How to revitalise higher education in Nigeria —VCs, stakeholders

VICE Chancellors of Nigerian universities and key stakeholders in the education sector have called on the federal government to purposively increase the level of higher education funding to 4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as recommended by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

They also called for amendment and coordination of the laws on high education institutions leading to a comprehensive Act on higher education in Nigeria.

This involves amendment of the Acts of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), among others, so as to address the current challenges of policy conflicts and institutional autonomy.

These were some of the recommendations on how to revitalise higher education system in Nigeria as contained in the communique issued at the end of the 2016 Nigeria Higher Education Summit, organised by the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities (CVC), Trust Africa, Dakar and NUC in Abuja.

The communique was made available to newsmen in Abuja by the former vice chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Secretary-General of CVC, Professor Michael Faborode.

The summit also expressed concern about incessant strike actions by staff unions of higher education institutions, and made a case for all parties involved in the negotiations on HEIs to abide by outcomes of collective bargaining in order to stem the tide of strikes, which have become a negative hallmark of higher education system.

The summit also recommended that: “Differentiation of HEIs should be encouraged because it will lead to beneficial specialisation in HEIs. Hence, a clear-cut legal instrument guiding the process should be developed.

“Diversification and differentiation in the higher education system must be comprehensive, inclusive, sustainable, and transparent and have the trust of stakeholders. The model of classification should be non-hierarchical, descriptive and prescriptive.

It also recognized the need to leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as an enabler of the relevance of HEIs, and hence driver of national transformation and sustainable development.

It said: “For ICT to be an enabler of other convergent high-level technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, genomics, cognitive science and GIS, and serve as the currency of engagement in our higher education institutions, government must deliberately ensure that ICT policies are translated into reality.”

The summit indeed suggests the establishment of an ICT policy implementation strategy/framework as part of the mandate of National Commission for Research and Innovation, which the president chairs.

“In the same vein, we need to provide facilities and infrastructure to sustain Open and Distance Learning adoption through the embrace/engagement of private-public partnerships at both the national and international levels.

“Adoption by HEIs of the proposed cost-effective model for ICT deployment in HEIs in Nigeria – through cost sharing of key infrastructure, outsourcing, proper funding of institutional campus-wide access technology and appropriate policies and strategies for sustainability.

“This includes taking advantage of NgREN (and other service providers) to benefit from economy of scale with respect to internet bandwidth provision, amongst other services and potentials.

“The 10 African Centres of Excellence in Nigeria should be deliberately funded, developed and sustained beyond their current World Bank funding and designated as critical assets for innovation and development.

“The same status should be extended to similar global and regional centres such as the Pan African University node at Ibadan, the UNESCO Category II institutes at University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Water Resources Institute, Kaduna.

“In the same vein, government should actively support institutions with clear research and innovation focus, and work in partnership with the private sector to generate positive and practical outcomes and products.

“In addition to scholarships and bursaries by federal and state governments, Nigerian students now deserve re-introduction of the Nigerian Student Loan Scheme which must be managed by an independent national body with clear mandate for loan recovery.