Democracy and Contributions of Town Union to Educational Development in Ebonyi State: A Focus on Some Selected Rural Communities

Abstract

This study interrogates the nexus between democratic governance and the contributions of town unions to provision basic education in rural communities in Ebonyi State. The study was carried out in twelve selected rural communities chosen across the three senatorial zones of the state. The study was provoked by need to empirically test the contentious debate among development scholars over the correlation between democracy and development. The data for the study were gathered through the use of questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), observation and documentary methods. The study adopted community action theory as its framework of analysis. The data were analyzed using simple percent, contingency tables, and histogram while chi square was used for the test of hypotheses. The findings revealed that democratic governance has increased contributions of town unions in the provision of basic education in rural communities in Ebonyi State. The study equally revealed that lack of enlightenment, illiteracy, and poverty among the rural dwellers poses challenge to the contributions of town unions in the provision of basic education. The study recommended that government should provide periodic subventions to town unions to enable them mobilize adequate funds for the provision of basic educational projects. Besides, leadership trainings should be organized on regular basis to educate and enlighten town union executives on the best global practices on rural development.