Private Universities and the Revitalisation of the Nigerian University System (original) (raw)
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Higher Education in Nigeria and the Emergence of Private Universities
This paper is an exploratory study that focuses on the problems facing higher education in Nigeria and the emergence of private universities. The Nigerian educational system is today bedeviled by series of challenges such as issues of inadequate funding, inconsistent policies and lack of continuity of programmes which are more pronounced in Public Universities (both Federal and State owned). Other issues include infrastructural decay and the disruption of the higher education system and academic calendars due to strikes and riots. Insufficient budgetary allocation, obsolete equipment, old and outdated curricula and text books, lack of research grants, poor remuneration and general welfare for lecturers including the heightened level of brain drain. The current discourse on this issue is in line with the incessant complaints by employers of labour that most Nigerian graduates are half baked needing a lot of training in the world of work. Private universities such as Covenant University emerged to salvage the situation bearing in mind the fact that education remains the engine that drives the growth and development of a nation. The emphasis here is on the emergence of private universities in Nigeria, how well they have fared, current challenges and prospects for future development. Keywords: Development; Higher education; Nigeria; Private Universities; Public Universities.
Time and Change: Development of Private Universities in Nigeria
International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2014
The increasing complexity of the Nigerian society as a result of social changes has affected the educational institution, most especially, the tertiary level of education. The Federal Government has introduced some novel practices to contend these pressures one of which is the privatization of higher education for standards and quality; increased access and better funding to meet the needs of globalization and the deregulation of hitherto publicly managed organizations. This article explores the relationship between public and private university education in Nigeria. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section analyses the historical development of the private university education in Nigeria. The second section analyses the justification for the establishment of private university institutions. The third section examines the challenges facing private university education in Nigeria and the fourth section discusses the various recommendations for quality assurance in the private university education.
Reflections on the Growth and Development of University Education in Nigeria
Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy, 2012
The year 1948 marked the start of university education in the University College, Ibadan, Nigeria. High demand for university educa- tion and the need to produce the much-needed high-level manpower for the newly independent nation, made the federal and regional governments to found additional four new universities in the 1960's bringing the number to five. The federal and state governments established more universities in the 1970's and subsequent decades in answer to further request for university ed- ucation. Private universities started to appear since late 1990's. As of now, there are 117 universities owned by the federal government, state govern- ments and private individuals and corporate bodies. In the first four decades (1948 - 1988), the quality of the nation's university education was quite very good. Afterwards, the university education system derailed, so to speak, as a result of myriads of problems prominent ones being inadequate financing and erosion of...
Opening Remarks I am delighted to have been invited by the Vice-Chancellor and the Senate of this growing University to present this Convocation Lecture. It is a remarkable honour because most often those invited to undertake this type of assignment are from outside the active fold of the academia. However, I was emboldened by the fact as one who has been in the system for close to three decades I am equipped reasonably with the intellectual capability to share some thoughts that could be of value to colleagues and operators of the system. What actually got me tight was the situation where I was told to craft a topic of my choice; a topic which should have bearing on the university system. Such open invitation could be more difficult than when the lecturer is offered a topic which very often he would tell the organisers that they should give him the benefit of amending. I thought of so many things to write on but I convinced myself that my thought process on the university system and obvious challenges in our given situation may be more apt. I have therefore taken the liberty to speak on the Nigerian University system and the glaring challenges from its enemies and friendly enemies. I do hope this discourse will make meaning and advance the course and cause of our profession for the good of national development. The topic essentially interrogates the many phases of issues confronting tertiary institutions in the country and some of the possible ways we could identify and assuage the situation, I maybe repeating several matters we already know but I may also be likely saying them differently in more refreshing manner; so kindly lend me your ears. remains the concrete bedrock of this position just as global perspectives indicate that both economic and social development are increasingly driven by the advancement and application of knowledge 1. Within this consideration, the key factor for anticipating future development and productivity of any modern society is the number of intellectuals, thinkers, visionaries and professionals available to it. Scholars are also in agreement in conceptualizing the role of higher education, particularly universities, in social engineering for unity, national integration and development. In this recognition higher education, all over the world, has acquired an unusual profile because of its importance in the struggle of nations' to survive in a fast changing world. The level of social change, which implies a fundamental transformation in the structures of society with consequences on its continued existence, accentuated largely by knowledge economy of the society, has its nursery bed in the contending forces in a specific society 2. However, the story of education, along with the reviewing of our development has been on the agenda since colonial times, yet we entered the 21 st century largely trailing behind major regions of the world in almost all important indicators of growth, particularly in education. The status reports portray that of neglect and even acts of physical, psychological, political and economic harassment as academics attempt to assert their humanity, their creativity and their right to equality and
The Rise, Fall, and Reemergence of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria
The Road to Academic …, 2011
were affiliated with partner universities in the colonizing countries, such as France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Through these affiliations, the institutions automatically became part of the French, Portuguese, U.K., or other systems of quality assurance through their partner universities. This type of close administrative and curricular alliances provided African countries with educational qualifications comparable to the academic standards, culture, and character of European universities of that time. Upon independence, the increased power of state authority over higher education altered the autonomy of the institutions. National government priorities included increased access, tuition-free education, and measures to control political dissent, which was often seen as originating in the universities. Between 1985 and 2002, the number of tertiary students in Sub-Saharan Africa increased 3.6 times (from 800,000 to about 3 million), on average by about 15 percent yearly. The public's demand for tertiary education is shaped in part by overall trends in population growth and, in
Rebuilding University Education in Nigeria: The Way Forward
glojacarf , 2023
he need to rebuild the University education in Nigeria has taken the centre stage in all debates. This paper therefore, examines the origin of university, goals and the general trends in its operations so far. The challenges and the way forward for a better education of that magnitude were also highlighted, with a view of proffering solutions to the numerous setbacks. In the end, the paper concludes that the dwindling economy and wrong priority of the ruling class have occasioned gross under-funding of the University System, leading to rots in the System. Except these issues are addressed, the proposed Education Reform will surely go the way of its preceding programmes.
https://www.ijrrjournal.com/IJRR\_Vol.5\_Issue.3\_March2018/Abstract\_IJRR008.html, 2018
Traditionally, politics is guided by the traits of interests and intrigues. This paper historically examines whether the political intrigues that beclouded the establishment of private universities in Nigeria in any way distorted educational and national interests. The paper submits that the development of private universities suffered a setback owing to the kind of politics that circumvented the initial efforts. It therefore advocates that government and the political class must eschew self-serving political interest in order to realize the potentials in private-sector participation for the development of university education in Nigeria.
The History of Private Sector Participation in University Education in Nigeria (1989-2012)
Research on humanities and social sciences, 2014
There has been a consistent quest for higher education (especially university) in Nigeria, due to epileptic academic system. Coupled with the total number of candidates seeking admission into the various higher institutions in Nigeria yearly. On the basis of this, it has become obvious that the existing higher institutions, which were mainly government- owned, cannot cope with the ever- increasing demand for higher education in Nigeria. One of the basic panaceas to this challenge is the liberalization of participation in the education sector. The study applied both historical and sociological methodology in its investigation. This study examined the history of higher education in Nigeria, from 1989 to 2012. In addition, it also examined the role played by the private sector in the Nigerian educational sector in this present dispensation. The writers recommended that there should be a consistent upsurge of private higher institutions in Nigeria to adequately address the challenge pos...