Is the current quota system in the Nigerian public university system undermining the public sector higher education in favour of private universities which are not required to adhere to it? This is an increasingly topical debate in federal Nigeria, where the quota system – in operation since its inclusion in the constitution in 1979 – affects all public institutions across the country, including public universities, governing not only student admissions, but staff recruitment, appointments and promotions. The debate was re-opened in December last year when Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was reported to have emphasised the importance of merit. At the conferment of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award on two professors – environmental scientist Omowunmi Sadiq and poet Tanure Ojaide – he reportedly said the nation had placed quota before merit which “we know does not work”. While originally intended to address differences in socio-economic and educational development am
Vice-Chancellors of private universities have expressed great concern and sympathy for Nigerian students whose careers are currently being threatened by the face-off between the Federal government and ASUU which has kept them at home for over three months, noting that there is an urgent need to end the ongoing strike for the good of the nation.
Competition for students among private universities in Kenya is intensifying, with institutions taking to both the electronic and print media to advertise programmes and display achievements. The private higher education sector is thriving, and now enrols 20% of all students.
The Youth Institute for Democratic Initiative (YIDI -Ghana) humbly calls on Government to restore the tax exempt status of private universities in the country. Considering the inability of public universities to admit the ever increasing number of Senior High School graduates annually, private universities serve as the only hope and option for thousands of Senior High School graduates who are unable to attend public universities due to inadequate number of facilities at public universities.
I have tried to highlight the tragic condition of our Universities in Nigeria. The entrance of private Universities is a welcome development. However, NUC must become more vigilant in how these Universities deal with issues of national integration, regional and ethnic chauvinism and how these institutions contribute to the ideals of national unity. To do this, the NUC must try to lead the way by providing standards for the choice of members of the various layers of authority in the Universities. I want to conclude by making the following observations.
The advent of private universities in Nigeria was considered a welcome development for the simple reason that the public universities had become anything but centres for excellence. Aside the endless strikes by the lecturers and the non-academic staff which sometimes lasted as long as one academic session, the neglect of federal and state universities by successive governments has also resulted in a situation in which students of these universities were never certain as to the number of years they would spend for their degrees.
The Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Private Universities, Prof Kwesi Yankah, has called on government to take a second look at the imposition of tax on Private Universities.
Out of the 60 Private Universities in Ghana, only one of them has the Presidential Charter to award its own degrees and certificates, Professor Kwesi Yankah, President of Central University College, has disclosed.
The Madonna University Alumni Association has urged the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to soft-pedal on its threat to massively clamp down on private universities in the country as a result of the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union, (ASUU).
Nigerian university students have united under the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and have protested in the streets of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State’s capital, demanding that the federal government yield to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The Private Universities Students Association of Ghana (PUSAG) has called on the National Service Secretariat (NSS) to reconsider its intention of deploying national service personnel to direct traffic.
The National Universities Commission (NUC), urged the Standing Committee on Private Universities (SCOPU) not to compromise standards in the discharge of its duties.
Concerned that a growing number of students are enrolling in poor-quality private universities and diploma mills, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are working together to develop more stringent...
The Tanzania Commission for Universities, or TCU, has finally acted against a branch campus of Uganda’s Kampala International University, ordering the Dar es Salaam-based institution to stop offering masters and doctoral courses.
All students enrolling at private tertiary colleges and sitting for examinations set by the Zimbabwean Higher Education Examinations Council (Hexco) must have at least five "O" levels in terms of a new Government directive.
Nearly 600 colleges are registered to operate in Kenya, but only 10 have been accredited to offer programmes on behalf of foreign universities, higher education regulators have said.
Thousands of Malawian graduates may soon be stripped of their qualifications as the government moves ahead with a plan to crack down on unregistered learning centres.
Algerian universities will need to accommodate over 2 million students by 2015. To address this rise in class sizes, the Algerian authorities may permit the establishment of private universities for the first time.
Mahama on Saturday urged owners of private tertiary institutions to maintain high standards, cautioning that government could withdraw their accreditation if found to be operating below standards.