realization and
accomplishment of various objectives in the millennium development goal which
includes quality education development, poverty reduction through
entrepreneurship development, gender equality and the application of modern information
technologies. The researcher is hereby examining the impact of business
education on the accomplishment of millennium development goals in Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the impact of
business education on the accomplishment of millennium development goals in
Nigeria.
2. To examine the level of realization of the
millennium development goals in Nigeria.
3. To
identify the factors limiting the accomplishment of the millennium development
goals in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the impact of business education on the
accomplishment of millennium development goals in Nigeria?
2. What is the level of realization of the
millennium development goals in Nigeria?
3. What
are the factors limiting the accomplishment of the millennium development goals
in Nigeria?
1.5 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
H0:
Business education does not influence millennium development goal
H1:
Business education influence millennium development goal
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. The
outcome of this study will educate students and educators of business education
and the general public on the impact of business education on the accomplishment of millennium
development goals in Nigeria.
2. This
research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the
effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby
constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study will cover the impact
of business education on the accomplishment of millennium development goals in
Nigeria.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the
researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information
and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time
constraint- The
researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work.
This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work