A few days ago, the Federal Government announced the establishment of eight new private universities in the country. The new universities are Anchor University, Lagos; Arthur Jarvis University, Cross River State; Clifford University, Abia State; Coal City University, Enugu State; Crown-Hill University, Eiyenkorin, Kwara State; Dominican University, Ibadan, Oyo State; Kola Daisi University, Ibadan, Oyo State; and Legacy University, Okija, Anambra State. According to the National Universities Commission’s website, the total number of universities in the country now is 152 with a breakdown of 40 federal, 44 state and 68 private ones.
Since the news of the establishment was broken, reactions have trailed the decision. While some people believe that the new institutions would add value to the system in terms of providing employment opportunities, creating more admission avenue for the many Nigerian youths that are earnestly seeking admission into the existing and very limited spaces, others are of the opinion that Nigeria does not need additional universities for now and so, rather than establish new ones, the existing institutions should be well-funded to make them desirable, standard and functional. For me, licensing of more universities could truly be a plus to the educational system as long as the necessary machinery is put in place to ensure that quality is preserved and at the same time, addressing the challenge of access.
No doubt, the problems facing our universities are many. We could further narrow them down into inadequate funding, brain-drain, deficiency in curricula, examination malpractice, cultism and weak research engagements. Over the years, attempts have been made to turn around the fortunes of our universities, most especially, the public ones through special intervention programmes like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. Unfortunately, despite these interventions, many universities still find it difficult to fully realise their tripartite objectives and mandates of teaching, research and community service because they are unable to meet the stringent guidelines of benefitting from the fund while those that are qualified seem not to be getting enough.
The coming of the new universities at this time should be a good omen for the system, hoping that the following points would be useful to the authorities of the institutions. First, the fee regime should be highly competitive. Why the existing universities appear not to be addressing the issue of access is chiefly because the fees being charged students are seen as too high and exorbitant. The consequence of this is that rather than allow their children and wards go to attend such private institutions, many parents and guardians would still prefer that their subjects attend public universities, where the fees being charged are quite low and affordable in addition to the existence of many teaching staff.
Even though it is important to admit that many organisations in the country operate under a harsh business environment, owners of private universities should not expect to recoup their investments within a very short period of time so as to quickly break even. They should be made to realise that investing in education, especially, at the tertiary level is a long term project. They should not expect to start earning profits overnight. Bearing this reality in mind, charging of ridiculously high fees should be downplayed, if they are to make the desired impact by justifying the rationale for their establishment.
Secondly, the new institutions should ensure that only qualified personnel are recruited. While a few private universities are known to employ and pay their staff commensurate salaries like their counterparts in the public sector, my interactions with many stakeholders in some private universities show that most of the teaching staff operate on a part-time basis. There seems to be more of the non-teaching staff than the faculty members. This invariably leads to the same problem of having to rely on the already over-worked academic staff in the public universities to service the private ones, thus, encouraging the lowering of standards. This is not healthy for the system.
The NUC is allowed by law, through the instrumentality of the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards, to ensure quality control by approving the running of every course offered in the universities such that for any academic discipline to be accredited, a critical mass of their qualified lecturers should have been on the ground and not the other way round. It is a common problem that the existing universities are having issues in getting adequate personnel for their operations. It is only hoped that the licensing of new universities would not create more problems for the system with reference to the above points.
To avoid getting into a situation whereby the new universities would be suffering from dearth of quality personnel, they should ensure that the required staff are in-house before students are enrolled. Cases have been reported of universities opening for business with less than 10 staff! I then wonder what sort of standards that such institutions would showcase. To meet up their short-term needs, additional services of experienced professionals, outside the university set-up, should be engaged in the teaching of related courses by tapping from their wealth of experience.
Thirdly, there is the need to develop and run courses that are relevant to the needs of the society. The new institutions should be innovative and make more impact in the life of the nation if they run courses that could promote self-reliance, entrepreneurship and creativity. They should not be repeating the same courses being offered by the older universities without any remarkable improvement in content. The students should be better engaged and involved in the teaching process by adopting highly interactive and participatory approaches. There should be a radical departure from the way such knowledge is being imparted in public institutions that shows a clear disconnect between theory and practice.
The institutions should be more involved in research. Research activities in many Nigerian universities can be said to be very low when compared with the available personnel, contrary to what is obtainable in other nations where great priority is accorded research and development. Research should not be limited to the postgraduate level. Students should be exposed to early research activities with a view to proffering solution to the many developmental challenges facing us as a nation. The culture of engaging in pragmatic research should be entrenched into the minds of young people from the get-go. Through that, the strategic role of universities in national development would be better appreciated.
That is why all efforts should be put in place to ensure that our universities as citadels of learning and academic excellence, are not only made to be so but are actually seen as such. Examinations should be conducted and results released promptly, academic transcripts should not be delayed unnecessarily, staff and students should be accorded great respect, effective library and health amenities should be provided while mentoring should be promoted. They should also avoid indiscriminate conferment of honorary degrees. More importantly, regulatory bodies should be diligent, thorough and above board in carrying out their statutory duties. It is when these measures are put in place that the newly licensed universities would truly make a difference in our nation.
Kupoluyi wrote in from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, via adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk
