This study examined the quality of education in the North Eastern part of Nigeria between 2004 and 2008. The study adopted the descriptive research design using ex-post facto type to look at the phenomenon. The study considered all the states in the zone as a unit and in some cases examined individual cases of some states. Considering the focus of the study, the data utilized was mainly secondary in nature and came chiefly from the National Social Statistics and National Annual Abstract of Statistics as available from National Bureau of Statistics. Three research questions were answered using simple percentage, average and ratio analysis. Findings revealed that only 30% of the teachers had the necessary national qualification to teach in 2005 and 2006 the percentage dipped further; the zone had an average of 190 and 90 pupils per class in 2004 and 2008 respectively; pupils per teacher ratio stood at 50 in 2004 and 44 in 2008. There seems to be an improvement over the years considered, but this might be deceptive because enrolment reduced from 4,021,853 to 3,237,507 in 2005 and 2008 respectively; which account for approximately 20% reduction. Also, it is clear that the total population of the zone and children in particular does not decline. The study concluded that the quality of education at the beginning of the financial crisis was already very low when compared with what is obtainable in other parts of Nigeria and the world at large. In the face of financial crisis: the zone is missing the global target for Universal Basic Education (UBE) as per quality; it affects the general literacy rating of Nigeria. It portends danger to human capital development, national security and overall national development in the nearest future. There is therefore need for improve on the funding, planning, programmes and actions urgently in the zone. This requires multi-level and multi-sectoral collaborations of the civil society and government. Above all there is need for the local communities to take ownership of the interventions, just as in some zones, to ensure sustainability of the programmes and progresses.

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