You think we'll be talking about some "educationally disadvantaged states in Nigeria"? Oh! We've gone beyond that. Let's talk about something different.

It's the 2015-2016 World University Rankings, and no Nigerian University makes it to the top 500. Shocking, isn't it? Nigerian undergraduates are indeed "educationally disadvantaged" compared to their counterparts from other parts of the world.



Here are some reasons for the backwardness of Nigerian undergraduates and graduates alike. Some are on the part of the institutions, while others are on the part of the students.

1)Poor Learning Conditions: This cuts across poor accommodation facilities, lack of conducive environment to learn, overcrowding in lecture halls poorly equipped university libraries. The situation on our campuses calls for urgent attention.

2)Frequent Industrial Actions By Academic Staff: A situation where students have to make adjustments for one or two extra years in school just because of incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is apalling. These strikes leave deleterious effects on staff, students and the nation in general.

3)Poor Teaching Practices: Many Nigerian lecturers hold academic positions in two or more universities, thereby not giving enough attention to the students under their tutelage. Lecturers come in late for lectures that have been fixed well ahead of time. Some arbitrarily cancel lectures just as students are already waiting in class. Some lecturers also fail to show up for most part of the semester, only coming in a week or two to semester examinations to start bombarding students with lectures. Some just release flimsy materials called "handouts" and threaten students to buy them at exorbitant prices if they want to pass the course. Many academic staff just constitute themselves into nuisances on our campuses, with total disregard for university regulations, thus bringing the citadel of learning to disrepute. These poor teaching practices lead to substandard graduates.

4)Low quality Academic Staff: It is a known fact that some academic staff in Nigerian universities are awarded professorships based on their patronage or closeness and loyalty to the university Vice-Chancellors and others in the top management positions as opposed to their productivity and researches and contributions to the academia. Many Nigerian professors and even some PhD holders cannot hold their ground in the international community. What products do you expect these political professors and PhD holders to turn out from our universities? How many Nigerian-based professors are internationally recognized? There are a lot of poor quality academic staff in Nigerian universities.

5)Unwholesome Practices: These range from student victimization to "sorting" and sex-for grades. A situation whereby students are given an "easy way out' by some lecturers to pass their courses through sorting makes students complacent and unwilling to push themselves to their limits in the quest for knowledge.There is indeed massive corruption in our citadels of learning. Some weeks ago, a Nigerian lady on her Facebook page called out a university lecturer for harassment and victimization while she was still an undergraduate in one of the universities in nation's capital city. Some of these corrupt academic staff prefer ladies to pay in "kind" for them to pass their courses. At the end, unqualified and less-than-half-baked graduates are churned out to society. These "graduates" obviously cannot compete at the local scene, not to talk of the global front. No wonder someone once said that most Nigerian graduates are "unemployable"

6)Laziness On The Part Of The Students: The laziness that has pervaded our culture and daily assails us as a people has also caught up with Nigerian undergraduates. Many undergraduates lie to their sponsors that they are in school, whereas some are going from one town to another, running businesses, engaging in cult activities, looking for "sugar daddies and mummies" to make money from. Making money now means much more to the average Nigerian undergraduate than acquiring knowledge. There is a general poor reading culture on Nigerian campuses. Even those that decide to study have poor learning strategies and little or no role models to guide them. So many students rely on "expo" and "group work" to pass exams. Others do little or no study and somehow expect that they will succeed at their assessments or examinations because their religious leaders have told them so, and have prayed for them. Talk about faith without works. The average Nigerian undergraduate wants to be spoon fed, or is busy looking for "connections' that can promise them a job upon graduation.

7))Too Much Theory-Based Learning: As a result of poor infrastructural development in many Nigerian universities, many students graduate knowing just the "theories" as far as their courses are concerned. Some people study Zoology, for example, and just get to see some animals in pictures or documentaries. Very few Nigerian Zoology Departments have a collection of common animals. Some undergraduates study Botany in class, with no field experience. They only end up obtaining substandard degrees.



What do you think?

SOURCE: http://realmindfactory.com/2016/05/13/educationally-disadvantaged-oh-not-again/

you are probably on point OP

Naziff:
you are probably on point OP

Thanks, Bro