goals of university education in nigeria

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THE GOALS OF TERTIARY EDUCATION: A PHILOSOPHICAL ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA'S NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION

2018, Journal Plus Education

This paper gives a cursory history of Tertiary Education in Nigeria and attempts a philosophical analysis of the concepts of quality and access to education; two major concepts that featured prominently in the goals of Nigeria's Tertiary Education as stated in Nigeria's National Policy on Education (2013). Subsequently, a philosophical assessment of the goals of Tertiary Education as stated in the National Policy document and the implementation is undertaken. Based on this philosophical assessment, it is shown among other things, that the concepts of quality and access to education as reflected in the goals of Tertiary Education are better used with clarifications. In addition, it is argued that the history of Tertiary Education in Nigeria is not totally that of woe because Tertiary Education has made some remarkable impact in the nation's developmental strides. It is however emphasized that there are still enormous challenges facing Nigeria's Tertiary Education especially when compared with global best practices. Furthermore it is argued that there is still a wide gap between the policy statements on Tertiary Education and their implementation. Suggestions are made towards addressing the challenges pointed out. These suggestions include: government redoubled commitment towards the funding of Tertiary Education, the enforcement of ethics education that has its foundation in the traditional values of Africa in order to address the prevailing laxity in the moral tone of many of the Tertiary Institutions

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Japhet abika

Abstract Open and Distance Learning (ODL), formerly known as Distance Education (DE) is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education in recent time. Distance education has experienced remarkable growth in national and international scenes since the early 1980s. The field of distance education is therefore, at the centre of dynamic growth and change. This research reveals the prospects and challenges of ODL in the study of law in Nigeria . It examines some of the definitions that have been put forward by experts in the field, as well as some features that characterized ODL. It also examines some practical aspects of ODL programs offered by the National Open University of Nigeria. It discusses the historical background of distance education in Nigeria as well as the operations of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as the first federal University in Nigeria dedicated to the provision of education through open distance mode. Furthermore, the research examines the revolutionary development of Information and Communication Technologies, the development of e-learning in Nigerian schools, the need for open and distance education in Nigeria, the prospects and challenges of e-learning in the operation of National Open University of Nigeria especially as it relates to the study of law. Poor ICT infrastructure, inadequacy of access to the technology, technophobia, negative attitude of NOUN Students, maintenance and technical support are some of the challenges militating against the open and distance learning in Nigeria. The application of ICT-based learning has great potential for increasing access to university education in Nigeria. There has been a growing concern and apprehension of possible abuse of the noble profession by stakeholders especially on the social mechanisms of the study of law. ODL has provided easy access to University admission, reduced cost and has brought education opportunity to businessmen and working class Nigerians who would not have had the opportunity to attain higher education. Qualitative Information technology, capacity building, Quality assurance, teacher development, and qualitative facilitation are the primary requirements for a successful open and distance learning. It is therefore recommended That NOUN should improve on areas of capacity building, enhanced facilitation, and other social mechanisms interactions like moot activities as well as qualitative academic delivery. Every necessary effort should be made to obtain accreditation for the school from the dual regulatory bodies NUC and CLE before further admission of law students into the school.

Jadesola Babatola Ph.D , Modupe J U L I A N A Babatola

This study interrogates the history of tertiary education in Nigeria since the colonial era. No doubt, the period of 1930s to 1940s characterized nationalist struggles under British colonial rule with the aim to redirect the education policy and seek the introduction of University Education in Nigeria. The period of 1950s to 1980s shifted the focus on expansion and access of tertiary education as the Federal (Central) and State (Regional) governments were committed to the promotion of citizens' education and eventually made access to tertiary (higher) education open to all citizens to improve their social mobility, allow for favourable competitions and invariably contribute to the nation's manpower development through creation of new Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges. By the 1990s, private initiatives were allowed to play additional roles as stakeholders in the sector. In the past 73 years, the environment and scope of higher education has changed tremendously with the establishment of many institutions of higher learning and innovative educational programmes and continuous innovation to address the challenges and demands of its entrants and managers. Equally, the consistent review of the nation's education policy has influenced the process of identifying and putting appropriate teaching infrastructure and programmes in place. This study therefore serve as a glimpse into efforts and strategies in making western education a precursor to Higher Education in Nigeria, the current state of

Emmanuel Gbenga Dada

Education is a means of poverty eradication, skill acquisition and nation's development at large; as such it is a necessity for national growth and peace sustainability. This paper explores contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to education access in Nigeria. Admission to Nigerian higher universities is a big challenge due to the size of applicants compared to the available resources that resulted in high volume of idleness or admission denial among the youths in Nigeria. academic sessions, each of the Nigerian conventional Universities received average subscription of 8,197, 3,375 and 2,841 amounting to 6%, 3% and 2% respectively, of UTME candidates for the year, while NOUN admitted 64,414, 89,611 and 35,054 Students amounting to 4.5%, 8.7% and 2.5% respectively. This indicates significant effect of NOUN, an Information Technology (IT) based Institution in allowing student access to education, thereby contributing to national economic growth and development.

Monograph of the Convocation Lecture. Abuja: National Open University of Nigeria

Peter A. Okebukola

Five questions were answered in this paper. What is the state of production of quality teachers in Nigeria today? What are the inhibitors to the production of quality teachers in the right quantity? How can we use open and distance education to speed up the process? How can the new breed of quality teachers be part of the Nigerian positive transformation process? What should be the role of the National Teachers Institute in the production and transformation process using ODL as tool? We will begin with some reflections on the concept of Open and Distance Education and the history of this delivery system in Nigeria.

Crawford Journal of Part-Time Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 September

Gabriel Lanre Adeola

All over the world, every sector is undergoing unparalleled revolution in the application of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and more importantly in the educational sector with great impact in learning. While this is rapidly unfolding, some countries are quick to rake advantage and utilize it for their socio-economic and cultural development. Others are simply lost or are just following the trend without adequate preparation on its impact on their values, culturally, politically and most fundamental educational. Indeed, this paper is intensely probing the impact of ICT on the educational sector, in particular the learning outcomes as it affects the youths. The paper is particularly interrogating on the measures taken by the policy makers to protect the traditional culture and particularly Nigeria as a nation-state in the face of ICT revolution in the educational sector; what efforts or strategies are put in place to protect the Nigerian culture and in particular the learning faculties, abilities and adaptability of the youths. The methodology is basically qualitative drawing on extant researches and comparative studies. The researcher wishes to impress on the authorities, a deliberate policy to integrate the various cultures that make us unique as a people in the development of ICT and learning in Nigeria be it in the classroom, part-time or distant learning. Keywords: Information Communication Technology (ICT), educational sector, Nigerian culture, learning, youth, part-time studies, distant learning

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Awoleye Michael (Ph.D)

Developing countries like Nigeria have been on the receiving end as consumers of electronic equipment rather than producers. Most especially, the Nigeria market has been pervaded with merchandising of computers, mobile phones and related peripherals. This paper therefore attempted to investigate if there exist competences among the firms in the clusters required for indigenizing production of computer systems and related peripherals. This thus employed the theory of the firm to analyse the data collected on 228 chief executives/founders of firms located in three major ICT clusters in Nigeria. This include the Otigba computer village in Lagos; the GSM village in Abuja and the Ogbunabali Computer market in Port-Harcourt. These are firms involved in sales, maintenance and production of ICT equipment. Descriptive analysis of the data shows that majority (45.9% and 33.9%) of the firms have been actively involved in business activities and have been in business between 11-15 years and 16-20 year range respectively. The result further shows that the size of firms within these clusters are largely micro (68.7%) and small (28.2%). These businesses are mostly regular dealer firms that traded both new and Tokunbo computers, mobile phones, networking equipment and other related peripherals. These firms seem to have skilled workforce; vast majority of the firms employed between 1-5 technicians (86.6%) and engineers (89.6%) to work with them at any given time. These personnel have acquired the required skills to repair, assemble and design some computer components/peripherals thereby bringing incremental innovation. These firms have not only performed in the hardware domain alone, most educational institutions and non-gorvenmental organisations in Nigeria have patronized them for customized software developments and services which include e-commerce enabled web services. The dynamics of the activities in the clusters suggested that there are vast entrepreneurial opportunities as occasioned by the agglomeration gains but there is a need for government support to create a more conducive environment to facilitating smooth running of the businesses. This has the tendency to create a roadmap towards enhancing Nigeria’s technological development and to strengthen sustainability of the technology hub.

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Internationalization Efforts in the Nigerian Higher Education Sector

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• First Online: 23 February 2021
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• Olaide Agbaje 2  

Part of the book series: Global Education Systems ((GES))

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Incorporating international perspectives into teaching and research has become one of the core goals of higher education institutions that are keen about maintaining global relevance. For a developing continent like Africa, higher education is an essential instrument for socioeconomic development. In contrast with the popular view that African countries such as Nigeria are often sidelined in the move of internationalization, this chapter explores a new dimension in the internationalization of higher education. This chapter provides an insight into the internationalization efforts made by the higher education system of Nigeria. Particularly, the chapter highlights the profiles of two out of the topmost Nigerian universities and the characteristics of the international students studying at these two universities – the University of Ibadan (public university) and Covenant University (private university). Using valid responses collected through questionnaires from 64 international students at both universities, the findings reveal some significant differences in the demographic features of the international students between the public and the private universities. These features include differences in funding, first language, countries of origin, enrolment types, and residences. Very few studies report on internationalization in Africa; even more rare are studies that focus on internationalization in the Nigerian higher education sector, even though there are copious studies on the broad subject of internationalization globally. Hence, this study brings a significant contribution to the current trends and issues in the internationalization of higher education landscape of Africa, with a focus on Nigeria.

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• Higher education
• International students

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Agbaje, O. (2021). Internationalization Efforts in the Nigerian Higher Education Sector. In: Adeyemo, K.S. (eds) The Education Systems of Africa. Global Education Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44217-0_26

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44217-0_26

Published : 23 February 2021

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