ACCESS TO UNIVERSITY EDUCATION: PERCEIVED PROBLEMS MILITATING AGAINST ADMISSION INTO NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES Dr. Ibrahim Bulama Bukar Department of Education University of Maiduguri Borno-state, Nigeria Dr. Ahmed Umar Mwajim Department of Education University of Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria. ABSTRACT The paper examines problems militating against admission into Nigerian Universities. The paper looks at the emergence of University education and reasons why qualified Nigerians opt for university education. The perceived problems that paper looks at include: population explosion, increased secondary schools output, shortages of lecturers, distant and remote Universities, denial of accreditation by National University Commission (NUC), high cost of education and inadequate funding of Universities, acute shortage of infrastructural facilities, insecurity, Universities administrative policies, ordinary and advance level deficiencies and JAMB s policy of quota system. The Authors also suggest means of increasing enrolment into Universities. Keywords: Access, University education, Admission and Problems INTRODUCTION Higher education is broadly classified in Nigeria as the education given in Universities, polytechnics and Mono-technics and Colleges of Education. This level of education according to Yabani, (1994), equips individuals with the necessary physical and intellectual skills to develop them into useful members of the community, as contained in the National Policy on Education. Yabani further observed that the role of education in promoting National Unity and development is generally accepted. The paper is only concerned with admission into Universities through Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTMEM) and Direct Entry (DE). COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 244
Prior to 1948, there was no University in Nigeria except the University College Ibadan. The University College Ibadan came into being in 1948 with its curriculum modeled strictly after that of the University of London and the students sat the London degree examination for their degrees. Considering the increasing demand for university education due to the Nigerianization of top posts during the 1950 sin preparation for Nigeria s independence, the Ashby Commission was set up in 1959 to investigate Nigeria s needs for higher education over a stretch of twenty years. It was carried out and reports submitted on 2 nd September 1960. The Ashby report recommended the establishment of three more Universities. These were the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and the University of Lagos all in 1962 (Ajayi and Ekundayo) 2008). The University College Ibadan was also upgraded still in 1962 and that of University of Benin in 1970. The six Universities are today known as the first generation Universities. Also, seven new Universities were established in 1975. They are popularly referred to as second generation universities. They include Calabar, Ilorin, Jos, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Portharcourt, and Kano. Furthermore, the third generation universities were established. They include, Yola, Bauchi, Akure, Minna and Makurdi. They were established between 1980 and early 1990. The creation of universities continued in Nigeria Nigeria has over one hundred universities made up of Federal, States and private spread across the country. Also there are many colleges of education offering degree program in Nigeria. Despite this large number of universities and colleges of education, many qualified products of colleges of education, polytechnics, secondary schools, teachers colleges, technical colleges and school of Basic studies find it extremely difficult to secure admission into universities. Today in Nigeria, parents, applicants and stakeholders on education are worried over the non-absorption of qualified Nigerians into universities. For example, Abduurahman (1991) lamented that many of the qualified candidates still fail to get admission into these universities. Also Yabani, (1994), observed that factors which limit any part of the country from effectively competing for education, be historically, circumstantial or even as a result of self-imposed apathy, generate negative political and social consequences, COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 245
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION One of the goals of University education as contained in the National Policy on Education (2004) shall be to contribute to National development through relevant high level manpower training as well as acquire both physical and intellectual skills that will enable individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society. Another reason why Nigerians opt for university is that they level and type of education acquired by an individual generally determines the nature of his job and his place in society. University education is required by every Nigerian so that the person can participate in accelerating the growth and development of his great country, Nigeria. Essentially, University education is meant to develop individually and otherwise as to enable the person cope with the challenges of contemporary society. Aminu (1986) observed that, one of the major reasons why qualified Nigerians go for University is an instrument for National unit. It is a place where National unity is promoted. Aminu further lamented that, for individuals, promoting national unity means that each citizen has to accept that the other fellows, being human too, are in all respects as good as he is. He explained that as a people, national unity means a corporate existence: satisfying the conventional definition of a nation. Every Nigerians therefore with to be product of the university so that he/she can participate in the promotion of National Unit. He concluded by saying that a university is a place where different students from different cultural background, tribes and religion meet and study together for a period of 3 5 years. The importance of university education is further expressed by Yabani (1994). The author explained that university education equips individuals with the necessary physical and intellectual skills to develop them into useful members of the community, as stated in the National Policy on Education. The authors further observed that the role of education in promoting national unity and development is generally accepted Okojie (2007) pointed out that the main relevance of the university education is to provide the much needed manpower to accelerate the growth and development of the economy. Every Nigerian therefore wants to be part of the development, hence the quest for university education. Despite the number of universities in Nigeria, the realization of the dream (admission) is not possible by all qualified Nigerians because, every years, thousands are denied admission. This paper therefore looks at the perceived problems militating against admission into Nigerian universities. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 246
POPULATION EXPLOSION Population explosion is among the major reasons responsible for low admission into Nigerian universities. Dlakwa (2010) pointed out that population explosion has become an obstacle to universities admission in Nigeria. National population Commission, (2006) gave the population of Nigeria as 140 million in 2006 census as against 85.5 million in 1991. From the population census, over half may be youth who may be seeking for admission into universities. This is evident in the enrolment figure. The enrolment figure rose from 104 in 1948 to 1,096,312 in the year 2008. With the perceived problem, the number of the universities in the country may not be able to admit the qualified Nigerians seeking for university education. INCREASED SECONDARY SCHOOLS OUTPUT The rate of output from senior secondary schools nationwide has been on the increase from 196,819, in 1990 to 636,064 of those sat for Senior School Certificate examination in 2000, an annual increase of about 20%. In 2001, a total of 842,072 took Joint Admission (JAMB) for admission into universities, but only 95,199 candidates secured admission. In the year 2006 academic session, a total of 868,000 students sat for the JAMB examination, out of which only 148,000 (17%) secured university admission which is very inadequate, Dhkoa, (200). Scholars believed that this increase in output in senior secondary schools is brought about by the population explosion observed above. SHORTAGES OF LECTURERS Accreditation denial could be imposed on universities either due to shortages of academic staff or facilities. Inadequate number of staff could generate admission problem because the university would have to limit their admissions which tally with the academic staff on ground. Efforts to increase enrolment and improve educational quality are severely constrained by growing shortages of qualified academic staff especially in Federal universities. According to Bangura, (1994), between 1988 and 1990, over 1000 lecturers left federal universities and this trend has continued and between 1995 and 1999, the number of academic staff declined by 12% COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 247
DISTANT AND REMOTE UNIVERSITIES Universities are sometimes located far away from the localities of the applicants. Candidates who are from low socio-economic status find it difficult to apply to universities far away from their homes. Consequently, they apply to the nearest universities to their localities. If applicants are many only those with good grades will be selected. This problem has seriously affected applicants chances of being admitted. ACCREDITATION CHALLENGES National University Commission (NUC) is a commission charged with the responsibility of regulating Universities educational activities in Nigeria. The commission is responsible in ensuring quality academics curricular, qualified academics staffing, availability of teaching and learning infrastructures among others academic matters governed Nigerian Universities. As such, accreditation is one of commission oversight functions and usually carried out in all universities in the country to check and maintain standard and uniformity in curriculum as well the adequacy of facilities in the Universities. If any of the universities could not meet the requirements and standard set by the regulatory body, they could be denied accreditation. Once accreditation is denied, such Universities or departments cannot admit until they meet up the requirements. This could reduce chances of admission to applicants that applied to such universities. HIGH COST OF EDUCATION AND FUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES The economic situation in the country has made it virtually impossible for many parents to have financial lacking to sponsor their children or wards to undergo university education. The situation has made so difficult that the cost of educating children is beyond the reach of many parents. Funding of Universities is grossly inadequate. Annual budgetary allocations by Federal Government in the past years have been far short of the minimum 20% recommended bench mark. This is in turn has engendered shortages of instructional materials, equipments and facilities. Funds are needed for the procurement of all necessary infrastructure, equipment, instructional materials and payment of all categories of staff required for effective running of the universities. The Federal Government has not been able to meet this need adequately and this has affected enrolment into many universities. Olu, (2009) observed that except for the brief period of oil boom, education has not enjoyed adequate funding in Nigeria. Olu further pointed COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 248
out that the Federal Government s inability to finance education was as a result of poor governance, diversion of resources and corruption. Unless the issue of funding universities is addressed, the deplorable state of universities will not allow enrolment of all qualified Nigerians and non-nigerians into Nigerian universities. Infact, funding is the root cause Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike in Nigeria. Asuu demanded can increase in the budgetary allocation to education sector from the minimum 20% to 26%. This request by ASUU has never been considered by the Federal Government. Consequently, all Federal Universities in the country admit students on the basis of infrastructural facilities available. ACUTE SHORTAGE OF INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES Acute shortage of infrastructural facilities like lecture halls, classrooms, hostels, laboratories, libraries and office accommodation affect students intake seriously. Most Universities lack these facilities and because of this, only few applicants are admitted. The universities can only admit numbers of candidates that hostels and lecture halls can accommodate. For example, the University of Maiduguri has over 35 thousand students currently undergoing studies, but because of lack of hostel accommodations on campus, only few thousands are accommodated. The rest of the students from town and this does not argue well for the students. INSECURITY For many years now, Nigeria has been characterized by insecurity. There are religious, ethnic and political crises all over the country. Religious crises between Muslim and Christians are more pronounced in Plateau and Kaduna states where both sides attack each other during period of worships or on celebration days. There are also religious crises between governments and Islamic sects. The religious crisis has claimed hundreds of lives particularly in the Northern Nigeria where the problem is more pronounced. This particular crisis has distorted academic activities in the Universities situated in this area. For example, in 2011, the University of Maiduguri was closed down for almost two months because of the threats from the religious sect which eventually distorted teaching and learning in the University. Also, a bomb blast occurred at the Bayero University Kano which claimed many lives of worshipers in the church. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 249
Furthermore, a bomb blast occurred at the University of Gombe though no life was lost. There is also political crisis over the control of Nigeria s rich human, natural and financial resources. The crisis in the Niger delta region of Nigeria and the kidnapping of wealthy individuals, top politicians and foreigners in Nigeria are examples of the few crises that make Nigeria and Nigerians insecure. Most of these states have Universities in them and therefore candidates seeking admission do not apply to such Universities. For example this year 2012 only 3,000 students applied for admission to University of Maiduguri through Unified Tertiary University Matriculation examination (UTME) as against 14,000 applied in 2011. With these crisis and threats all over the country, applicants have now started to look for admission outside the country. ORDINARY LEVEL DEFICIENCY Ordinary level deficiency in the context of this paper refers to the grades obtained at the end of prescribed examinations in secondary schools and grade two teachers training colleges in Nigeria which cannot qualify candidates into Nigerian universities. The minimum ordinary level requirement into universities in Nigeria is five (5) credits in either West African Senior School Certificate examination (WASSCE) or Grade II Teachers examination and this must include mathematics and English language. Once the candidate fails to have this requirement, it means he/she is deficient and may not get admission into Nigerian Universities. Ordinary level requirement deficiency is one of the most chaotic of all the problems militating against admission into Nigerian Universities. This requirement is very fundamental in getting admission. The requirement affects all the programs particularly University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. In fact, in the University of Maiduguri, admission to read pre-degree, certificate, diploma, degree, second degree and PhD is not possible without having credit in English language and mathematics. Candidates admitted into these programs mistakenly or through influential politicians or powerful individuals are forced to produce their ordinary levels and those refused, their certificates are withheld until they produced. Because of this requirement therefore not every candidate that applies gets admitted. Apart from the ordinary level deficiency, candidates with low advance level certificates find it difficult to be admitted into Universities in Nigeria. Candidates with either merit or pass at the end of their advance level programs such as: Diploma, Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 250
are denied admission. Normally, the best candidates are selected first. That is those with Distinction (A) and Credit (B) grades are chosen before considering candidates with (C) grade and very rear with merit. So, if there are many candidates applying, only top most candidates are selected. Ordinary level or advance level deficiencies are not the only obstacle to University admission. There are also obstacles at the postgraduate level. For instance, candidates with Third Class or pass degree do not get admission to undergo postgraduate study. Also, candidates that secured less than B grade (60 and above) at the end of their Masters degree are denied admission to pursue PhD program, particularly at the University of Maiduguri. Such candidates are normally advised to remedy such deficiency through M. Phil. program. UNIVERSITIES ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES Universities administrative policies are another major obstacle responsible for low intake into Nigerian Universities. In addition to ordinary level and JAMB requirements as discussed above, Universities have their own additional requirement. This requirement is Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation examination. The Post (UTME) is an aptitude test conducted by Universities for two reasons. These reasons are to: 1. Test the Psycho-motor, affection and cognitive skills of applicants. 2. Select the best candidates. For example, a summary of 4 years enrolment of University of Maiduguri is shown below Year Applied Admitted 2008/2009 20,000 6,590 2009/2010 18,000 6,590 2010/2011 14.000 6,590 2012/2013 3,845 1000 recommended for admission Source: Admission Office University of Maiduguri, (2012) Considering the facilities available in the University, the highest the University can admit is 6,590. This means that thousands of qualified Nigerians and non-nigerians are denied admission. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 251
THE JOINT ADMISSIONS MATRICULATION BOARD (JAMB) The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is a regulatory body saddled with the responsibility of conducting uniform examinations for the candidates. This body has been considered by some Nigerians as an impediment to the admission of many qualified candidates. Odeyemi, (2010), enumerated problems associated with JAMB admissions into colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities. These problems include: 1. Geo-political imbalance: Candidates from areas of the country that are considered educationally disadvantaged may be offered admission with lower grades or points at the expense of their counterparts who have higher scores but come from educationally advantaged areas 2. Quota system: The Federal Military Government introduced guidelines for admissions into universities. Admissions are based on 45% merit, 35% localities (Indigenes) and 20% for the universities to select, JAMB, (1997). The quota system was introduced into admissions to reflect the federal character where every part of the country in represented in the Universities. 3. Resistance from universities JAMB sometimes offers admissions which are rejected by the Universities. The candidates therefore lose the opportunity to go to university. CONCLUSION The paper examined perceived problems militating against admission into Nigerian Universities. Such problems include population explosion, increased secondary output, shortages of lecturers, distant and remote universities, denial of accreditation, high cost and funding of Universities, acute shortage of infrastructural facilities, insecurity, ordinary level deficiency, Universities administrative policies and that of regulatory body (JAMB). Measures aimed at increasing admission were also suggested. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Nigeria has many Universities and degree awarding colleges of education, and therefore no need to create more Universities. Instead renovation of the existing facilities and expansion of these facilities in all the Universities should be increased by Federal government. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 252
2. The insecurity that characterizes the country, dialogue between the government and the Islamic sects is the best way of solving the crisis. 3. Since Nigeria has many universities, quota system used in admission should be abolished. The quota system was introduced when universities were very few in the country. Since almost all the states of the federation have state or federal university, the federal character should be completely abolished so that qualified Nigerians should not be denied admission on the basis of federal character. 4. Qualified and experienced academic staff should be employed in all the Universities in Nigeria. If all these suggestions can be implemented, qualified Nigerians and non-nigerians will not be denied admission and the brain drain that characterized Nigerians Universities will be a thing of the past. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 253
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