A lecturer in one of the three Delta state polytechnics has said that two of the upgraded higher institutions in Delta state may suffer lack of students when the institutions eventually take off in the 2021/2022 academic session.
Professor Patrick Muoboghare, the Delta state commissioner for higher education, a few weeks ago, told journalists in Asaba that the upgraded institutions will begin degree admission in the 2021/2022 academic session. He was optimistic that the three schools will kick off without any glitch.
Muoboghare’s optimism stems from the fact that the institutions are not kicking off from a virgin land but on already existing institutions with infrastructures and facilities are already on ground.
But the lecturer, who spoke with Emerald News on Friday night, noted that out of the three upgraded institutions to full fledge university status, two are very likely to suffer poor student patronage, and he gave very important reasons for his submission.
Being in the academic environment, he knows courses and faculties that are selling and how schools cope with the influx of students to some departments which seem to be the selling courses in the world, arising from the digitization of working environment.
He said the upgraded Ozoro poly to University of Science and Technology will be the doyen and king of all the institutions in the state. He added that the upgraded state college of education to university of education and Anwai campus of DELSU to University of Science and Agriculture will suffer serious lack of students and his reasons are worth given serious consideration.
He told Emerald News Editor that the present world with its globalization and digitization is technologically driven and Nigerian students are very much aware of the age. Hence, students of this present age are technologically inclined so as to fit into the growing world of digitization.
Arising from this, he said students will be ready to pursue more of technology and science courses than education and agriculture. To most students, anything agriculture is farming. All branches of agriculture are in one way or the other affiliated to farming. And students are not keen on farming. This is why Ozoro, the site for the University of science and technology will boom with high patronage.
On the proposed university of education, he said students are not keen on studying education related courses. This is the reason why there is always low number of students applying to the university to study education courses. He said most education departments in the universities are fed by students who apply for other departments but for many reasons they could not be accommodated.
But instead of sending them away, the university authority will move them to education and agricultural courses they do not apply for, at least just to keep them in the university environment. Most of such students accept those courses instead of going back home to apply for JAMB again.
His view is that students do not apply for education and agriculture courses but the overflow from other hotly desired courses which the universities cannot accommodate are moved to the education and agriculture courses in the university.
This, according to him, is the reason why there is low admission in these low patronized courses. Students are pursuing more of technology, engineering, medicine and science related courses. For instance, one does not need to study accounting or banking and finance to work in the bank, though it gives added advantage..
This fact was even proven by the higher education commissioner during a press briefing with journalists about three weeks ago. Professor Muoboghare told journalists that in the entire college of education Warri, there are only 985 students with a staff strength of 632, college of education Mosogar 512 students and college of education Agbor1391 students with a staff strength of 890.
Although Muoboghare’s argument for the low admission in the colleges is that students are no longer interested in the NCE programmes, hence the low patronage. But the lecturer, who did not want to be named, is arguing that students’ aversion for education courses is not only for the NCE programmes but for education courses also in the universities. This is why the parent body pushes some of the students who do not meet up with their preferred courses to education programmes.
The lecturer told Emerald News to go and verify his claim from JAMB to know how many students apply for education and agriculture courses in Nigeria universities. He said the result of such research will prove him right. He said in the entire South West there is only one university of education, which is Tai Solarin University of Education in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state
Research shows that Tai Solarin is succeeding because it does not only offer exclusive education courses but also offers sciences, social sciences and arts in addition to the core education courses.
The lecturer called on the government to involve lecturers in the committee that is working in the conversion to the universities so that the best result could be achieved. He said involving only political consultants may not be the best for the system.
