By Dr. Samson Abanni
If there’s something we all agree about nature, it is this fact – Nature is unkind to those who cannot adapt and makes no allowance for them.
If an institution or system is crushed by change, nature dictates that it be allowed to die.
The best help that our educational institutions need now is help to adapt to a changing environment . The cost of running the universities is going up and they need more IGR. I don’t know if the head of our tertiary institutions look at their numbers.
Postgraduate admissions are not rising and in some cases, they are dropping. The reasons are obvious. At the same time, we have many Nigerians enrolling into postgraduate programs online with foreign universities because our schools have failed to adapt. In a difficult economy, how many people can come to the class and spend two years for a masters. How will they eat if they don’t work? The administrators need to offer incentives to their staff to innovate.
ONE SOLUTION: ONLINE PROGRAMS
One opportunity is online program. We need to look at courses that can be done online, and there are many, and put up a robust, competitive online program with effective hands to make sure the technology is at par. If 2% of Nigerians want a postgraduate degree all the current capacity of our public universities will struggle to cope because that will be about 5 million people, that is like the population of Enugu state.
BENEFITS OF ONLINE LEARNING AND SUCCESS STORIES
Online programs are cheaper for the university and convenient for the students, the savings can also be passed on to the students making it cost-effective.
University of Port Harcourt just started some of such programs in their school of public health, ABU, Zaria is already a national leader in Online education.
Other universities have to wake up from their sleep. The occupiers of the ivory towers have to realise that the world around them is changing, the student is now king, not the Lecturer.
So, you must make your processes efficient and competitive to attract more “clients” or you will go bankrupt, for gradually FG is easing itself out of her traditional responsibilities. Craft attractive, modern programs. Do surveys in local industries and design programs to fill knowledge gaps. Give opportunities for fast-track masters of one year, six months or one year, let students pay fees based on the number of courses, set up digital payment system that accepts pay-small-small, tailor programs to meet current job market needs. A degree is an investment, design them to pay a huge ROI and market them well.
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
As we cry to the government to fund education better, we also have to find creative ways of making universities financially independent. Set up consultancy groups based on industry and lobby industry and government to patronise you.
LEVERAGING UNIVERSITY RESOURCES
Set up a university endowment to fund startups where you can own equity. Lobby multinationals to setup research centres which can earn the university money through use of scientific equipment by the public.
ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES
Set up businesses with half of the staff being students who will be there on industrial training and thus not be paid, making it more profitable. Bank of Industry can be lobbied to fund these businesses.
The students health insurance should be run by university owned HEALTH INSURANCE company. The most popular bottled water in Enugu should be UNN water and so on.
BRIDGING EDUCATION AND BUSINESS
Universities need to get creative. Unizik should have a program that enables businessmen in Onitsha to earn degrees without having to leave their shops, except for a few days in a month.
EMPHASIZE THE BUSINESS ASPECT OF UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP
If the universities or at least their administrators, do not see the business part of education, our professors would remain beggarly dependent on the govt.
All administrators would benefit from MBAs irrespective of their areas of specialization. Being a Professor alone does not guarantee that you will lead well in the current complex, regulatory and business environment. In this world of today, the hallmark of academics is intellectual humility. Our academics need this more now.
Abanni is a Medical Doctor and Member of the Board of Editors of Pacesetter Frontier Magazine.
