Educational Equity, Resource Allocation, and Learning Achievement Gaps in Rural-Urban Secondary Schools in Nigeria

This study investigates the mechanisms through which inequitable educational resource allocation sustains rural-urban learning achievement gaps in Nigerian secondary schools, generating both descriptive and explanatory evidence from North West, South East, and South West geopolitical zones. Educational inequality along the rural-urban divide represents one of the most persistent structural injustices in Nigerian schooling, yet the pathways from resource inequity to learning gap remain inadequately theorised and empirically documented. The study employs a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Phase one uses three-wave panel data from 900 students in 30 rural and 30 urban schools across Kano, Anambra, and Ogun states, analysed using difference-in-differences estimation and hierarchical linear modelling. Phase two employs institutional ethnography in eight schools to generate explanatory accounts. Key resource variables include qualified teacher density, per-student expenditure, learning materials, and digital infrastructure. The study draws on Rawlsian Educational Justice Theory, Lefebvre's Theory of Space, and the Capability Approach. Findings are expected to demonstrate that qualified teacher allocation inequity, rather than physical infrastructure, is the dominant mediator of rural-urban achievement gaps. The study generates a substantive theory of reproduced inequality in Nigerian secondary education. Recommendations provide equity-oriented policy evidence for the Federal Ministry of Education, state governments, and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund on geographically differentiated teacher deployment and funding formulas. Keywords: educational equity, resource allocation, rural-urban gap, learning achievement, Nigeria