An Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Primary and Secondary Schools in Bida Town, Nigeria

Abstract

Educational Facilities location in Nigeria has been observed to be politically biased, so much that an area is over serviced at the expense of other areas in dire need of them. This should not be the case as it should be based on the principle of equity, accessibility and economic efficiency to every individual irrespective of economic status and geographical location. In effort to bridge the gaps to reduce the imbalances that this paper analyses the distribution of primary and secondary schools in Bida town to establish the spatial degree of inequality and concentration in the provision of basic educational facility. The study employed GIS techniques to show spatial distribution of primary and secondary school in Bida and statistical techniques (spearman rank correlation)to assess the degree of inequality in concentration of basic educational facility. The result reveals that provision of primary and secondary school in Bida town are not guided by population distribution in the wards as the calculated t-value, 1.28 falls below the critical t-value of 1.78. To assess the level of inequality using Lorenz Curve, It is observed that about 50% of the basic educational facilities in Bida town are enjoined by about 39% of the inhabitant. This implies that some areas in Bida are deficient in basic educational facilities and quite a number of the inhabitant have no adequate access to these facilities, and also further establish that population concentration in various wards were not considered in the distribution of primary and secondary schools in Bida town. The population and number of primary and secondary school distribution are in fair inequality level, indicates relatively some degree of inequality (Gini Coefficient value is 0.57).