University lecturers who don't get their doctorate degrees by 2009 may be demoted

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has warned that university lecturers who do not get their doctorate degrees before the 2009 deadline may lose their positions as lecturers and cease to exercise full rights over students’ course work.

The directive that lecturers must acquire doctorate degrees have been in the statute books since 1989.

Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, said there would be no further compromise on the issue of minimum academic qualification for teaching in the nation’s universities. Since this is fundamental to the quality of teaching and research and a major determinant of the quality of graduates produced by the universities.

He stated that the non-possession of a doctorate degree will not be the end of the teaching career of the lecturers but the National Universities Commission may resort to the American model where such lecturers are graded as tutors and their authority over academic programmes restricted to an auxiliary level.

http://www.ngex.com/news/public/newsinfo.php?nid=5569

This has to apply to all levels in many industries.

I doubt if this will solve the problem of our dilapidated education system.

Much more is needed than just another paper certificate.

somze:

I doubt if this will solve the problem of our dilapidated education system.

Much more is needed than just another paper certificate.

Can the average PHD holder in Nigeria compete on the same level with others in the same field in other countries?? I mean what is a PHD in Nigeria worth these days?? Is it even recognized elsewhere but in Nigeria?? I agree that this will not help if it is just a push for people to get a new certificate added to their names. The average college graduate in Nigeria can not even sit on the same level with high school graduates in other parts of the world. Another issue is bribery. Has the practise of bribing one's way through school been curtailed?? or is this going to be a rush for people to try to find money as quick as possible to buy the phD's they need??

I guess the argument will be that this is just another example of our credentialist culture.I would rather prefer that only people of a certain degree classification-1st class-were allowed to lecture than simply allow only PHD holders.

Of course,not all degree classifications are the same but then,not all PHD programmes are the same.Insisting on a certain quality ensures that only people of certain academic excellence ever get to lecture.

I also think that they should take into consideration,a person's achievement in his professional career.The idea that someone like William Gates would be unqualified to lecture in Nigeria is shocking.

They should be flexible on this issue,allowing Universities autonomy to decide the criteria for who they hire and taking into consideration various factors-degree classification,career achievement and post-graduate qualifications.They shouldn't simply restrict it to PHD holders.

I-man:

I guess the argument will be that this is just another example of our credentialist culture.I would rather prefer that only people of a certain degree classification-1st class-were allowed to lecture than simply allow only PHD holders.

Of course,not all degree classifications are the same but then,not all PHD programmes are the same.Insisting on a certain quality ensures that only people of certain academic excellence ever get to lecture.

I also think that they should take into consideration,a person's achievement in his professional career.The idea that someone like William Gates would be unqualified to lecture in Nigeria is shocking.

They should be flexible on this issue,allowing Universities autonomy to decide the criteria for who they hire and taking into consideration various factors-degree classification,career achievement and post-graduate qualifications.They shouldn't simply restrict it to PHD holders.

I believe that to be the case in this situation. I am of the mind that who ever came up with this idea is trying to solve the problem the same old way and if we are not careful, we will see the same pattern repeating itself as we have seen in the past. We will have even more people with BOGUS Phd degrees but no knowledge to back up the degree. I do believe experience needs to be considered but more should be placed on the quality of education obtained. All I see here is we pushing for quantity over quality again and from the past, we already know that strategy never works. I can point to the IT industry for example. I have met many nigerians with certificates in this and that in IT who can not even code a simple hello world object. Now that is to me a shame!! and we need to stop this moronic moves already and start to sit down and come up with better ways to solve problems.

William Gates may be a rich man, but that doesn't qualify him to be a lecturer/teacher in an academic setting. He may be a good visiting speaker or something, but any sensible system must set benchmarks for the academic qualifications of its workforce.

Why should someone who has not taken the time to conduct any original research/work over a period of time be given charge over students? What personal insight or knowledge will such an individual bring to bear except what he/she learned herself from courses in a bachelors and masters program?

Do universities elsewhere accept people with less than PhD's be lecturers (i'm not talking about graduate assistants here)?

This is not a matter of just paper certificate, it IS a right step, but it must be in consonance with other reforming actions such as improved funding and equipping of schools.

The truth is that the system as present does not encourage one to do research/phD's, so If you can get a cushy lecturer position with your MSc, why strive to get a pHD? Even though bribery and others exist, getting a pHD is still no mean task, even in Nigeria. Anyone with the seriousness and focus to complete one would be in some respects worthy of a position of a lecturer.

phD's are not so much about 'academic excellence' but more of a desire to be engaged in academics in the same place, and the perseverance to go through a 4 year program with no exams or assignments to dub or copy.

I don't know if 2009 is the best target year, but it is a step in the right direction.

debosky:

William Gates may be a rich man, but that doesn't qualify him to be a lecturer/teacher in an academic setting. He may be a good visiting speaker or something, but any sensible system must set benchmarks for the academic qualifications of its workforce.

Why should someone who has not taken the time to conduct any original research/work over a period of time be given charge over students? What personal insight or knowledge will such an individual bring to bear except what he/she learned herself from courses in a bachelors and masters program?

Actually, to this day, institutions like Harvard, Oxford and the rest call on business men such as William gates and others like him who have years of experience, to their colleges to lecture students. Infact, not all on the Harvard staff have Phds. Some of them stopped at Bachelors but have gone to show themselves as masters in their fields and so are very much qualified to teach in such schools.

Do universities elsewhere accept people with less than PhD's be lecturers (i'm not talking about graduate assistants here)?

The Answer would be YES


The push to get them better educated is a good one but needs to be done in a better way than we have in the past, see the example I gave. Pushing for a PhD by 2009 without providing them grants or ways to pay the fees needed or even providing them the needed resources to actually push to excel would only be just another move like those we have made in the past in similar areas. Even obtaining a master's by 2009 is going to take a huge leap, talk less of doing that in Nigeria with no help from any other place.

@Debosky
I specifically chose Gates because he is a luminary within the IT field.He is not just a man famous for his business acumen,he obviously did some research to produce the ground breaking technology he is largely responsible for.I believe he holds some patents.So he can't lecture but some mediocrity who has never achieved anything tangible can lecture?

Beyond Gates,the idea that a very successful business man can't lecture,for instance,students on an MBA programme is ludicrous.Effectively,you are saying that in such a case,only academics can lecture even if they have never run a bussiness.

Imagine a Nobel Laurette who never did a postgraduate course,according to you,he can't lecture but some 3rd grade brain who has crammed his way to a PHD can lecture

I think this policy is meant to redress a growing problem where we have a proliferation of "lecturers" who see teaching as simply better than being on the unemployment queue. A lot of people simply take up teaching appointments while waiting for "better" opportunities in the private sector.
If you have no intention of being a lecturer it would be pretty difficult to "waste" 6-7 yrs pursuing a phd.

davidylan:

I think this policy is meant to redress a growing problem where we have a proliferation of "lecturers" who see teaching as simply better than being on the unemployment queue. A lot of people simply take up teaching appointments while waiting for "better" opportunities in the private sector.
If you have no intention of being a lecturer it would be pretty difficult to "waste" 6-7 years pursuing a phd.

waste 6 to 7 years pursuing a Phd in just 2 years?? Did you read the Title?? they MUST obtain a doctorate in 2 years. Regardless, a lot of people who have the passion but not the resources will be hurt by this move. So far, I have yet to find any article on this outlining what sort of aid is available to those who are willing to put in that time to get the degree. Considering we are speaking of Nigeria in this situation. I doubt that those who are willing to go the Phd Route are in the majority. Is the country ready to handle the consequence of this move? You downgrade over 70% of the teaching staff in a school then what do you have left??

Kobojunkie:

waste 6 to 7 years pursuing a Phd in just 2 years?? Did you read the Title?? they MUST obtain a doctorate in 2 years.

The policy is not new, its been on ground for the last 3 yrs as far as i know. During my brief period at FUT Yola in 2005, almost half the junior faculty were on some form of study leave. The lecturer i lived with just obtained his phd then from the UI because of this policy.

The problem is even worse up north as there are even fewer job opportunities so its very common to see an entire dept populated by "lecturers" with no masters degrees. We had only one phd in the department i taught in, a couple of masters holders and the rest on "study leave".

Kobojunkie:

Regardless, a lot of people who have the passion but not the resources will be hurt by this move. So far, I have yet to find any article on this outlining what sort of aid is available to those who are willing to put in that time to get the degree.

Most schools in the north have some form of financial aid where the school provides loans to the affected faculty members while deducting a small percentage from their monthly salaries. This was FUT Yola's policy, infact there was a lot of pressure then on many of us teaching there to be retained as that would make us eligible to obtain graduate loans from the school.

Kobojunkie:

Considering we are speaking of Nigeria in this situation. I doubt that those who are willing to go the Phd Route are in the majority. Is the country ready to handle the consequence of this move? You downgrade over 70% of the teaching staff in a school then what do you have left??

To be honest this is a very good policy in the long term. For those who are only accustomed to southern Universities you might not understand. Take a look at the northern schools, you'd be shocked to find first degree holders lecturing course in the final yr programs of engineering departments!
I had friends (NYSC members) who lectured final yr engineering mathematics classes because the faculty members assigned those classes could not teach them. Many of the students prefered the NYSC fellas to their own lecturers.

@Topic

If it will help in anyway! I guess the fees the lecturers will start "charging" students to supplement their income before these students graduate will increase tremendously.  

Yet most of them cannot construct a single sentence in any meaningful medium of communication! Rubbish!

I believe from the article, it has been in the books since 1989 and we all know where Nigeria has been since then. To then push for a drastic change in such a short amount of time without providing these teachers some way of balancing work now and studies is to me not reasonable. I do agree that it needs to be done but this move appears to me as the same sort we have done in the past. We push for people to go one way or bust, we get lots of people who rush that way and in the end, we end up with large quantity but low quality. Having teachers on study leave is not beneficial to the school system and the state in the end. I remember back when I was in school in Nigeria myself, we had teachers going for one thing or another. I spent majority of my semesters having to study on my own as most of the lecturers were absent for one reason or another. Now with this push, I assume more of the available lecturers will have to take leaves to deal with the deadline and in the end, the students get to suffer this Or are there back up lecturers to handle the vacuum that will be created by this rush to obtain a degree by 2009?

Its hard to fault the NUC. . . like you said, this policy has been in the pipeline since 1989, we all know our people, if you dont apply pressure no one takes government policy seriously. There are many phd holders who are more than capable of holding the forte.
Understandably most southern universities (at least government owned) wont have a problem in this regard as you need a masters degree AT LEAST before you can lecture. . . at best you are merely a graduate assistant.

The northern schools can always hire southern professors to cover their shortfall until they have enough qualified manpower. If this policy is not forced through we will be back here again in the next 20yrs.

The problem is not the plan to get more PhDs. That is definitely needed. The problem I see is that we are doing this again. Pushing people to get PhDs at all cost for them to keep their jobs. Many of these already can not make ends meet on the salary they have now. Telling them that in 2 years, if they do not get Phd's ( without offering them some good incentives to want to get the PhDs) to me is we going down the same old lane. You know Nigerians, we are a people willing to do what we have to do, many will do it the crooked way if it will get them to where they want to go. If the Nuc will at least for the first time offer incentive packages that will actually attract those who have a true passion for teaching, we might eliminate most of those who are just there to say they have a job in a better way. By Incentives, I mean research grants, living grants to help those who are willing to make the commitment and assurance that they will enjoy move up to better pay grade level with this. We have many more hungry people out there as lecturers. Infact, it is my experience that many of those who do have Phds now, do not have a passion for teaching at all but want to make money and they do so from both government and from the students. The Education system needs more people who are passionate about teaching and understand what is at stake. Not more people who are going to do it cause they feel it is the better way for them. You know what I mean. We need more people who want to and believe in educating our people for a better tommorow. Not more Zombies who just do it all, and I bet you, there are many who will endure 6 to 7 years just so they can get extra title and a better sit so they can suck up much more from the students to pay up for all they lost during the 6 to 7 years they commited to getting the PHD./ LMAO!!!

The NUC is only playing the "ostrich" and thats our major problem in Nigeria. The country does not have enough lecturers even if we use the Masters Degree + a good first degree as the basis for employment. Student/Lecturer ratio is just an absurdity and thats why the quality is an all time low.

otokx:

The NUC is only playing the "ostrich" and thats our major problem in Nigeria. The country does not have enough lecturers even if we use the Masters Degree + a good first degree as the basis for employment. Student/Lecturer ratio is just an absurdity and thats why the quality is an all time low.

Good point. This doesn't look like it should be rushed.

Here in Atlanta, most primary school principals (headmasters) and their deputies have PHD.

otokx:

The NUC is only playing the "ostrich" and thats our major problem in Nigeria. The country does not have enough lecturers even if we use the Masters Degree + a good first degree as the basis for employment. Student/Lecturer ratio is just an absurdity and thats why the quality is an all time low.

This is not the NUCs fault. Were are all our PHD holders? You guessed right, thanks to the bastardisation of the economy majority of them are now intellectual refugees in other nations who take development seriously.

Can the government introduce incentives to encourage Nigerian PhDs in the diaspora to move to Nigeria? I hope so.

I think it is a step in the right direction. However NUC should be more flexible with certain courses or faculties like Business where MBA can be used and Information Technology where its more a matter of projects handled and years of experience.

Lecturers too have to regularly go for government sponsored courses to enhance their delivery.

Our Universities have to be better equiped, most courses have archiac outlines that need re-organisation and change. We need our delivery moved from theory based to a largely implementable practical enviroment.

Merely requesting for the current corrupt system to possess another questionable paper certificate is not nearly enough.

RichyBlacK:

Can the government introduce incentives to encourage Nigerian PhDs in the diaspora to move to Nigeria? I hope so.

No thank you. Frankly speaking--my job as a yellow cab driver PHD holder in New York City--offers me more incentives and benefits than any PHD mess in Nigeria.

almondjoy:

No thank you. Frankly speaking--my job as a yellow cab driver PHD holder in New York City--offers me more incentives and benefits than any PHD mess in Nigeria.

LMAO!!!!

almondjoy:

No thank you. Frankly speaking--my job as a yellow cab driver PHD holder in New York City--offers me more incentives and benefits than any PHD mess in Nigeria.

Don't be too sure about that. There are some PhDs in Nigeria that will write a check to pay your 30-year home mortgage!

RichyBlacK:

Don't be too sure about that. There are some PhDs in Nigeria that will write a check to pay your 30-year home mortgage!

Beni!  Mo ti gbo!--Like Odili and Igbinedion abi Ibori sef.  All are PHD holders in corruption and money "washing" abi?   The kind of check that will bounce all over downtown Manhattan for insufficient funds as a result of freezing and defrosting stolen assets?  No thanks.  Some of us are way past that phase!

almondjoy:

Beni! Mo ti gbo!--Like Odili and Igbinedion abi Ibori sef. All are PHD holders in corruption and money "washing" abi? The kind of check that will bounce all over downtown Manhattan for insufficient funds as a result of freezing and defrosting stolen assets? No thanks. Some of us are way past that phase!

LMAO!!!!

almondjoy:

Beni!  Mo ti gbo!--Like Odili and Igbinedion abi Ibori sef.  All are PHD holders in corruption and money "washing" abi?   The kind of check that will bounce all over downtown Manhattan for insufficient funds as a result of freezing and defrosting stolen assets?  No thanks.  Some of us are way past that phase!

So, how will Nigeria progress if her PhDs (I don't mean the Odili, etc nonsense PhDs), don't come back to help the country? Aren't you concerned about Nigeria's development? PhDs, with their wealth of knowledge from top schools in the UK, Canada, the US, etc have a lot to offer developing nations like Nigeria.

RichyBlacK:

So, how will Nigeria progress if her PhDs (I don't mean the Odili, etc nonsense PhDs), don't come back to help the country? Aren't you concerned about Nigeria's development? PhDs, with their wealth of knowledge from top schools in the UK, Canada, the US, etc have a lot to offer developing nations like Nigeria.

This is a beautiful idea coming to think about.

However we need a condusive environment and the right incentives for these folks to return. If we can clean up our education system a little - curb corruption, pay salaries / allowances promptly and provide suitable accomodation I think we may convince them to do the honorable thing.

Also we need to invest in infrastructure in our universities (really in all our educational institutions.)

Very good idea indeed.

somze:

This is a beautiful idea coming to think about.

However we need a condusive environment and the right incentives for these folks to return. If we can clean up our education system a little - curb corruption, pay salaries / allowances promptly and provide suitable accomodation I think we may convince them to do the honorable thing.

Also we need to invest in infrastructure in our universities (really in all our educational institutions.)

Very good idea indeed.

@somze,

The right incentives have to be put in place. Many of them (PhDs, domain experts, doctors, etc) abroad long to come back to Nigeria but are discouraged by the nonchalance of the government.

Yes! keep waiting. I say we are coming!

almondjoy:

Yes! keep waiting. I say we are coming!

LMAO!!!