Friends please read and share. This is an excerpt from FGN Needs Assessment Report of 2012. Let me share the following which are excerpts from a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria by a committee set up by the Federal Government COMMITTEE ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES The Committee was set up because of the following 1. Dispute over the implementation of the 2009 Agreement between the FGN and ASUU 2. Efforts to resolve the outstanding issues 3. Revitalisation of the Nigerian University system 4. Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities Membership of the Committee are: 1 Prof. Mahmood Yakubu Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Chairman 2 Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu Representative, Senate Committee on Education, National Assembly Member 3 Honourable Jerry Alagbaoso Representative, House of Representatives Committee on Education, National Assembly Member 4 Raymond Brown Representative, Office of the SGF Member 5 Dr. Jamila Shu’ara Representative, Federal Ministry of Education Member 6 Adeyinka O. Jones Representative, Federal Ministry of Finance Member 7 Emmanuel Ina Uchola Representative, Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment Member 8 Mrs. Victoria Omolade Oluyole, Representative, National Planning Commission Member 9 Late Arc. (Mrs.) Chinwe Obi/ Mr. Ayo Bankole Representative, National Universities Commission (NUC) Member 10 Prof. Ukachukwu Aloysius Awuzie President/IPP Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Member 11 Mr. Femi Melefa Tertiary Education Trust Fund Secretary TERMS OF REFERENCE Carry out a detailed appraisal of existing physical facilities for teaching and learning in the universities, particularly their capacity and functionality; »Give a detailed inventory of learning resources, with particular reference to their relevance and serviceability; »Compile the number of teaching staff by academic qualification and programme, indicating whether they are engaged on full-time, part-time or adjunct basis; »Compile a list of non-teaching staff and their disposition in each University; »Compile a list of full-time students in each programme (undergraduate as well as postgraduate) across all levels; »Identify the number of institutions, students and programmes involved in part-time and approved affiliations; »Identify the number of on-campus hostels in each university and categorise them by ownership and capacity vis-à-vis the students’ population; »Give the status of municipal facilities in each university and the requirements for their provision, upgrade and maintenance; »Examine any other matter which in the opinion of the Committee is relevant to the revitalization of our universities; and »Submit a comprehensive report, making clear and detailed recommendations that are immediately actionable by Government. According to the Committee, they believe that The Universities produce leaders in all areas: Government, business, innovation and invention. The FUTURE of a nation can be determined by the quality of its education system generally, but especially by its universities in the immediate term. FINDINGS The Committee’s Assessment found that physical facilities for teaching and learning in Nigerian Universities are: Inadequate Used beyond the original carrying capacity. Many lecturers, including Professors, share small offices. Dilapidated Poorly ventilated, illuminated, furnished and equipped. Over-stretched/over-crowded Lectures theatres, classrooms, laboratories and workshops shared by many programmes across different Faculties. Improvised Open-air sports pavilion, old cafeteria, convocation arenas and even uncompleted buildings used for lectures. In some cases, workshops are conducted under corrugated sheds or trees. »Many Laboratories and Workshops are old with inappropriate furnishing. »Power and water supply problems. »Scanty and broken furniture. »Overcrowded and overstretched (many double as lecture rooms). »Equipment and consumables are absent, inadequate or outdated. Kerosene stoves used as Bunsen burners in some laboratories. »Engineering Workshops operating under zinc sheds and trees. »In many universities, science-based Faculties are running ‘Dry Lab’ for lack of reagents and tools to conduct physical/real experiments. »No Cutting edge research equipment/facilities. No laboratory, workshop or library ranks among the top 1,000 in the world. »Where major equipment exists, the ratio to student, in some universities, is as high as 1:500. ON HOSTEL ACCOMODATION The Committee observed as follow: The provision of decent hostel accommodation to at least 50% of the student population in any residential university is proving to be an uphill task for Nigerian universities. »University managers have, over the years, been unable to diversify their means of providing hostel accommodation and associated facilities to students. »The management styles of students accommodation is generally ineffective and has left majority of the hostel facilities in state of disrepair. »There has been, over the last two decades, an upsurge of students’ population in almost all Nigerian universities but there was no commensurate improvement of accommodation and other student services. Consequently, there is a lot of pressure on the available accommodation facilities. As a result, there is: •rapid deterioration of hostel facilities •overcrowding and undue congestion in rooms •overstretched lavatory and laundry facilities •poor sanitation, etc. These conditions, coupled with the general condition of the universities, PRODUCE GRADUATES THAT LACK CONFIDENCE AND SOMETIMES EVEN SELF-WORTH. The Committee found that: There are about 109,509 (representing 10.3% of total student population) on-campus hostels bed spaces across all public universities in Nigeria. Except NDA Kaduna, no university in Nigeria is able to accommodate more than 35% of its students. Less than 1% of the hostels are provided via PPP All Federal Universities charge Ninety Naira only (N90.00) per bed space per session plus hostel maintenance fee that varies between Five thousand Naira only (N5,000.00) to Twenty thousand Naira (N20,000.00). The hostels attract an average fee of N6,000 for maintenance, while each bed space costs at least N90 per session. There are however many universities that charge higher than this. The lavatories in most of the hostels of Nigerian universities are both inadequate and unfit for human use. This is not surprising given the average ratio of toilet to users of 1:20. The unhealthy condition of lavatories is forcing some students to use the bush and/or the surrounding compounds of the hostels as open toilets. This poses serious health hazard. In some universities (e.g. MOUAU), female students take their bath in the open because the bathrooms are in very poor condition. The hostels are infested with rodents. Laundries and common rooms in many universities have been converted into rooms where students live. In these improvised rooms, there is no limit to the number of occupants. Arising from these findings, the committee surmise that the problems of Nigerian Universities are: »Students sitting on bare floor or peeping through windows to attend lectures »Over 1000 students being packed in lecture halls meant for less than 150 students »Over 400 students being packed in laboratory meant for 75 students »Students cannot get accommodation, where they get they are packed like sardines in tiny rooms »No light and no water in hostels, classrooms and laboratories »Students use the bushy areas of their campus for toilet because lavatory facilities are too hazardous to use »Academic culture is dying very fast »Library facilities and services are archaic and comatose »Many laboratory equipment are only known to students in theory (never seen many of them not to talk of using them) »Broken furniture everywhere »Unkempt buildings and dilapidating facilities »Over-worked, untrained, and inadequate teachers, etc »The list continues, BUT…. THIS IS JUST AN EXCERPT FROM WHAT WAS PRESENTED AT Council Chamber State House, Abuja on Thursday 1st November 2012. HAVING gone through this do you still believe that the course of ASUU is not worth while?
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 18:44:29 +0000
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