By Iyabo Lawal

Hundreds of students are graduating with more first-class degrees in Nigerian universities, both private and public, compared to decades ago. Head, Education Desk, Iyabo Lawal, writes that there is more to the phenomenon than meets the eye.

He did it. Standing tall on the podium regaled in his graduation gown and beaming with a smile that can make the world pause for a reflection, [/b]Ayodele Daniel Dada[b] was a testament of ingenuity and brilliance. As his grade was announced and he was presented with his first degree certificate, the world seemed like a speck beneath his feet.

Recently, the young man made a first class - a perfect score of 5.0 - in the University of Lagos (UNILAG); that score is a record-breaking one in the history of the institution. Between 2010 and 2017, UNILAG has produced at least 600 students with first class degrees.

Dada is not the only university student who had graduated with a first class. In recent times though, the number of students graduating with a first class has skyrocketed.

A first-class degree is earned when an undergraduate scores Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.50 and above upon graduation. Today, there is much ado about graduating with a first class with some accusing private universities of churning such class of degree with ease and on the other hand praising public universities for being able to produce graduates with first class degrees even though the standard of education is said to have fallen generally.

[/b]Recently, University of Lagos had 3.25 per cent of its graduating students leaving school with a first class; University of Ibadan (UI), 2.24 per cent of the graduating students had first class; it was 1.2 per cent in Kaduna State University (KSU); Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) had 0.67 per cent; University of Benin (UNIBEN) was one per cent; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (ATBU), 0.57 per cent; and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) had 0.84 per cent.

The picture of awards of first class degrees was more colourful in private universities in the same period. Bells University had 6.15 per cent of its graduands coasting home with first class; Benson Idahosa University, 5.62 per cent; Covenant University, 7.9 per cent; Babcock University, 3.88 per cent; Adeleke University, 8.8 per cent; and Landmark University, 10.35 per cent.[b]

Not a few people are worried about the development. Talking about the so-called proliferation of first class degrees, especially in Nigeria's private universities, Dr. Idris Oyemitan of the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, at Walter Sisulu University, South Africa, said, "It is very absurd that students that failed to obtain anything close to 250 in their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores or Post-UTME examination are now being awarded first class degrees. I want to criticise these questionable awards from four main angles: the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination grades of these glorified first class graduates cannot match those in public universities.


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"Almost all of them scored below average or minimum scores that would not have qualified them to gain admission into leading (public) universities in Nigeria. Most of these private universities cannot compete with the public ones in areas of qualified lecturers as they mostly rely on unemployed, retired, visiting, part-time and sometimes grossly incompetent academic staff to churn out these half-baked graduates."

Oyemitan claimed further that most private universities could not boast of standard laboratories, qualified and competent technical staff. "From the foregoing, most of the first class graduates produced by these private universities would have at best obtained second class lower or third class degrees from functional standard universities across Nigeria," he stated.

The South Africa-based scholar urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other regulatory agencies to look into the rising number of students graduating with first class.

Is this just a peculiar Nigerian situation? Is standard of education in the country's private and public universities so bad that it becomes frightening for the institutions to produce an increasing number of graduates with first class degrees?

[b][/b]In the United Kingdom, the proportion of students graduating with top degrees has soared in the past five years, with a quarter of last year's candidates leaving university with a first class, a dramatic increase from just 17 per cent in 2012.

In 2016, almost three quarter of students achieved a 2:1 or higher, compared with just two-thirds five years ago. In the early 1990s, the proportion of students graduating with a first class was far lower, at around eight per cent.

This increasing army of first class graduates have prompted many UK universities to introduce additional character reports alongside degree classifications, giving a more detailed breakdown of students' academic performance and extra-curricular awards and activities.

Prof. Sola Fajana had at one time dispelled fears about the rise of students with first class degrees as a fluke or a "cash-and-carry" phenomenon. The professor said, "The Nigerian University System (NUS) is regulated by the National Universities Commission through instruments such as Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS). The resource verification and accreditation processes are very intricate and supervised with a deep sense of responsibility and integrity.

"The external examination system ensures that standards are kept very high nationally and internationally. If a first class graduate is pronounced in the NUS, you can be assured that the graduate is indeed a first class material."



The university scholar asserted that such increase is reflective of increases and advances in knowledge and access to information through the ubiquitous internet.[/b]






"There are increasing number of serious-minded students who deploy information communication technology to achieve excellent results. Furthermore, the total number of graduates produced has been increasing over time, especially since the 1980s. Consequently, the proportional increase in the number of first class students probably reflects the increase in the number of graduates produced compared with the figures of the 1960s up to the 1970s," Fajana added.

[b][/b]From the UK example, it seems that all over the world - not just in Nigeria and its private universities - awards of first class degrees are increasing.

Those who saw the rise as cheering news affirmed that the situation is not as a result of unnecessary grade inflation because the NUC plays a credible and efficient regulatory role in ensuring standards in federal, state and private universities across the country. [b]

Talking about the influence of the internet in making academic resource more available to students, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, once noted that information communication technology has contributed immensely to the rise of first class graduates.

"To that extent, where students are serious with their studies, it is easier to make a first class today than it was in the past. The methods of assessment are also more liberal today than they were in the past. With this, it is very easy for serious-minded students to score higher grades," Oyewole had said.

He noted further that there is improvement in learning systems, which are becoming more learner-focused than teacher-centred; giving room for conscientious students to explore and research widely on their own any subject beyond the four walls of the classroom.

In spite of assurances from scholars like Oyewole and Fajana, some still feel that it is almost impossible for universities, public universities in particular, to produce large numbers of first class graduates in the face of dwindling academic commitments, poor academic facilities like hostels, classrooms, laboratories and other needed resources and amenities to make learning a delight.

They also argue that given frequent and long periods of strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), it is incredible to imagine that students will find it easier to graduate with such high scores; importantly so, because a reason usually given by ASUU for going on strike is lack of teaching and learning facilities in the universities.

Prof Isiaq Akintola of Lagos State University (LASU) condemned the trend and called for an urgent review. he wondered how a system with no facilities and qualified manpower would churn out a high number of first class graduates.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201705110390.html

Lalasticlala

A man from a second rate S/African institution feels he can rubbish degrees of Nigerian Universities smh.

ok

Pls let us learn to be concise and use less words pls

simplyhonest:
Pls let us learn to be concise and use less words pls

I did not write it, I copied it from a news source. I think the whole article is worth reading to gain context.

In Nigeria, Everything Is For Sale.. And That Includes Degrees.

too long to read jare

lies

Honestly, i think the problem lies with some of our so called public university lecturer.

In my department, a girl made first-class in her 100 level, and she was happy about it, after learning that nobody had graduated with first-class in political science since 1974,when the last person graduated, and a particular lecturer told her that, she should show him her result or cgpa when she gets to 300 level, that she can only graduate with a strong 2.1 Second Class Upper...


that above statement alone is enough to bring her morale down.
i think we have problems with our lecturers in public universities compared to those in private universities, lecturers here are seen like semi god, which is totally wrong, poor students to lecturer relationship and host of other issues like funding..
RIP public Universities

Be a good memorizer, reproduce the same information on paper word for word. This will give you a first class. But in the real world, creativity is what guarantees you success not academic grades.

Well, even at that, there's no guarantee of a "bright future" with a first class degree in this nation.

If you have no connections, all you have would be a mere piece of paper

wow that's awesome i commend those students




But deep down i will still go with Innoson even without a degree the guy deserve my respect




To all the hustlers without degree i throw way my cap for una more of standing ovation

the poster above me....;,D


anyway how do u expect them not to be awarded first class after paying a fortune to study

The way students sort now ehn...

plain regurgitation, rote learning and corruption have ruined the integrity of our education system. Most federal sch are in very bad shapes ( go to oau labs to confirm), no new research, all we do is copy and reproduce what a foreign journal or research already confirmed. little wonder you still see white men coordinating major projects in Nigeria .... there has to be a total overhauling and mass sacking of incompetent hands, if not, the system is surely going to collapse....

Statsocial:

I did not write it, I copied it from a news source. I think the whole article is worth reading to gain context.

He's a lazy reader like me probably. But I somehow got the gist of the whole "paste"

You graduate with first class,wahala,you don't graduate with first class,more wahala.Maybe the students are learning more on how to pass well.At least undergraduates have more access now to relevant materials on courses online.

me I just jejely carry my third class, leave uniben oh, all this so many first class in Nigeria, yet no innovations anywhere just imported technologies and ideas

most first class materials should strive to be innovative, for example we have various first class computer engineers who can't design an operating system

we have various first class materials who are carrying files looking for jobs, bit.ch sit down and invent ideas that will revolutionize this dying country

how many first class graduates have invented ideas and things in this country

watch out for my new song titled "cucumber"

hmmm

Can someone summarize this and tell me in 2 paragraphs?

Let's be frank. What we have in Nigeria is not education

most of the first class are Jobless so what's the essence of a first class degree with no capacities to give them job or automatic employment in academia .

Morning

3VQ65RH
Walking away

Nigeria and bad belle, how their first class take affect your life. Na this kind person dey make things unnecessary hard for people,and feel bad when people make it in life without going through the same hardship they went thru.

But guess what... We are moving on. Easy does it

I

The age of IT has made things easier and more accessible. We all have google as our defacto teacher and it makes a whole lot of difference!

President Buhari sef

GeoOla25:
most of the first class are Jobless so what's the essence of a first class degree with no capacities to give them job or automatic employment in academia .

Guy think am well... Joblessness is not as a result of first class or third class, it is a result of not having the opportunity or the right environment,

The thing is that an average Nigeria student out their is a first class material, is just that there is a lot frustrating circumstances in our Nigeria public universities., that is why you see them shine among their peers overseas.

Omo una gat remove that mentality and prejudice.