What Do You Think about NUC’s Suspension of all Part-Time Programmes & Satellite Campuses in Nigerian Universities?

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, said the suspension of the Part- Time programmes was to enable the regulatory body “streamline” them.

He said the work of the universities’ regulatory body was becoming more difficult because of the “products of the system” and urged the institutions to cooperate with the NUC to evolve a more focused and credible system.

“For now all part time programmes have been suspended. We are going to streamline them.

“No university should have more than 20 per cent of their student population on part-time with excess capacity to teach.

“All part time programmes must be located on campus. We do not want satellite campuses anymore,’’ he said.

The Executive Secretary said henceforth, Universities must score over 70 per cent in all areas of assessment, including the provision of library facilities before it would be accredited.

“But if your library facilities are poor or sub standard, even if you score over 70 per cent, you will not be considered fit enough for accreditation,’’ he stated.

Currently, there should be thousands of students running several Part-Time courses in Nigerian Universities. However, the programmes have been fraught with several problems across the country.

In Lagos State University for example, an institution which has the highest number of satellite campuses and Part-Time courses in Lagos, hundreds of their students for several years haven’t graduated from the University.

The students complain that they complete their studies and do not get their certificates, do not graduate from the University, and find it hard convincing employers that they have actually completed their courses.

In some satellite campuses, especially those operating in states other than where the main campus of the institution is, the system is fraught with sub-standard lecturers, poor infrastructure, unstable academic calendar and more.

However, these programmes cater for a large percentage of the population of students who can’t gain admission to study Full-Time courses in the Universities. Also, it allows for flexible lecture periods for workers and business owners who want to get a University degree.

Considering its pros and cons, do you think the NUC was right in suspending all Part-Time courses? What do you think about the suspension? What options do the Part-Time students have now?

Please share your thoughts.

News Source: NAN