by MOTUNRAYO JOEL
Okebukola
| credits: File copy
| credits: File copy
In this interview with MOTUNRAYO JOEL,
the President, UNESCO Global University Network for Innovation and
former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof.
Peter Okebukola, tackles various issues bedevilling the nation’s
education system
If we compare the curriculum of secondary schools and universities, would you say there is a link between both curricula?
Yes of course, there is a link. The
National Universities Commission in developing or revising university
curriculum, factors in the content of the lower level curriculum, in
this case, that of the secondary level. Take the B.Sc. Chemistry
programme for example, efforts are made to ensure that the contents of
100-level courses are pitched at the exit level of the senior school
certificate. This way, fresh students are guaranteed smooth transition
from secondary to the university.
To what extent does the university curriculum have the capacity to help our society?
To the extent that the university
curriculum is delivered as intentioned, then one can say that it has the
capacity to foster development of the society through the provision of
high-level human resources to drive the economy and provide quality
leadership for the public and private sector. However, the sad part of
the story is that, for many reasons, there is a gap between the intended
and the achieved curriculum. For instance, you plan an engineering
curriculum at 300-level to cover 15 topics and to have full, hands-on
practical work. Owing to interruptions in the academic calendar,
inadequacies in laboratory and workshop facilities, depressed quantity
and quality of lecturers in engineering, poor reading culture of
students, examination inadequacies and a host of other process
variables; the curriculum is delivered less than it is intentioned. This
is the achieved curriculum. Only 8 of the 15 topics are covered and
practical work is hardly carried out by the students. The achieved
curriculum ends up being about 45 per cent of the intended. We may take
this as a simple mathematical expression of how we come about
“half-baked” graduates.
The long and short of the story is that
the university curriculum has the capacity to help the society, but this
capacity is minimally explored.
What role does moral education play in preparing candidates for higher institution and against cultism?
Moral education is a key to good
citizenship and pathway to instilling good behaviour and acceptable
values in students. Secondary school students, who are already imbued
with internal sense of right and wrong through moral education, will
come to higher educational institutions with a stern aversion for
cultism and examination malpractice. They will display honesty, respect
for elders and stewardship. They will shun corruption and aberrant
sexual behaviours that are prevalent in higher education institutions.
This is the theory side of the matter. The practical side shamefully
shows that an elder, who the young secondary school student looks up to,
has a derailed moral compass. In class, moral education teaches him or
her to be honest and shun corruption. At home, his or her parents are
dishonest and corrupt. In place of worships such as the church or
mosque, religious leaders who preach good behaviour and good citizenship
are not exemplary in their behaviour, as are known crooks around town.
This mismatch imperils the success of moral education in schools. The
fight for good morals and character should be carried beyond moral
education delivered in and out of schools to the entire citizenry, young
and old.
Is there any way that the university prepares students for life outside the profession they are trained in?
There are several ways, chief of which
is entrepreneurial education. Entrepreneurial education is an offering
which equips learners with knowledge, skills and attitudes to be an
entrepreneur or innovator – the person who develops a new product,
market, or a new means of production. In sum, it is all activities aimed
to foster entrepreneurial mind-sets, attitudes and skills covering a
range of aspects such as idea generation, start-up, growth and
innovation. The world out there is one which demands that the graduate,
regardless of discipline, should draw on knowledge and skills for job
creation. Over 90 per cent of our universities now run compulsory
courses in entrepreneurial studies for all undergraduates. In a study
conducted in 2011, the top five universities in terms of quality of
delivery of entrepreneurial studies are Pan Atlantic University
(formerly Pan African University), Covenant University, University of
Ibadan, University of Ilorin and Olabisi Onabanjo University. Kwara
State University is coming up quite strong in this endeavour.
Who is to blame for the fall in education standard?
The basket of blame for the depressed
quality of education in Nigeria can be shared by all stakeholders. Mind
you, I have not agreed that the “standard” is falling because I know it
is rising. What has fallen is quality, including the proportion of those
who can meet set standards. Let us leave that debate for another day.
Government has its share of the blame with low investment in the sector.
While parents are blameworthy for poor guidance and home support,
teachers are to blame for delivering poor quality education. Students
themselves carry a huge slice of this blame for poor attitude to work
and the craving to pass without reading. They are more engrossed with
social rather than academic life. For me, the goal is not to waste time
shifting or apportioning blame, but to collectively explore how all
stakeholders can be part of the solution.
How should universities deal with cultism?
There is a blueprint developed by the
Federal Ministry of Education for dealing with cultism. This document is
extensive in its prescriptions; including sanctions such as expulsion,
publishing the photos and names of cultists, sharing of a database of
cultists by all institutions so that they are not inadvertently admitted
into another institution when expelled. The prescriptions also include
counselling and public awareness campaigns on our campuses against
cultism.
However, what do you do when the
godfathers of these cultists are well placed in government and in
religious organisations? While the universities should work towards
removing the specks from their eyes, the larger Nigerian society should
remove the huge log of cultism from its eyes!
How has your return to Lagos State University brought development to the institution?
I returned to LASU in August 2006 when I
left the National Universities Commission and I am enjoying every bit
of my teaching, postgraduate supervision and research. This is one side
of my contribution to the development of the institution. We have set up
a LASU Science and Technology Education Research Group to strengthen
capacity of academic staff in research and be able to publish our
research efforts in the most outstanding journals around the world.
Within the last one year, the 75-member group has been able to publish
in the world’s top two science education journals. Before the end of
2013, we shall have 10 of our research papers enjoying space in
high-quality publication outlets. Our current Vice-Chancellor,
Professor John Obafunwa, has also asked that I serve as Chairman of the
Academic Planning Committee. The committee has been working with the
Director of Academic Planning and her staff to re-invigorate academic
planning activities in the university.
In your opinion, what set of people qualify to become minister of education?
The minister of education of a great
country like Nigeria should have two basic attributes- one acquired, the
other innate. The acquired is the deep knowledge of the Nigerian,
African and global education systems. The innate is a passion to lead
the efforts to solve the multiplicity of problems bedevilling the
Nigerian education system.
The first attribute can be read up from
reports; it can also be part of the person’s training. On this count,
some have rightfully canvassed that the minister should be a professor
of education. For me, the second attribute is more important – the
passion to heal the sick Nigerian educational system. The minister
should have an undying zeal to selflessly serve and be one who will
continuously aim a hard blow at the jugular of the problems facing
education.
Is the Nigerian government successfully working towards curbing unemployment?
The government is making efforts. These efforts need to be stepped up.
Public universities are
facing funding inadequacies, low teacher quantity and quality,
interruption to academic calendar as a result of strikes, challenges of
infrastructural facilities, poor curriculum delivery, and poor students’
attitude to work and social vices. These are the key issues. What
should be done? That is the easy part. We should reverse the trend –
invest more in education, strive to get quality teachers, provide
adequate facilities… I can spend a whole day enumerating what we should
do. The truth of the matter is we all (or most people) know what should
be done. The political will at the local, state and federal levels is in
short supply to reverse the trend
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