Unaffordable Education and Criminality as a Choice among Youth in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Education shapes human, and it has the capacity to determine who gets what and what one becomes in life. Acquiring education in Nigeria is gradually becoming unaffordable; schools at all levels are becoming very expensive making it difficult for common men to send their children to schools. Youth in Ondo State, Nigeria, whose parents cannot afford either Secondary or University education now consider criminality as a choice. The study adopts a qualitative method – in-depth interviews were utilized in generating data from 38 interviewees. The qualitative data generated from the study were analyzed using manual content analysis. The study found that both Public/Private Secondary schools and Universities in Nigeria now charge exorbitant school fees, making the youth from low-economic family backgrounds either drop out of school and go into crime, be in school, or engage in criminal activities. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the government at both Federal and State levels should consider a reduction in school fees, as it is currently paid in public schools in Nigeria. Besides, scholarship schemes for indigent students in both secondary and tertiary institutions should be resuscitated.