NUC develops guidelines on transnational education

The Deputy Govt Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, has mentioned the company has developed a suggestion for the implementation of transnational training.

He mentioned the rules on transnational training will information international funding and partnerships between international universities and their Nigerian counterparts.

Mr Maiyaki spoke on Wednesday on the pre-departure orientation programme for over 200 Nigerian youths who gained the 2022 European Union (EU’s) Erasmus+ scholarship to check in EU nations.

He mentioned the transnational training pointers are one of many different initiatives by the NUC to develop college training in Nigeria.

“The NUC is relentless in its efforts to reposition the Nigerian college system. However we reckon that we can’t undertake this onerous activity alone,” he mentioned.

“Subsequently, the fee, along with crucial stakeholders, has not too long ago launched into some legacy initiatives. We now have simply consummated our pointers on transnational training which is able to permit international universities into the Nigerian college house via the institution of campuses in Nigeria. They will additionally undertake partnerships with current universities.”

Adopted fashions

Mr Maiyaki listed among the fashions drawn out by the fee to incorporate the franchise mannequin, department campus, twinning and articulation, distance studying and acquisition and merger fashions.

He mentioned the fashions will improve entry to Nigerian universities which at the moment admit far under the variety of eligible candidates yearly.

Based on him, there are at the moment 219 universities in Nigeria.

He mentioned: “The consummation of the rules will open universities to real and mutually helpful collaborations with abroad companions. We wish to make this very clear that we at the moment are open as a college system. We additionally re-engineer our curriculum. We now have provide you with pointers for internationalisation portfolios in order that we can provide the Nigerian training model the visibility that it deserves.”

Admission into Nigerian universities

Yearly, round two million candidates search admission to Nigeria’s tertiary establishments together with the colleges. However information from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has through the years revealed that lower than 50 per cent of the candidates often get admitted into these establishments. One of many causes is the shortage of house within the establishments.

Whereas quotas are allotted to establishments, a few of them have mentioned they don’t have the capability to confess many college students.

Within the 2021 admission yr, for example, solely about 400,000 of about 1.4 million candidates have been admitted. Nonetheless, JAMB mentioned solely 637,573 of the candidates are eligible for admissions based mostly on their most popular establishments’ cut-off factors and O’stage outcomes.

Another excuse, JAMB mentioned, is the suspension of the admission course of by some establishments as a result of industrial motion by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

In 2020, 2.1 million candidates sought admission into Nigerian tertiary establishments. Whereas about 1.1 million have their O’stage necessities and met the cutoff factors, solely 551,553 gained admission as of August 2020.

In 2019, there have been 1.7 million eligible candidates, solely 612,557 had secured admission as of June 2019.

Funding Drawback

There may be additionally a funding downside plaguing the Nigerian public universities. This has led to a face-off between college employees and the Nigerian authorities.

College lecturers below ASUU have downed their instruments since 14 February, demanding higher funding for the system and higher pay for members. Different unions such because the Senior Employees Affiliation of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Tutorial Employees Union of Universities and Different Allied Establishments (NASU) simply suspended their five-month-old strike final week. They vowed to proceed with the strike ought to the federal government not meet their calls for –which embrace funding and higher pay– within the subsequent two months.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Occasions in partnership with Report for the World, which matches native newsrooms with gifted rising journalists to report on under-covered points across the globe