NUC cautions Kano, Osun over sponsoring of students to Ukraine

By Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja 

 

The National Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday cautioned Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso and his Osun State counterpart Rauf Aregbesola over the sponsorship of too many students to one country for higher studies.It said the trend would not promote diversity of knowledge.
Speaking in Abuja yesterday at a roundtable on Cross Boarder Higher Education Strategic Partnership organised by the Commission and the British Council, NUC Executive Secretary Prof Julius Okojie noted that sending about 500 students to one country on scholarship would not encourage the spread of knowledge. 
He lamented that recent Needs Assessment of Nigerian varsities has revealed that they have more than 60 per cent lecturers without PhD, a development, he said, that must be checked.
His words: “There is nothing wrong in Nigerian students going for higher degrees abroad, but we can’t send all of them in one direction. If all students go to University of Ibadan (UI) now, we won’t have a spread of knowledge. Some universities have special capacities and prospects; Ibadan is known for medicine and agriculture. It is also wrong to send all the students to  the United Kingdom (UK) or United States(US). 
“Spread them so that when they are coming, they will bring their wealth of experience from different countries. There would be that diversity; you need that diversity among the teaching staff; you can’t stay in the same university, with the same people who graduated from the same university, you won’t learn anything from each other. Diversity is very important. When all of them about 500 or 70 per cent of them go in the same direction, we are going to have problem when they come back.”
Urging wealthy individuals to send their wards to the right places for higher qualifications, Okojie specifically identified Kano State government, which he alleged recently awarded scholarship to 500 deserving students. It noted that about 70 per cent of such students are going to Ukraine while the rest are to go to Turkey , Jordan and other countries.
He suggested that the Federal Government should collaborate with the British Council to coordinate and regulate cross boarder higher education so that deserving students can be directed to the right places.
Okojie said: “We are talking of facilities. When I was a lecturer at UI, British Council gave me some funds to go and complete my thesis at Edinburgh . We have a problem of what I call competence staff that is going to supervise PhD students. With our regulations, you can’t take more than the given number of students if you are a supervisor and you must be senior lecturer with a PhD. Look at the system where you already have more than 60 per cent who don’t have PhD. 
“How are they going to supervise? We are looking at the possibility of our people going out which is good for us and still retaining their jobs here because we call it split side training system. 
“With the Tetfund fund of N3 billion for research and the recent launch of professional journals, you will find out that we are going to stimulate the system for better researches and publications. We also encourage managers of the research fund to include post-graduate students in their programme. It makes room for multi-disciplinary approach to research endeavour.”
Okojie expressed optimism that the situation would change in the next five to six years when academic staff sponsored for overseas training by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund) return home.
The Deputy Director of the British Council, Amir Ramzan, also corroborated the fact  that there are Nigerian lecturers without higher qualifications. He noted, however, that cross-boarder tertiary education strategic partnership can help solve the problem.
He added that cross-boarder tertiary education would also help to address the problem of time and resources militating against acquisition of higher qualification by bringing education opportunities to the country.
The British Council deputy director said the roundtable would afford Nigeria and United Kingdom the opportunity of regulating and co-ordinating cross boarder tertiary education through sharing international experience and learning from other countries.
Five universities from the UK which include: Nothingham University , University of Birmingham , University of Huddersfield and 35 Nigerian universities were represented at the roundtable. 

SOURCE: 4 September 2012.