NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.8/2017 (Jan. 9)
Why Nigerian universities need a ranking council
A News Analysis by Jacinta Nwachukwu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Stakeholders in education sector have solicited the establishment of a ranking council to address challenges that impede the efficiency of activities of the universities and improve standards for better global ranking.
In the light of this, Prof. Ayo Banjo, a linguist, proposed the establishment of a rating council for Nigerian universities to be called Nigerian Ranking Council.
According to him, the council, when established, will ensure continuous improvement and quality assurance in Nigeria’s education system.
Speaking during the maiden International Lecture Series in Abuja, Banjo said the proposed council should be under the direct supervision of National University Commission (NUC).
Banjo, a former vice-chancellor of University of Ibadan, said in the contemporary world, a university was seen as an institution of higher learning which engaged in capacity building at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
“It also conducts research in all branches of learning and fostering linkages with all sectors of society that are involved in knowledge creation or utilisation, among others.
“In line with emerging trends that are fostering comparability and competition in the global higher education sector, there is need for the Nigerian university system to develop and implement a ranking scheme.
“The proposed council can help the NUC in monitoring the state of affairs in the universities and strengthening the criteria that it already utilises for accreditation,’’ he said.
Corroborating Banjo’s view, Prof. Olu Obafemi, the President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, said the academy had a responsibility to constantly mediate in the process of restoring value and excellence to universities.
“The Nigerian Academy of Letters believes implicitly in not just improving the ratings and rankings that global institutions carry out, which inadvertently and debatably places developing nations at the rungs of the ladder.
“The academy recognises the need for autonomous, independent and internal evaluation of the performance of our universities in the ultimate attainment of excellence and fulfilment of their aspirations as inevitable drivers of national development.
“The NUC as regulatory agency for Nigerian universities has come out timely enough to address this sensitive issue of national ranking for global competitiveness,’’ Obafemi said.
He commended the choice of Banjo as a suitable authority to proffer implementable recommendations on the issues raised.
Similarly, Prof. Umaru Shehu, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said there was no doubt that quality of the Nigerian higher education had suffered decline in the past two decades.
“It is heartwarming that the NUC, as the sole agency set up to regulate the university system, is embarking on this debate aimed at setting up strategies for ranking our universities.
“I am confident that the academia will continue to be engaged in this process; the invitation of Prof. Ayo Banjo, a seasoned university administrator, demonstrates the importance the NUC attaches to this exercise,’’ he said.
In his view, Prof. Mamman Shuaibu, former Director of Planning, Federal Ministry of Education, setting up a ranking scheme for Nigerian universities would enable NUC to fish out all the mushroom private universities in the country to ensure quality products among the students.
Shuaibu noted that establishing a ranking council in the university system would allow for competition in the system.
“ Presently, it looks as if nobody is checking or evaluating the activities and or products of the universities in the country.
“But if we have a ranking council, it will set a guideline for the universities to follow and measure up to expected standard for effective academic performance,’’ he said.
He also observed that when there were directives on best ways for utmost performance or standard, universities would begin to assess themselves even before the council called for evaluation.
According to him, if these mushroom private universities are allowed to continue training students, serious damage would be done to education system in the country.
Shuaibu, however, advised that in the interim, regulatory agencies should endeavour to monitor the activities of the Nigerian universities to ensure that quality is not compromised.
But Prof. Ndubuisi Ibenyi, the Chairman, Parents/Teachers Association in Federal Government Girls’ College, Ezzamgbo, Ebonyi, called for quick establishment of a council to rate universities’ performance in Nigeria.
He, however, cautioned that such initiative should not interfere with the universities’ autonomy, saying: “the purpose of the council should not be to infringe on the right of the universities in terms of autonomy.
“It has to be in alliance with NUC so as to work out modalities at which to determine the universities that are performing better than others and at what level.
“ Something that will make people to really look at the universities and evaluate their academic performances’’.
Irrespective of this view, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said that rating of the Nigerian university curricula should be comprehensively reviewed to reflect the need of the time.
But some stakeholders in the education sector observe that establishing a ranking council in the university system should not be a major issue as many universities in the country are suffering serious infrastructure decay.
They insist that government as well as spirited Nigerians should increase funding of the education.
According to them, the only way for students to perform to international standards is for government to increase allocation to education sector.
They say that most universities in the country cannot be ranked among the best in the world due to under-funding.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)