NUC And Part-Time Programmes

Reports of the suspension of part-time programmes in the nation’s tertiary institutions has continued to attract concerns across the country. Considering the now endemic disregard for rules in the system and indeed the Nigeria polity as a whole, the action of the National Universities Commission (NUC) should not be questioned, but nobody throws away the baby with the bath water.

For sometime now, the NUC has expected the institutions to comply with laid down rules meant to contribute positively to the provision of quality education to Nigerians. One of the expectations was that the institutions admit, not more than 20 per cent of their student population under the part-time arrangement.

The NUC also directed that part-time programmes should be run within the institution and not in satellite campuses. Also, that both full-time and part-time programmes must all be accredited in line with available facilities, manpower and funding. But some institutions have observed these rules in the breach.

Not only had the authorities in some unversities played against the rule, the failure of the NUC to enforce the rules have served to annoy not a few Nigerians. In fact, by their permissive approach to this important national duty, the NUC has been accused of compromising the quality of education in Nigeria.

Only recently, the uproar at the University of Abuja over un-accredited programmes which  students have pursued even to penultimate stages, exposed the NUC in a rather terrible light. Clearly, the commission has no excuse allowing such a huge disgrace on Nigeria and Nigerians.

That is why this effort at restoring sanity into the tertiary institutions is commendable. Indeed, we expect that the effort would be sustained and taken to a logical conclusion. But we cannot support a blanket action or anything that appears to be extreme in nature.

We are particularly worried that a lot of people have not come to terms with the important services institutions render through the part-time programmes. It has truly salvaged the careers of a lot of Nigerians who lost the opportunity early  in life to access tertiary education. Also, it affords those who lost out in the complex processes of admission through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to redeem themselves.

It is on record that the part-time programmes have pumped into the Nigerian economy, mature manpower and an army of academics that would have been lost. It provides hope in the education sub sector like nothing else. All these must be respected.

That is why we want to join other well meaning Nigerians to call on the NUC to rescind its suspension order on the programmes as soon as possible. Indeed, the commission should take steps to remove the chaff from the grains. They must spot the erring institutions and programmes for sanction. However, NUC should not slam all the universities.

This is more so because, the NUC itself is not totally innocent of what had become of the situation. Even so, if proper action must be taken, it should be on the university authorities that deliberately ran the programmes against the rules and not frustrate the students that were deceived by them.

It is sad that some of the part-time programmes are substandard. They represented a sort of cash-for-certificates scheme, but the good, out weighs the bad and so, we insist on the sustenance of the programmes. The NUC and the various operators must ensure that only the best go through the institutions.

Another reason the part-time programme must be retained and indeed encouraged is the need to attain the educational standards stipulated under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Nigeria cannot afford to remain backward in this area as the consequences of illiteracy have become rather obvious in parts of the country.

We hope that the Federal Ministry of Education will intervene in this problem and prescribe conditions and time frame for affected institutions to remedy themselves. But whatever happens, let the academic programme of current students under the part-time programmes suffer no loss or delay.

But if the truth must be told, institutions go into the part-time programme because of the need for more money to foot their bills. Although, it is true, also, that many of the institutions lack the capacity to accommodate enough students under the regular programme.

It is therefore, hoped that the funding of tertiary institutions in Nigeria would be given some reasonable consideration so that the authorities do not adopt desperate measures to stay afloat. This also demands the enforcement of probity and accountability in the various institutions.

On the whole, the views of the people on the suspension of part-time programmes must be taken seriously. We also support that the programmes be retained, but that the NUC should be up to it duties by ensuring standards and enforcing rules.