QUALITY PRIMARY EDUCATION AND ITS 3-A CONCEPT INDICATORS AMONG PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The paper agrees that primary education plays a key role in the development of the child and society at large. It identifies three main providers of primary education as government, private investors and voluntary agencies and went ahead to examine the extent government primary schools can be described as being qualitative. To ascertain the quality nature of the school system, it identifies 12 qualitative school indicators. The paper proposed and argues that the quality indicators can be subsumed under what it describes as 3-As (availability, adequacy and accessibility). It however notes that some of the qualitative indicators are lacking availability, adequacy and accessibility. It therefore advocates some measures to guarantee quality primary education in Nigeria. One such recommendation is since feeding/health care of school children, provision of portable water and infrastructural/instructional facilities are key to quality primary education, NGO’s, individuals and relevant agencies need to volunteer in taking care of feeding/health needs of pupils as well as providing portable water and other facilities in the schools and another is that those who manage schools such as ministry officials and other agencies need to monitor and ensure that schools operate within recommended teacher/pupil ratio, rules/regulations and a violent free environment.