• The new request brings the total number of national teams to 528 and privately owned teams to 418.
• Only 30% of the student population has access to lecture halls, laboratories and libraries – NUC
• Experts say universities are not meeting their obligations.
The federal government is once again considering 270 new applications for private universities, despite public concerns over the proliferation of mushroom universities and poor funding across the education sector.
If the new request is approved, it is estimated that the total number of universities will be 528, of which 418 will be privately owned.
The findings showed that there are currently over 258 universities in Nigeria. Of these, 50 are federally owned, 60 are state-owned, and 148 are owned by individuals or organizations.
However, the exponential growth in the number of universities over the years has not affected educational standards, which is a major concern among stakeholders.
It would be recalled that in the eight years of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, over 90 universities were approved to operate in the education sector.
According to data obtained from the National Universities Commission (NUC), 10 federal universities, 22 state universities and 58 private universities have been established from 2015 to date.
According to NUC data, in 2015 the government approved the establishment of one state university and nine private universities. In 2016, four state universities and five private universities were accredited. In 2017, two state universities and four private universities were established. 2018 – Three federal universities, one state university and one private university were approved.
In 2019, two state universities and four private universities were accredited. 2020 – Two federal universities and two state universities were approved. In 2021, there will be 4 federal universities, 3 state universities, and 18 private universities. In 2022, one federal university, six state universities, and 12 private universities were accredited. For 2023, the Buhari administration has approved one state university and 37 private universities.
Universities, by their very nature, are engines of socio-economic, cultural and political development and global innovation. They support the acquisition of academic ability, expertise and knowledge through teaching, research and dissemination of existing and new knowledge.
Afe Babalola University (ABUAD)
However, analysts said that the performance of university education was very low in terms of focusing on innovative research, entrepreneurship and commercialization of research results.
It also revealed that the academic output of Nigerian universities is only 44 percent of that of South Africa and 32 percent of that of Egypt, indicating a relative lack of research output.
Experts say Nigerian universities are only focused on their traditional role of training scholars and leaders, and the practical application of knowledge remains weak, failing to meet the demands of the job market. That’s what it means.
Analysts said that with 528 universities, there would be more competition, which should lead to higher standards, but experts feared that as the number of universities increases, standards would decline. expressed.
Given Nigeria’s unique situation, experts said universities needed to bridge the gap in life skills such as leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation and technology adoption.
According to NUC research, only about 30 percent of the country’s student population has adequate access to lecture halls, laboratories, and libraries.
Every year, the number of applicants seeking admission to universities exceeds the number of places available. Although the majority of candidates prefer relatively affordable government-owned higher education institutions, many candidates who fail to secure admission ultimately settle for private universities.
From 2018 to 2022, more than five million candidates who applied for admission to Nigerian tertiary institutions failed to secure admission.
Of the 1.8 million applicants who applied in 2022, approximately 600,000 (33.3%) were admitted.
Speaking at a British Council workshop held in Abuja recently, the Acting Director-General of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr Chris Mayaki, said that about 270 private universities have applied for accreditation to commence academic activities. he hinted.
Abu Zaria
As authorities continue to approve the establishment of new universities, opinions are divided over their impact.
While some say it would give candidates a wider range of choices and reduce school enrollment to a level that they can control, what is needed is an upgrade of existing schools, especially federal and state-run schools, to increase the Some argue that it is a conscious effort to provide quality education to students. .
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has at various times called on the federal government to halt the establishment of new universities if it fails to provide sufficient funds to existing universities.
Stakeholders noted that apart from the lack of funding and adequate facilities in existing institutions, the establishment of new institutions poses major challenges, particularly challenges such as recruiting qualified academic staff and meeting global standards. I also noticed that there is.
The union argued that the focus should be on capacity rather than the number of universities.
ASUU lamented that pressure on available facilities has led to rapid aging and overcrowding of the country’s ivory towers.
The report noted that the number of students has soared even though facilities and other student services have not been correspondingly improved.
For some stakeholders and education experts, increasing chartering of private universities is more of a curse than a blessing.
They say the quality of private universities is very low and urge governments to fund and strengthen existing universities so they can cope with the overflow of applicants and produce high-quality graduates who can compete globally. asked.
Isa Daniel, a research assistant at the University of Jos, said the focus should be on providing infrastructure to existing institutions.
He said: “One thing we didn’t realize is that universities have hectares of land. What they need is infrastructure: big classrooms, quality living halls, modern infrastructure, modern buildings to accommodate students, and a good environment for quality learning for lecturers, students, and researchers.
“We need to improve, equip and modernize what we already have, and that’s where we have failed and continue to fail. We need to go back to square one,” he said.
ASUU Leader of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Dr. Ago Iwoye, Dr. Adigun Ogundele has warned that granting accreditation to more private universities will spell doom for public universities in the country.
According to him, many private universities lack the human resources and equipment to implement NUC-accredited programs, which is why they always invest human and non-human resources in public universities and The burden is said to be “excessive.” school.
However, the Secretary of the Vice-Chancellor’s Council of Universities of Nigeria (CVCNU), Professor Yakubu Ochefu, said enrollment in Nigerian universities was very low, with enrollments lower than the African average of 13 students and the world average. He said it would remain at about 8%, below. 33 percent.
He said many who take entrance exams and are eligible to go to university are rejected because the available space cannot absorb everything.
Although Nigeria has the highest number of universities in Africa, it is not sufficient as far as population indicators are concerned, Ochefu said.
Professor Usman Ahmed, Dean of the Graduate School of Bayero University Kano (BUK), said the number of private universities will continue to increase due to the diversity of the country’s people.
“Importantly, we should always keep an eye on standards, because there is a concern that when people get into something that is normally in the public interest, they tend to disrespect the system. You can see what happened to private elementary and junior high schools. Now there are more private schools in the neighborhood and everyone continues to make profits using all forms of gimmicks,” he said.
Mr. Ahmed called on the NUC to remain vigilant in terms of personnel, material equipment and infrastructure. That’s important, he said.
He pointed out that from a regulatory point of view, the NUC needs to ensure that private universities only run programs that they have the resources to provide, adding that even public institutions do not run all programs at once. He pointed out that there was no.
Professor Sola Fajana, former Vice-Chancellor of Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Arakeji, Osun State, said private universities provide opportunities for young people with ambitions to obtain degrees and diplomas, and encourage entrepreneurship. He said that he has been responding to unemployment among Nigerian graduates through the program. education.
He added that private universities are helping to meet Nigeria’s human needs.
“We need to understand the fact that whether we are a federal university, a state university or a private university, our goal is the same: to ensure that we receive an education that meets the needs of Nigeria in the 21st century. and create a workforce that is highly skilled,” Farjana said.
Source: guardian.ng