The Chair of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Universities of Nigeria identified outdated curriculum, low-quality staff, corruption, a decline in student reading culture, government agencies operating outside mandate and confusion, quota system, internal politics within institutions, and low quality of students as challenges facing tertiary education in Nigeria.
Professor Salami further submitted that the Federal Government could no longer fund tertiary education and that parents need to bear the cost of educating their wards. She said, “There’s confusion in the system in doing the same things and returning to the same place. New ideas are therefore needed to overhaul the long overdue system. I believe what we need is a holistic approach whereby attention goes to these challenges. We need to redirect the system and walk the talk. When there’s a way, there’s a way.”
Expounding on why she said the Federal Government could no longer fund tertiary education, she noted the dismal budgetary allocation to education in Nigeria’s education budget as a stark indication of the government’s inability or unwillingness to fund education. She disclosed that her university receives a monthly budget of N11m. In contrast, she spends N77m on electricity alone but has to find creative ways to run her university.
“TETFund and ETF have been there, but they must be more robust. Education is allotted 8.2% of Nigeria’s 2023 budget. Ghana allotted 12.8 in 2023, and South Africa allotted 18.4. At UNIBEN, we’ve undertaken the cost of training a student in each department. It takes N3m to train a medical student per session, but such a student pays only N240 over six years. Interestingly, this amount is far less than paid in a private secondary school; some of us pay as much as N380,000 for our children in creches per term. Students must pay commensurate fees for their courses of study. We must pay for services rendered.”
Salami said students could receive financial help, including bursaries, loans for indigent but brilliant students, alumni associations annual levies, scholarships, and others, adding, “Good funding can redress dilapidated equipment, and other infrastructure, improved remuneration to motivate teachers and attract global scholars.”
