Assessing the Effectiveness of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education during the 9th National Assembly, Nigeria

Abstract

The committee system is one of the important mechanisms through which legislatures perform their functions. Given the importance of the committee in the legislative process, this dissertation examines the effectiveness of the committee, using the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) as a case study. The broad objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of parliamentary committees and legislative processes in the Nigerian National Assembly. The study employs a qualitative approach; data were collected using both primary and secondary sources; and 10 respondents were interviewed from the legislature, civil society and government ministries and agencies. The data was analyzed using content analysis. The study finds that the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) performs three functions: examine draft legislations in the Basic and Secondary Education sector; investigate matters of public concern that affect the jurisdiction of the committee; and scrutinize the policies and budgets, projects and programmes of ministries, department, and agencies under its jurisdiction. Second, the dissertation finds that the committee is effective in performing its functions: it held 16 meetings, conducted 37 oversight visits to ministries, departments and agencies, 0 investigative hearings, five public hearings and a total of nine referrals were received by the committee, ranging from bills to motions. This study concluded that the Senate committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) has done very well in fulfilling its mandate. However, there are areas of improvement and this study is recommending the committee system should be professionalized. The secretariat staff should be composed of people with different experiences and fields of knowledge based on the capacity and legislative needs of the committee. The committee staff should be adequately trained and retrained on legislative matters, ICT, and legislative procedures; this in turn will enrich and reposition the committee system.