Re: Six new federal science universities
It is no longer a news whenever we hear top stories such as this “six new federal science universities“ just like any other government this of course is not exceptional. When I read from your editorial on Wednesday, May 18 that Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu recently said the Federal Government will establish six […]
It is no longer a news whenever we hear top stories such as this “six new federal science universities“ just like any other government this of course is not exceptional. When I read from your editorial on Wednesday, May 18 that Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu recently said the Federal Government will establish six new universities of Science and Technology in a bid to increase access to tertiary education in the country I was elated. This plan is both heartwarming and challenging. Over the years, lack of space to admit more students has been a critical challenge confronting tertiary education in the country. About 1.5 million candidates sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually but only 150,000 candidates, or 10 percent, get admitted. According to data recently released by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), 66,000 candidates who chose the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) as their first choice would sit for the university’s aptitude test (or post-UTME) for the 2016/2017 academic session but UNN has only 9,000 admission spaces available. This is one of the main justifications for the creation of additional universities in the country.
Inability to secure admission into public tertiary institutions has forced parents who can afford it to seek admission for their children in private universities. The same reason has also led some parents to send their children abroad, including to neighboring West African countries. It is not in the country’s strategic interest that many young Nigerian boys and girls study in some foreign universities where quality is neither guaranteed nor is the curriculum compatible with Nigeria’s national educational philosophy and goals.
Abdulwahab Mohammed Bawa, Bauchi.