It Shouldn’t be a Hard Knock Life for the Nigerian-trained Graduate
March 25th, 2008 | Published in Education, Nigeria | 9 Comments
The Nigerian college graduate faces two major challenges: a reported declining standard of education and an ever-shrinking job market.
Nigerian educational system has taken several head-knocks in past, recently it was the turn of Nigerian apex banker, Professor Soludo, to offer his observations of Nigerian graduates, and it wasn’t nice:
“71 per cent of Nigerian graduates like bad cherries, won’t be picked by any employer of labour because they are not fit for anything even if they were the only ones that put themselves forward for an employment test.â€
This is a pretty damning report. According to news report credited to Soludo, Nigerian graduates do not possess the “high level skills needed to tackle the challenges of post-recapitalisation operation in the banking sector and globalization” and “are not employable in the new economy”.
Today, I read some 250,000 new college graduates will go through the annual rites of nation building via the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
The revelation of Soludo is nothing new; the news of declining standards of tertiary education have been on-and-off for several years now. And it was what prompted the feds to commence granting licenses for private universities in 2000. While the numbers of those colleges have geometrically increased over the past 8 years, their impacts will not be fully apparent, if at all, for another 5-10 years. Should Nigerians and policy makers fold their hands and wait?
There is no basis to anticipate a quick turn-around - even with the best efforts of the private universities, their student intake isn’t just high enough to reverse the downward trend.
What would I do if I were the Minister of Education in Nigeria?
1. Open communication channels with the banks and other potential employers in Nigeria.
2. Overhaul the college curricula and pay more emphasis on technical and practical learning modules over theoretical applications. I will add classes on entrepreneurship and writing, promote social-academic societies, and encourage mentoring programs.
3. Seek new funding sources through private partnerships and fee-based consultancy work, and encourage private endowments of faculty chairs.
4. Offer career counseling to first year students. Create functional and well-staffed student affairs offices in all campuses.
5. Offer university dons continuing education/learning opportunities through professional classes and conferences.
6. Lobby to re-align the activities of the NYSC to one that is more relevant to ‘Nigeria of 2008′ and beyond. The paramilitary drills have become redundant!
For instance, while I was in college, there was never any class on what to expect during the one year NYSC period. No academic and mental preparation were offered, none, not even simple CPR and first aid training! Yet, graduates are expected to live safely and productively for 12 months in the most unfamiliar terrains! This is an unrealistic expectation.
7. Lastly, institute a student-review process for the lecturers where all lecturers will be assessed anonymously by the students at the end of each class or semester, this will be in addition to the existing peer-review system.
I can think of more, but what’s the point? I ain’t the Minister, and the probability of him reading this post is next to zero! It just pains me greatly that those in charge would rather talk and play the boss …than think and do their jobs!
March 25th, 2008 at 10:53 pm (#)
I was just thinking about education inNigeria. great post..I will be writing a re: tomorrow.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:36 am (#)
And are you sure political teleguidance and manipulations of loot-meaning people will alow you remain in office with your nose clean?
I don’t think so.
We need people who can beat the loot-minded guys to their game and safeguard the treasury from strange forks poking into our pot of soup.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:44 am (#)
Now Imnakoya let us get down to brass tacks. I enjoy your write up and of course do not disagree with your recommendations. I have a few of mine, based solely on my days and observations as a former Lecturer in the Nigerian Polytechnic; and as a keen educationist who has followed consistently the Nigerian education sytem and listened to all grapevine news from students in Secondary Schools and Higher Institution vis a vis Nigerian Universities. Dont we watch examples of these in Nollywood movies, I recommend one i.e. Married Women On Campus.
First the attitude of our students to education must change. Most are Lazy, corrupt and no longer know the value of hard work and good education. I had such a hard time with such in dem days. I was considered too strict for insisting on 70% attendance to qualify to sit for exams, I had a hard time forcing them to submit assingments, work hard and was threatened by cult members etc. I would not be bought over with bribes of gifts and would condemn my colleagues who do this. Oh by the way what about female students offering themselves in bed? What about the invigilating during exams where I had to work extra hard to make sure students dont cheat by bringing in “genje” i.e. written answers, passing exam papers to friendsetc. It was hard work.
Now the attitude of many lecturers need to change. Many have become lazy, dont prepare hard enough, support student in cheating, demand sex and money bribe, and sad to say this is now ramparnt in the secondary schools. Some lecturers are half baked and semi educated having passed through the system described above in their own student days. Even lecturers/colleagues will not back you for doing the right thing and sometimes they double cross e.g. a lecturer gave my exam marking scheme to a female student he had been sleeping with to copy after exam. This was an abuse of office for he was the examination officer.
I was informed (reliably) that Nigeria was listed with Bangladesh and some other “third world” countries as the most illiterate countries in the world. I believe there was a workshop at Indonesia a few weeks ago to this effect. Well if you are in a position to read what many of these students write you wont be surprised.
Next the attitude of the governing boards in these institutions need to change and here the points made by Imnakoya above comes in so I wont belabour it.
Where is that sense of pride especially in our education that we used to have - I mean for the individual students, institutions and Nigeria?
Well the good news is that there is still a small percentage of people who are positively old school. Hope we will now concentrate more on the educational standards in Nigeria and tackle it properly.
As for the job market, it has always been competitive but I beleive now it has become sceptical where it has not shrunk hence with better or improved educational standards, and when the Nigerian economy gets a lift and companies dont have to struggle so hard; when there is constant supply of power; when companies overheads which has sky rocketed with the cost of generators and diesel, come down; and when companies get the needed boost from the Nigerian treasury, which for now ends up in individual pockets of so called Nigerian leaders, things should improve.
WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:13 am (#)
Omodudu - I will love to l read your piece when up.
Tony - All I can say is that we need to keep our eyes on the “half full cup” always. There are people who can deliver particularly in the Diaspora. I have seen them and I know a few. They have the will and desire to do good and make things work, and are not “hungry” or after political gratification.
Omotaylor - The problems you highlighted exist because the principles of “cause and effects” are no more potent in Nigeria. If colleges are managed and funded well, lazy students will flunk out, and the lousy lecturers will be revealed for all to see. This ‘weeding effect’ will serve as a good motivation to be diligent.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pm (#)
hhmm, Nigerian Education. Yes, Nigerian Education is bad with a capital letter ‘B’, and this adds up to the fact that our graduates are not well equipped for the job-market. They have to be trained and retrained from scratch.
example: when you check the resume of a Computer Science/Elect Elect Eng. graduate and you can find that he/she went for a Computer Appreciation course after 4-5years of University is a total misnomer to me. I mean, what the hell did such learn in the University, in Computer science if after 5-years, the Computer Science grad does not know how to use a computer. It is better not to go to school at all. Worse off is female grads. Many that I have come across are really ‘no where’. Sometimes, I feel their professors should be arrested.
I think something that contributes to the low-standard is the Nigerian Mentality that’all you need is a certificate’. Our certificate-awareness has gone really wrong, and sincerely, majority of University graduates are just seeking a Certificate. This ‘certificate’ is what makes them a person in their village, a top-notch amongst peers and friends’, ‘an achiever’ as far as parents and family are concerned. This to me is grossly wrong. The fault is with parents and the perception they bring their children up with….that once you have a certificate, you have made it. Nobody asks the question: what did you learn while earning the certificate. My idea is: if you have no goal for going to the University, don’t go, plain and simple.
On the other hand, we should not loose hope. I believe we need leaders that are pro-education concerned, and if we can have them, they can influence the educational center. Its not just having Universities here and there. Lets talk quality. Even among the ‘badly’ trained graduates, a lot actually pick-things-up-really fast when taught. I also believe its a matter of personal determination to succeed.
On the other hand too, the expatriates that we look up to, and ‘respect’ actually don’t know too much. They might have the experience, but they are not much better than we. A lot of them who come to Nigeria as expats did not go to school. They have ‘no certificate’, and even the ones they have - they practically didn’t do ‘anything’. 15-years of work experience with little or no education, they become mega-stars in Nija. A good place to start is building up local talent, putting Nigerians first. Until we do such, we arent going anywhere.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:50 pm (#)
The success of Ashesi University Ghana (http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/) heightens the need for us to examine working models, especially those right next door…their graduates are about the most sought after in Sub-Saharan Africa and the private college is less than 10 years old!!
March 27th, 2008 at 5:34 pm (#)
Well the Ashesi university model if tried and tested and confirmed is worthy of emulation. How do we get the Nigerian Education sector onto this model?
March 27th, 2008 at 9:24 pm (#)
Patrick Awuah is the co-founder of Ashesi University. He is a visionary, and I’m sure Africa can learn a lot from him. Catch a glimpse of him talk about his visions concerning Ashesi here:
http://www.africanloft.com/leadership-through-education/
March 28th, 2008 at 2:28 am (#)
Then I think it is time for us as a body to write to the Minister of Education stating our disquiet about the Educational standard of the Nigerian Universities and recommend the Ashesi University model. A good way to start is to forward PAwuahs speech.