IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES ON THE QUALITY OF UNIVERSITY

EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

ONYEAGBAKO, STELLA O.victellastouch@yahoo.com

+23408033318670Faculty of Education

Imo State University, OwerriNigeria.

 

AbstractThe Nigerian university system has in recent times been engulfed in crisis traceable to bad management policies and practices. There have been frequent students’ unrest and industrial actions resulting in disruption of academic programs and undue elongation of duration of programs. Such policies manifest in poor funding, lack of essential facilities and services and outdated academic procedures. Class attendance of university students has reduced drastically while some are disillusioned and drop out of school.

● INTRODUCTION Nigeria is a vast country of about 924,000 square kilometers in sub-sahara Africa with an estimated population of 170 million, Obioma, (2013). Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the largest economy in the continent. Arguably, she is the homeland of the black race. In 1991, Nigeria adopted the 6 – 3 – 3 – 4 system of education. By this arrangement, the Nigerian child spends six years in the primary school, three years in the junior secondary school, three years in the senior secondary school and a minimum of four years in the post secondary institution. The first nine years (primary and junior secondary school) of education are compulsory and free whereas the senior secondary and post secondary education are not free and not supposed to be compulsory.

MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

In Nigeria, education is in the concurrent legislative list, that is to say, both the state and federal governments can own and run schools. However, the primary and junior secondary schools are managed by the local governments, while the federal and state governments manage senior secondary schools and post secondary institutions. Managing schools entails providing and maintaining facilities; providing the curriculum; policy formulation and implementation; recruitment, rewarding and sanctioning of teachers; regulating and controlling of the learning process and monitoring the outcomes of the educational system.

Until very recently, university education was provided by the state and federal governments. In 2006, there were a total of 65 federal and state universities. Primary and secondary schools were established and managed by government, private individuals and voluntary agencies. However, in 2006, an act of the national assembly was promulgated which granted individuals the right to establish and own private universities in Nigeria. The number of such private universities has risen astronomically over the years.

REGULATION AND CONTROL OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA The states regulate and control the administration of primary and secondary schools, while tertiary institutions in Nigeria are regulated and controlled centrally by their respective agencies. For instance;

• The Universities are regulated by the National Universities Commission (NUC);

• The Polytechnics by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and;

• The Colleges of Education by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

The Education Mandate The three basic responsibilities of the academic are teaching, research and community service. The task of education is to develop individual self expression and a critical sense; the individual should learn; acquire appropriate skills, follow a reasoned argument, master a subject and be able to verify and assimilate information. Sonaiya (2003) noted that the original role of schools was to provide students with cognitive instruments (intellectual and practical) and with the ability to formulate, reflect and invent. It is by stimulating their intelligence, their powers of deduction and their ability to reason and infer that we can help students to form self – monitoring and positive behavior patterns. According to Yoloye (1990) the core of education is “learning”, hence education is achieved through knowledge, learning and intellectual skills, organized in a regime of courses called curriculum. The curriculum needs to be updated as the need arises to reflect the needs and trends of the contemporary society.

FUNDING OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

In terms of facilities and funding, every proprietor, be it Federal, state governments, or private individuals and organizations, has the responsibility to cater for the needs of its educational institutions. However, in 1993, the federal government through the Education Tax Act of 1993 established an intervention agency namely, The Education Tax Fund (ETF). The mandate of the agency is to administer and disburse the amount in the fund to the Federal, State and Local government Educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools as well as the tertiary institutions.

THE MANDATE OF ETF

● Providing funding for educational facilities and infrastructural development.

● Promoting creative and innovative approaches to educational learning and services.

● Stimulating, supporting and enhancing improvement activities in education foundation areas like teacher education, Teaching practice, library development and so on.

● Championing new literacy – enhancing areas in science, information and technology.

TETFUND is mandated to provide funds to the state and Federal universities for the following:

● Industrial centres, entrepreneurship studies and communication and Information Technology centres.

● Staff training and development and conference attendance.● Library systems – e-library, virtual library, library materials

acquisition and renovation of libraries.● Research equipment procurement and maintenance – laboratory

equipment, computers (PVCs and laptops e.t.c.).● Higher Educational Book Development: – Book and journal

publications by academic staff (www.tetfund.gov.ng).

The Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) Mandate.

ADMISSION POLICYAdmission pressure is another serious management problem facing the Nigerian universities. In the past, each institution admitted its own students. From 1970s, admission into secondary schools and tertiary institutions became centralized. The federal and state governments organize common entrance examinations for admission of students into secondary schools while Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) conduct examination for entry into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

CHALLENGES OF MEETING THE NATIONAL MANDATE As observed by Moneyin (2003) a clear analysis of the specified course of study of a student in a Nigerian university shows that the content of the curriculum as laid down in the Basic Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) established by the National University Commission (NUC) is comparable to that of any university in advanced countries. However, the capacity for effective and efficient implementation of the curriculum is lacking: infrastructure, structural materials and industrial experiences. The contribution of curriculum to the successful production of a quality graduate is important and crucial as it is a vital link between the realization of the objectives of university education and the implementation of the academic programmes. Relevance, appropriateness and functionality are of essence for curriculum to meet the needs of the contemporary society. Moneyin (2003) faults the Nigerian university Curriculum as “being overloaded with contents, inadequacy in pedagogically related issues, content invalidity in terms of teaching and learning” and suggested that university curricula be redesigned to meet global standards.

• Facilities for teaching, research, learning, administration and habitation are essential elements needed in the university system for the production of ideal graduates. However, classrooms, laboratories, workshops, office space, library and essential, and even critical equipment and teaching aids are grossly inadequate for the delivery of quality education. Hostel accommodation is a vital requirement for social interaction and to enable university tradition pass through the students while they pass through the four walls of the university. Most of the young generation universities in Nigeria are non-residential. This is accountable for the high rate of indiscipline, incivility and criminal tendencies which have become the lot of Nigerian undergraduates

• Inadequate funding of the university is regarded as a critical challenge to university management and administration in Nigeria. Poor funding of universities has been implicated in the apparently intractable crisis engulfing the educational system. In the past, when there were few universities, funding was not problem. Students enjoyed all manner of financial assistance including scholarship, bursary awards and students loan scheme. This was in the glory days of the oil boom, but gone were the days. Nowadays, the universities are in dire financial straits. Most of the students are poor and indigent and hardly possess the necessary funds to prosecute their objectives of trying to acquire university degree. Mismanagement of scanty government allocations and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are widely reported in Nigerian universities. Adequate funding is critical to the successful running of the university, lack of funding is one of the factors responsible for poor quality university product.

• The committee system is operated by universities which are considered tyrannical and undemocratic: decisions are often taken bordering on the life and welfare of both students and indeed the entire university community without due consultation. It is said that university is run in military fashion and operates military regimentation and hierarchy. This undemocratic posture results in crisis and disputes between the university management and the students’ body and labour unions.

At the National University Stakeholders Consultative Forum at Abuja on March 31st, 2003, it was widely canvassed that government should disengage from running the university through various ministries and agencies. University should be run by the senate. As long as there is clear and unambiguous university policy enacted by the constitution, the government should hands – off the administration of the universities. The challenge of running the universities should be entirely the responsibility of the senate without undue interference from government.

Outcomes of Unrealistic Educational Policies and Practices

Nwabueze (1995) observes that the Nigerian University Educational System has in the last twenty years been engulfed in crises resulting in frequent students’ unrest and industrial actions by trade unions in the universities due to imprudent and invalid educational policies and management practices by both government and administrators. This has affected the quality of graduates being churned out from the Nigerian universities. Simply stated: What you put into education is what you get out of it, like in any system. It is, therefore, little wonder that the quality of the university products has fallen to an all time low.There appears to be a worrisome disconnect between the knowledge being imparted to the students by the universities and the societal demands. The teachers seem not to be too sure about the relevance and validity of their lecture notes while the students are in doubt as whether to accept or reject what is being taught.

 

Carrying Capacity of Nigerian Universities A sample from a study on the carrying capacity of Nigerian universities conducted by NUC showed the following remarkable results presented below:

UNIVERSITY CURRENT ENROLMENT

CARRYING CAPACITY

EXCESS ENROLMENT

University of Nigeria, Nsukka 37,722 19,627 18,025

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 35,172 21,830 13,342

Usman Dan-Fodio University, Sokoto 23,263 9,080 14,186

University of Calabar 26,724 15,996 10,728

University of Port Harcourt 18,067 10,250 11,817

Nnmadi Azikiwe University, Awka 28,286 13,198 15,088

Olabisi Onabanjo University 38,773 14,145 24,628

Lagos State University 38,302 23,018 15,781

Source: NUC June, 2005.

Education at higher level is a critical aspect of nation building. Policies and practices adopted in the educational system have serious impacts on the socio-economic and political life of the society at large which is the end user of the products of the educational system.Management Policies and practices and their implementation affect or influence decisions on:

● Provision of facilities (classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries, equipment, students’ accommodation e.t.c.)

● Management and administrative practices: The university operates a committee system which is generally considered to be undemocratic. The university management should consult extensively on issues that affect the career and welfare of staff and students. The senate should be the highest authority on academic matters. The senate takes decisions in the best interest of the university especially on issues concerning mode and process of examinations, prompt release of results, examination malpractices, unprofessional or unethical conducts, content validity of curricular, e.t.c.

Conclusion Management policies and practices which seriously affect administration of universities have been identified as; inadequate funding, lack of infrastructural facilities, over enrollment of students and unrealistic management policies and practices. Which leads to students’ unrest and strikes by the labour unions, disruption of academic activities, production of poor quality graduates, disillusioned lecturers, Poor class attendance and outright voluntary withdrawal of students from universities .

Recommendations 1. Management of policies and practice in Nigerian university

system should be realistic, achievable and knowledge driven.

2. Educational management practices and policies should operate in tandem in order to yield desired and expected outcomes.

3. To remediate the worrisome situation in the university system, government should take some measures which include: reduction of its interference.

4. Government funding should not be discriminatory, should go deep and far enough to halt the decline in the standard of the university system.

5. Government should overhaul its university polices to make them meet the demand of the society and the job market.

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