VICE Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Professor Sulyman Abdulkareem, has said that about 12,000 admission applicants into the university will be admitted for 2019/2020 academic session of the institution.
Speaking at the annual breaking of fast (Iftar) with journalists in Ilorin at the weekend, Professor Abdulkareem said that the university authority had commenced lobbying of the National Universities Commission (NUC) for an increase in the subsisting quota of 10,900 allocated to the institution.
The Vice-Chancellor, who said that the move was to accommodate a huge number of admission seekers, added that the university had become one of the most subscribed citadels of learning in the country.
Professor Abdulkareem said his goal was to have limitless admission quota if not for NUC and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) regulatory activities, explaining that the allocation of admission quota was dependent on carrying capacity and facilities on each campus of the universities.
He said that main challenge his administration was grappling with was provision enough classrooms due to increase in the number of students on campus, adding that the institution had provided gadgets in the lecture theatres to cope with the situation.
He also said that he had reached out to the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) for support in building large lecture halls.
“My goal as Vice-Chancellor is to have limitless admission quota but we know that it is regulated by NUC, and they usually base that on facilities on campus. I must disclose that for 10 years, I was admission Chairman for the University of Ilorin.
“So, I remember many times I carried a message to JAMB and NUC to solicit for an increase in our quota. Even at that, today the normal quota is 10,900 but they are going to give room for alteration and allow us to admit for a session, not more than 12,000 students.
“Our biggest problem is the 100 Level courses that have a large number of students, especially if you look at Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology that all 100 Level students must take in very large number.
“Till now, we have been having a problem. But later in this session, what we have been doing is using our big Lecture Theatre, Multipurpose Theatre and having enough chairs. I thought I was doing something new but when I got to London, I was told that this is the classroom of the future. If you go to that multipurpose theatre now, we have brought in enough gadgets to make lecture delivery easy for the lecturers and for the students to learn.
“The issue though is that we cannot go on increasing the number, and I have been soliciting for TETFUND assistance to have large lecture theatres that can accommodate the large class size. But they are also advising us that when a class gets too large, it is very difficult for lecturers to monitor,” he said.
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