UK to set up Cross-border Campuses in Nigeria

[MyInfoStride]

Nigerian government has agreed to allow British universities to establish campuses within selected local higher education institutions. The aim is to enable students to obtain British degrees without leaving the country and to open higher education opportunities for young people who qualify for university but are unable to access the limited places in Nigeria's 93 public and private universities.

The inability of Nigerian universities to meet student demand is the main reason why the government - which has clamped down on cross-border higher education in recent years - has accepted the entry of British universities. Recent statistics released by the National University Commission, the regulatory body in charge of tertiary institutions, indicate the total carrying capacity of Nigerian universities is 170,000 new students a year.

But for the past five years more than a million candidates have sat the university entrance examination run by the statutory Joint Admission Matriculation Board. So fewer than one in five have gained admission while the higher education hopes of the rest have been frustrated.

Many qualified students unable to attend Nigerian or foreign universities have ended up in the unrecognised and unaccredited offshore campuses of British and American universities but these were recently closed by the university commission.

Read further: NIGERIA: UK to set up cross-border campuses

[MyInfoStride]