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JAC cautions Oyo govt over plan to establish tertiary education commission

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Oyo State-owned tertiary institutions has called for caution over the state government’s move to establish the Oyo State Tertiary Education Commission.

The process to establish the commission as an agency responsible for the coordination and management of all tertiary institutions in the state has recently begun following the first reading of the Oyo State Tertiary Education Commission Bill, 2024, at the State House of Assembly.

The commission, upon its establishment, will have the responsibility to develop and implement quality assurance mechanisms for all academic programs offered by tertiary institutions, align academic standards across the institutions to address specific needs of the state’s higher education landscape.

Among other responsibilities, the commission will develop and enforce a code of conduct for institutions and individuals, act as a liaison between tertiary institutions and the Ministry of Education on matters relating to higher education, and collaborate with national regulatory bodies in matters related to program accreditation, quality assurance standards, funding initiatives for tertiary institutions in the state, and support the development of research infrastructure and technology within institutions.

The JAC said following its scrutiny of the bill, it feared duplication of functions, erosion of autonomy, suffocation of the education sector, resource misallocation, redundancy of directorates, resistance to external influence and non adherence to the national regulation of tertiary education.

It argued that tertiary institutions are meant to operate independently, hence such commission threatens to erode institutions’ autonomy by centralizing control.

Also, the JAC held that the proposed functions of the commission appear to overlap with the roles and responsibilities already assigned to the governing councils of various tertiary institutions in the state.

“Establishing the commission in its current form would effectively legalize the usurpation of powers vested in the Governing Councils.

“Establishing the commission risks wasting state resources on a redundant entity, as the roles it seeks to fulfill are already enshrined in existing laws governing each institution and actively managed by the Governing Councils.

“JAC is wary of repeating the mistakes of past interventions, such as the disruptive influence of Leviathan-like consultants. We must ensure that any commission does not undermine the authority of management and Governing Councils,” the statement read.

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Furthermore, the JAC warnes that the commission’s broad mandate could suffocate the tertiary education sector with excessive regulation and bureaucracy, hindering effective management and decision-making within institutions.

The statement further read: “Many of the proposed directorates of the commission replicate functions already performed by various institutions and supervisory agencies like the NUC, NBTE, and NCCE. This raises doubts about the added value the commission would bring.

“The regulation of Tertairy education in Nigeria is an exclusive function of the various regulatory agencies like NUC, NBTE, NCCE etc. This idea of having a parallel commission is a duplication and it runs parallel and contrary to the normal academic practice. This ideal will amount to useless duplication and unnecessary wastage of government resources.

“JAC strongly advocates for a reassessment of the Commission’s structure and functions, suggesting a model similar to the Ministry of Tertiary Education in Lagos State for effective oversight.

“A close look and analysis of the structure and functions of “The Ministry of Tertiary Education” in Lagos State shows a structure that will aid the growth of the institutions in the state rather than the present structure and functions being advocated in the proposed bill of the Oyo State commission.

“Establishing the Commission in its current form could lead to confusion, create anarchy and diminish the quality of tertiary education in Oyo State, undermining your government efforts to advance education development in the state.

“We respectfully urge Your Excellency to reconsider this bill and withhold its passage, ensuring a more thorough review by key stakeholders to align with best practices and avoid potential harm to our institutions.

“We equally want to seize this opportunity to seek for the promised audience of His Excellency as soon as possible to discuss serious festering issues of concern in our sector that its agitation in currently becoming unmanageable inorder to forestall crises in the tertiary education sector of the state.”

Olawale Akinselure