More varsities won't solve admission problem—Prof Ayanlaja
By Emmanuel Edukugho
To tackle the perennial problem of inadequate admission spaces for the teeming number of candidates who passed JAMB but cannot get placements in the university system, government, wealthy individuals and organisations have been urged to build more universities.
Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), reacting to the release of JAMB results whereby 1,048,314 out of the over 1.5 million candidates who sat for the entrance examination are eligible for university admission, said there is need to enhance the carrying capacity of universities and they should be properly funded.
Speaking with Saturday Vanguard mid-week, Awuzie said there is no magic about tackling the problem of scarcity of admission spaces in the Nigerian University system.
"Put more money into expanding the universities to admit more students. A University can take up to 130,000 students if the facilities are available. With more facilities, universities can carry more students."
On whether JAMB results can be valid for two years to allow opportunity for candidates instead of the yearly entrance examination, Awuzie said the idea is good but won't solve the admission problem.
"More people would still need to be admitted and more people would be seeking admission. The problem of scarcity of admission spaces will not be solved.
"Every year, the number of people sitting for JAMB and looking for admission keeps increasing, while access is not expanding. Without more facilities and more universities, we will still have this problem."
The ASUU national president gave an example of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) whose facilities can be expanded to admit more students.
"Take the example of FUTO laboratory. If more money is put into it, about 70,000 students can be admitted. There are federal universities with plenty of land on which more structures can be built to enhance admission. But no money."
It is the contention of Professor Awuzie and that is what ASUU has been saying always, that the universities should be well funded and facilities provided for them to excel and match their counterparts in other parts of the world.
With the building of more universities in the next few years by government and private initiative, the issue of admission scarcity will be a thing of the past.
More varsities won't solve admission problem—Prof Ayanlaja
Reacting to insufficient spaces for university placements in the wake of the recent JAMB results in which over 70 per cent of qualified candidates are not likely to be enrolled, Professor Samson Adenola Ayanlaja, Vice-Chancellor, Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, called for complete overhaul of the nation's education system with emphasis on entrepreneurial skill acquisition.
"Most people want to go for university education, not thinking of acquiring skills as available in trade centres, vocational institutes, entrepreneurial centres, to learn trades like block making, textiles, auto mechanic, vulcanising, shoe making and many others."
He reiterated that our education system needs overhauling and should be structured alongside self-employment and provide middle level manpower, saying, "a coal miner in UK earns like a professor, and so we should change our value system which emphasised that one must be a university graduate before being recognised."
While he agreed that there should be more universities to absorb the large number of candidates seeking admission, Ayanlaja however, asserted that more universities won't solve the problem.
"We need intermediate education, enterprise centres, trade centres, polytechnics where practicals are taught. University education does not prevent degree holders from learning vocations either.
"In China, skilled workers are the ones who have turned the economy around, engaged in manufacturing and production of goods and such workers can afford to change jobs at will.
"But in Nigeria, every person wants to go to the university. There is too much emphasis on university education. This is time to revive the old trade centres, which can produce artisans, electricians, vulcanisers, mechanics, bricklayers."
On JAMB examination and the Post-UMTME, the Vice-Chancellor noted that people buy marks while some employ mercenaries to write examinations for them.
"JAMB is such that a 6-year-old child can pass, just shade the ones you think can be the answer, even if you close your eyes. If you shade about 100, by chance, you can't miss all. Do we use that for admission into universities?"
He said the quality of the raw materials is important, hence Post-UTME. "The quality of the materials for university education should be good enough.We make sure that they are the ones who did the JAMB. The quality of the material is important to determine the final product.
"Also we have a psychologist at the Post-UTME to look at the candidates, to find out what his personality is like, dressing, age, questions are asked to reveal his or her background, so as to check cultism."
Vanguard Nigeria
it is untrue to say that building more universities wont solve admission problem. it is usually due to limitations in the number of students to be taken by universities as usually stipulated by the NUC that may schools tend to turn down admission for students. if u build more varsities and each is getting an allocation to admit 200,000 then by the time u add 3 varsities u see that 600,000 students will no longer be denied admission due to NUC limitations.
Allocation issue is due to the available facilities in the existing universities. I remember my time as a polytechnic student where in most cases students in business usually experienced "90% standing 10% sitting". Lets come to think, we need people that can create jobs in Nigeria. Our universities / polytechnics have failed to include entrepreneurship in their curriculum. Most graduates are after bank jobs, oil and gas jobs, or other jobs without thinking of creating any... Few that are entrepreneurial are discourage with funding, collateral and stuff...
It is all about building or not building, it is about sincerity of purpose which is lacked in all sphere of the economy. God bless Nigeria!
Create more jobs, not Universities. It is baseless to produce millions of graduates every year, without providing job opportunities.