Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) and Quality Assurance in Nigeria’s Educational System: The Gains and Import of Policy Intervention

The power of the radio in diffusion of information has been underscored in a plethora of academic writings and research. Yet, the use of radio medium in education has not been optimized by successive administrations in delivering quality formal education in Nigeria. Radio has far greater reach than other conventional media of mass communication. It is cost-effective, easy to use and portable. These features, especially its ubiquity, can be leveraged to close the widening gap between the number of those seeking admissions into the tertiary institutions in Nigeria yearly and those who succeed as well as address the problem of out-of-school children in the country. As a short-term measure, media platforms were deployed during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown period to provide instructions. However, since the restoration of normal course of activities following the attenuation of covid-19 pandemic, we have lapsed the status quo. The crux of this paper is that interactive radio instruction (IRI) can be leveraged by the government to address the problem of access, quality as well as funding that undermine quality assurance in the country’s educational system and chart a positive course for national development.