The paper examines university reform in Nigeria and the contributions of the federal government to university education in Nigeria. The paper highlights government intervention that led to a significant increase in the number of universities, student enrollment, and number of teaching staff in Nigerian universities. It further discussed entrance procedures, teachers quality, robust engagement between the universities and the industrial sectors, innovation, research, and development, science and technology universities, partnerships in the establishment of universities, nation’s development goals, community and industrial spirit, sport universities, blended learning, lecturer-students ratio, and diverse channels for lecturer’s promotion as major contributions of the Nigerian government to reform university education in Nigeria.
A nation's infrastructural development and the advancement of its economy depend largely on the cultivation of manpower and talent. To this extent, governments of nations constantly reform university education to help nurture and develop the manpower needed for economic growth. Ensuring that all citizens receive proper university education following the societal demands. Talents and skills competitions are driving young individuals to migrate across borders. Acquisition of Knowledge and investment in research and innovation seems to be the country's only way to increase global competitiveness. Based on this, countries' governments invest in the cultivation of young talents by improving the quality of university education.
Universities Reform in Nigeria: The Contributions of Federal Government to University Education
Abstract
The paper examines university reform in Nigeria and the contributions of the federal government to university education in Nigeria. The paper highlights government intervention that led to a significant increase in the number of universities, student enrollment, and number of teaching staff in Nigerian universities. It further discussed entrance procedures, teachers quality, robust engagement between the universities and the industrial sectors, innovation, research, and development, science and technology universities, partnerships in the establishment of universities, nation’s development goals, community and industrial spirit, sport universities, blended learning, lecturer-students ratio, and diverse channels for lecturer’s promotion as major contributions of the Nigerian government to reform university education in Nigeria.
Keywords: universities, reform, nigeria, contributions, federal, government, education
Introduction
A nation's infrastructural development and the advancement of its economy depend largely on the cultivation of manpower and talent. To this extent, governments of nations constantly reform university education to help nurture and develop the manpower needed for economic growth. Ensuring that all citizens receive proper university education following the societal demands. Talents and skills competitions are driving young individuals to migrate across borders. Acquisition of Knowledge and investment in research and innovation seems to be the country's only way to increase global competitiveness. Based on this, countries' governments invest in the cultivation of young talents by improving the quality of university education.
Universities education in Nigeria falls under the control of federal, and state governments, and private individuals. The debate on university education as a veritable tool to enlarge youth skills and meet individual needs in a knowledge-based society was given impetus in the 21st century (Lessard & Carpentier, 2015). The Nigeria National Policy on Education (NPE, 2013) stated that university education in Nigeria shall make optimum contributions to national development by intensifying and diversifying its programs for the development of high-level manpower within the context of the needs of the nation, making the professional course content reflect our national requirement, make all students part of a general program of all-improvement in university education to offer general study courses such as history of ideas, philosophy of knowledge, nationalism and information technology, and to make entrepreneurial skills acquisition a requirement for all Nigerian universities (NPE, 2013). In pursuance of these, the university education shall be relevant to the nation’s development goals. Particular attention shall be paid to research and promotion of indigenous knowledge in Nigeria. In this regard, the universities shall be encouraged to collaborate with the government, industries, and the global community in the conduct of research (NPE, 2013).
In fulfillment of this, and to bridge the performance gap between universities in the area of quality, evaluation, research, and development, the National University Commission (NUC) was established to conduct an evaluation of universities, integrate government policies, and plan to support all Nigerian universities. The evaluation consists of institutional evaluation and program evaluation. The evaluation is held every 5 years to examine whether universities have achieved their strategic goals, quality of academic staff, teaching, research, and community services. NUC advocates for assistance measures, subventions, and subsidies for public universities, provides a sound teaching, learning, and research environment for university teachers and students, improves learning, and offers assistance to effectively distribute university resources across public universities in Nigeria (NUC, 2018).
Since 1999 the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been demanding for better quality university system to develop world-class talent that can favorably compete with other university graduates globally. To this extent, the federal government of Nigeria in 2009 reached an agreement with the academic staff union of Nigeria universities, the fallout of the agreement was the approval of a 50 percent salary increase for university academic staff, administrative autonomy for universities, the 70-year retirement age for university professors, and increase funding for Nigeria universities (The Nation, 2018).
Furthermore, on November 1, 2012, the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Education set up a Need Assessment intervention for public universities. The Need Assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing public university’s needs and expected conditions. The Need was geared towards improving institutions' infrastructures, lecturer quality, and instructional materials (NEEDs, 2014). This government intervention led to a significant increase in the number of universities, student’s enrolment, and number of academic staff students in Nigeria public universities in the past decade.
Number of Universities in Nigeria
The popularization of education has led to a rapid increase in the number of universities in Nigeria. In 2023, there were 170 universities in Nigeria. The breakdown revealed that private universities account for 79, representing 46.5 percent, Federal universities account for 43, representing 25.3 percent and state universities account for about 48, representing 28.2 percent. This is further shown in Figure 1 below:
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 1: Number of Universities in Nigeria
Students Enrolment
According to 2022 statistics, there are 102,500 students enrolled in private universities compared to 1,751,761 students in public universities in Nigeria. This shows that private universities account for less than 6 percent of the total number of students enrolled in Nigerian universities (Alegbe, 2022). The report also shows that a total of 1,252,913 students enrolled in public universities of which 83 percent are undergraduate, five percent sub-degree, three percent post-graduate diplomas, five percent are Master’s, and two percent are Ph.D. The breakdown shows that 66.1 percent of the students are studying arts, social science, management science, and education programs which is against the National Policy on Education guideline that stipulates 60:40 enrolments in favour of science-based programs which recorded only about 16 percent in enrolment. 6.3 percent in engineering, five percent in Medicine, and 6.6 percent in agriculture, pharmacy, and law (The Nation, 2018). This is further shown in Figure 2 below:
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 2: Student Enrolment Trend in Nigerian Universities
Number of Teaching Staffs
Recent data shows that public universities in Nigeria had about 37,504 academic staff representing 83 percent male and 17 percent females. The report revealed that only about 43 percent had doctoral degrees of which 75 percent of them are in the rank of senior lecturers, associate professors, and full professors (The Nation, 2018). Only seven universities have up to 60 percent of their academic staff with Ph.D. qualifications. This figure has increased since 2009 when NUC adopted the policy of Ph.D. degrees to teach and rise to a senior lecturer in Nigerian universities. Of the data, Professors account for 16.2 percent of the teaching personnel. Associate professors account for 33.2 percent. While senior lecturers, lecturers I and II account for 50.6 percent. This is further shown in Figure 3 below:
Illustrations are not included in the reading sample
Figure 3: Number of Academic Staff in Nigerian Universities
Government Major Contributions to University Education in Nigeria
Pont (2017) reported that the chance of getting education reform implemented requires government, school administrators, faculty members, and parents. Ellsworth (2001) highlighted various activities the government could do to enhance university reforms that would probably address the needs and priorities of the universities. Some of the major contributions of the Nigeria government to university reform in Nigeria include proper entrance admissions, improving the lecturer’s quality, establishing a robust engagement between the universities and the industrial sectors, encourage innovation, research, and development, encourage science and technology universities, encourage partnerships in the establishment of universities, relevant to nation’s development goals, inculcate community and industrial spirit, establish sport universities, encourage blended learning, adjust the ratio of teacher-students to raise the teaching qualities, and promote diverse channels for lecturer’s promotion.
Entrance Procedures
Nigerian universities admit graduates of regular senior secondary schools, technical colleges, and unity colleges through separate examination systems. The entrance examination method adopted by the Nigerian government for graduates of senior secondary education and seeking admission into a 4-year bachelor's degree program in Nigerian universities includes the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the individual university examination popularly known as the Post-UTME.
Improve Lecturer’s Quality
To improve the teaching quality of lecturers, the government of Nigeria introduced the tertiary education trust fund intervention and the Presidential first-class scholarship program, provided an encouraged housing scheme for lecturers, encouraged student internship program, and encouraged all university lecturers to acquire a diploma certificate in the teaching profession to possess the pedagogical skills of a teaching profession.
Established a Robust Engagement Between the Universities and the Industrial Sectors
Universities programs are designed to offer specialized training that focuses on the manpower needs of industry. To rebrand university education in Nigeria, the Nigerian through its regulatory agency encouraged individual universities to have a robust engagement with the Nigerian industrial sectors and design specific courses or curricula to meet the needs of industries. This robust engagement would increase the quality of human capital in various industries.
Encourage Innovation, Research, and Development
To encourage collaboration between schools and industry, the National University Commission encourages universities to establish innovation, research, and development centers to increase research, innovation, and teaching skills of lecturers teaching in Nigeria universities to improve the quality of Nigerian universities in line with global and societal standards
Established More Science and Technology Universities
The National University Commission encourages science and technology universities to engage in science and technology research and innovations needed for the industrial sectors. In addition, encourages the development of vocational colleges and universities of science and technology as well as universities of agriculture to collaborate with the industrial sectors. To enhance the measures, the federal government of Nigeria stated that not less than 60 percent of programs in Nigerian universities should be science-oriented courses and not less than 80 percent should be technology and agriculture-related courses to strengthen the foundation of technology (NPE, 2013).
Encourage Partnerships in the Establishment of Universities
To rebrand university education in Nigeria, the federal government encourages voluntary agencies and private individuals and groups to establish universities provided they comply with the minimum standards of the federal government (NPE, 2013). In addition, the federal government also encourages indigenous universities to attract world talents, internationalized campuses, and curricula, and promote global collaboration where teachers and students can exchange ideas in teaching, research, and innovation.
Promote Nation’s Development Goals
To rebrand Nigerian universities, the federal government of Nigeria stated that the university research shall be relevant to the nation’s development goals. Particular emphasis shall be paid to the research and promotion of indigenous knowledge in Nigeria (NPE, 2013). In this regard, universities are encouraged to collaborate with government, industries, and the global community in the dissemination of research findings establish profit cooperation with the civil and government forces to provide teaching materials and care services, develop innovation and transformation regulations, promote referral system of talent cultivation, and encourage youth to publish academic articles to create a platform for the youth exchange of ideas.
Inculcate Community and Industrial Spirit
To respond to the industries’ demands, reduce the gap between industries and academics to nurture talent for industries, and support the transformation of industries, the federal government of Nigeria stated that the university teaching shall seek to inculcate industrial and community spirit through projects and action researches (NPE, 2013). In fulfillment of this, the Nigerian university system would promote interdepartmental cooperation in partnership with industries and the academic environment. These measures steer various departments and industries to solve the needs of human resources. Tailored and matched employment-oriented curriculum that focuses on practical skills and encourages universities to collaborate with industrial organizations in the area of training and retraining as well as work internship opportunities in industry.
Establish Sports Universities to Promote Nigerians' Participation in Sports
In recognition of the importance of sports, the Nigeria legislation enacted laws for the establishment of the university of sports in Nigeria. It aims to activate national sports which strongly believes in becoming a progressive world-class professional training institution that will nurture and raise young Nigeria’s talents in international sport. In addition, promotes national athlete training, expands the sports industry, promotes sports development guidelines, boosts the development of the sports industry, increases the participation rates of students with disabilities in sports, increases the abilities of physical education teachers and students, and assists in the recruitment of athletic trainers and instructors for senior secondary school sports.
Encourage Blended Learning
As part of the university reform in Nigeria, the Nigerian government encourages universities to engage in wireless points to boost the coverage of wireless internet across campuses and encourage e-learning. It connects campuses with the local community and industrial environment. The Integration of digital learning resources with academic circles promotes innovative learning across fields and allows students to collaborate with professionals from various domains.
Adjust the Ratio of Teacher-Students to Raise the Teaching Qualities
Improving the teaching quality of lecturers, the ratio of teaching staff to students in Nigerian universities previously stood at 1:100 or more. In the national open universities is 1:363 making the lecturers overstretched. To address this, the federal government of Nigeria has adjusted the teacher-student ratio through increased infrastructure and increases in the number of teaching staff in line with the national policy on education guidelines.
Encourage Diverse Channels for Lecturer’s Promotion
To ensure lecturers' promotion is diverse, fair, and transparent with a modified flexible salary structure, the federal government of Nigeria operates a decentralized system of lecturer promotion. In this regard, individual universities are responsible for the promotion of academic staff from the junior cadre to senior lecturer based on the number of publications, community service, and academic contributions. At the associate and professorial levels, the individual university sends the details of the academic staff to three similar universities, faculties, and departments for external evaluation which two of the three must be satisfied with the staff's academic excellence and give approval for the academic staff to be promoted to the rank of an associate professor and full professor.
Conclusion
The paper examines university reform in Nigeria and the contributions of the federal government to university education in Nigeria. The paper describes the government's strategic measures that led to a significant increase in the number of Nigeria universities, student enrollment, and number of academic staff. It further discussed entrance admissions, lecturer quality, engagement between the universities and the industrial sectors, innovation, research, and development, science and technology universities, partnerships in the establishment of universities, nation’s development goals, community and industrial spirit, sports universities, blended learning, teacher-student ratio, and diverse channels for lecturer’s promotion as the major contributions of the Nigerian government.
References
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NY: ERIC Clearinghouse
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013). National Policy on Education. (6th Edition). Yaba, Lagos:
Nigeria: NERDC Press
Lessard, C., & Carpentier, A. (2015), Politiques educatives : la mise en oeuvre, Presses
Universitaires de France, Paris
National University Commission (NUC, 2018). Position paper on grade sorting in Nigeria
Universities. Retrieved 20th Nov, 2019. From http://portal.atbu.edu.ng/app/assets/file/NU C%2520Position%2520Paper
NEEDs, (2014). Needs assessment in the Nigerian education sector. International Organization
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