Date of Graduation

Spring 5-16-2025

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Catholic Educational Leadership

College/School

School of Education

Department/Program

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Seenae Chong

Second Advisor

Aldana Ursula

Abstract

This field project aimed to create a Catholic-sponsored, financially sustainable secondary school model to serve the educational needs of the poor in Nigeria. Grounded in the tripartite framework of the Catholic principle of the Preferential Option for the Poor, Dewey’s experience-based learning theory, and the Resource Generation Model, the project sought to address the prevalent problem of inaccessibility to quality education due to financial constraints. Employing a qualitative research approach anchored in document and comparative case analysis of the Cristo Rey and Fe y Alegria educational models, as well as Nigeria’s education landscape, the project created the BHUGA Education model. An acronym for Bringing Hope to Underserved Generations through Access to Education, BHUGA Education would require that the students engage in a practical work-study program (PSWP) to generate funds for their education. The PSWP, structured as a school-based entity, comprises three entrepreneurial fields: clothing, footwear, and agricultural production. A unique feature of the PSWP is the fields’ strategic alignment with the Nigerian secondary education curriculum. This is such that each student’s engagement with an entrepreneurial field counts as an extended learning project connected to a specific academic subject. In this way, the BHUGA Education model hopes to offer its beneficiaries relevant practical, entrepreneurial, and vocational skill sets, which count towards their quality education. Although the Jesuit school network in Nigeria was selected as the pilot educational network within which the project was framed for adoption, the model remains open for adaptation and adoption by other Catholic- or religious-sponsored secondary school networks in the country.

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