Learning Analytics: Issues on the Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public Primary Schools in Nigeria

Abstract

Pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) is one of the key measurements of quality education. This article presents the pupil-teacher ratio for 133 public primary schools in a local government area (LGA) of Ogun State, Nigeria. The data were obtained from a complete enumeration of the records of each school. It was discovered that the average PTR obtained from the data analysis is higher than the national average. Using PTR equals 35 as a benchmark of Nigeria, only 25 (19%) schools out of the 133 schools considered have an acceptable PTR (below 35), 52 (39%) schools have a moderate PTR (between 35 and 50) and 56 (42%) schools have unacceptable and high PTR (above 50). This article shows that there is high pupil-teacher ratio in the country’s public primary schools. This research will be helpful in the following; educational evaluation and assessment, audit and quality assurance, decision makers in the Ministry of Education in gap analysis for recruitment purposes, assessing the level of implementation of policies on education and monitoring of the progress made in attaining development sustainable goals (SDG) as it relates to access to quality education.