Community Participation in Educational Programmes for Development through Community Capacity Building in Niger State

Abstract

Community development is a continuous process aimed at improving the quality of life of the community. It is about continual improvement by the people themselves to bring about change in their lives. In relation to education, much attention is required from both the government and community members to support in order to improve the education status of the people. The community’s participation in educational related programmes or activities are basically recognised for community capacity building. The qualitative aspects of community members’ involvement in educational related activities as a process of development among community members have been given less priority. Schools are institutions that can prepare children to contribute to the betterment of the society in which they operate, by equipping them with skills important in society. Schools cannot and should not operate as separate entities within society. Since each group plays a different role in contributing to children’s education, there must be efforts to make a bridge between them in order to maximize the contributions. Therefore, this paper discusses community participation in educational programmes through community capacity building as an important component and process of development.