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Concerns about the quality of education from part-time programmes university keep growing writes OBODO EJIRO

During the week, she works as a cashier at a new generation bank in Lagos while he works as a shopkeeper at a small shop in Abeokuta, but at weekends, they are classmates at the University of Lagos. This is how tertiary remedial or part-time programmes bring people together across Nigeria weekly.

The programmes give those who missed out on a regular university education the opportunity to make up while they continue to work. It is estimated that students in such programmes account for about 25 percent of Nigeria’s tertiary education population. In the last decade, the number has continued to grow.

For instance, at the University of Jos, the number rose by approximately 15 percent between 2011 and 2013. At the University of Lagos also, the number has buoyed over time given the school’s location and the opportunity its Distant Learning Institute offers HND holders who wish to become degree holders. This growth is not restricted to both schools as the scenario plays out in universities and polytechnics across the country.

“In most cases, part-time students are here to complete their education. When they are done, they get qualifications that land them better jobs or a promotion,” says a don at the Lagos State University, who chose anonymity. “Over the years, there have been many success stories in this regard,” he says. But for part-time students, this success comes at a high cost.

At the University of Lagos, while part-time BSc accounting students pay between N100,000 and N105,000 as school fees, full-time accounting students pay between N10,000 and N15,000. At the Yaba College of Technology, HND regular students at the medical laboratory science programme pay between N20,000 and N25,000 as school fees, part-time students pay as much as N60,000. This happens across most programmes, not just in both schools but across the country.

Over the years, since returns on part-time programmes have remained alluring, more universities and polytechnics operate them in one form or the other. Good returns have also meant that more students are enrolled in part-time programmes than full-time programmes.

There are about 820 students registered for the HND part-time medical laboratory science programme, at the Yaba College of Education, while the regular programme has less than 300 students. Those in the part-time OND business administration programme are almost 1,000, while regular students are much less. The school has tried to make learning easier by splitting most of their part-time classes into two learning groups, known as streams.

The proliferation of part-time programmes has even seen foreign universities open satellite campuses in Nigeria (mostly universities from Ghana). But these programmes have continued to raise concern.

Just two years ago, the National University Commission (NUC), the regulatory body that oversees tertiary education in Nigeria, ordered all universities offering part-time programmes to halt operations pending an audit. Standards had been compromised and nothing had been done to correct the problem at the time.

NUC cited a number of violations for its action. “… among other things, most of the part-time programmes have flouted a regulation that forbids them from operating satellite campuses farther than 14 kilometres from their main campuses,” Julius Okojie, NUC’s executive secretary, quarried then. But there were deeper shortcomings.

A number of schools offering part-time programmes ignored rules that bother on staff strength and qualifications, suitability of their students for particular courses and number of students enrolled into programmes. In response, 40 universities cleared their names at the time.

But two years later, there are still cases of clear violation. A case in point is the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, which operates from within the campus of the College of Education, Akoka, Lagos. The University of Winneba at Akoka, which claims to be the distance learning centre of the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, offers 20 bachelor degree courses, 20 masters’ degree courses (including MBA with four specialisations), eight post-graduate diplomas, all within the premises of the College of Education, Akoka.

“I wouldn’t advise you to do that programme,” says Akin Adeleye, a student of the College of Education, when he was asked for the description of the Winneba distance learning office. “You may end up wasting your time if you pursue that degree,” he says further. But this is not what prospective applicants are told at the office.

Attendants at the office, most of whom are in their mid 30s, claim the degree awarding institution is duly registered with the NUC. And this is not the only case of violations in the country.

Attempts to reach the NUC, either by phone or email for verification, were abortive. The emails were not replied, and one of the lines listed on the NUC sites even belongs to an individual who claims she knows nothing about the NUC.

The rules for those running part-time degrees are clear. Information on NUC site states that all admissions into part-time degree programmes must be through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). They must be run within approved campuses of universities where the human and material resources for teaching of the programmes are domiciled. For a programme to be eligible to run on part-time basis, according to the NUC, the approved full-time equivalent must be available in the university, and must have earned full accreditation. Also, the enrolment into part-time degree programmes must not exceed 20 percent of total students’ population in the programme.

But not all schools suffer the same peril as those at the College of Education, Winneba. Part-time students at the University of Lagos are quick to defend the quality of education they get.

According to Toyin Ahmed, a part-time student at the University of Lagos, “we are taught by the same set of lecturers as the full-time students. Our programmes often last a year longer, and we have intensive learning weeks to cover any gap, though we do not write the same exam as full-time students.”

This arrangement makes the University of Lagos and some other universities stand out, but certainly not all schools go the extra mile. There are plans at the University of Lagos to even move most of the learning activities of part-time students online; this is to make the programme fully reflect its status as a distant learning programme.

The extent to which quality education is delivered at a part-time programme therefore depends on the credibility and track record of the institution offering it and the aggressiveness of the NUC.

“But there is an even more uncontrollable trend which should bother universities and regulators in Nigeria,” says Ikechukwu Kelekume, a don at Pan Atlantic University. “… we should also concern ourselves with the growing trend of online degree awarding institutions. This trend is making it easy for schools to train students across borders with minimum regulation,” he says, saying “some of such schools are doing an excellent job, and have the capacity to reduce the number of students in our classrooms in the next 10 years.”

The prospect of regulating them remains a major concern. “Our schools should be ready for the competition which these online schools could unleash in the near future. Nigerian universities should make arrangement to catch up with this trend or risk having empty classrooms in the future,” he says further.

But while this remains a concern, the more immediate challenge of poorly managed part-time programmes remains a bigger concern for a country whose educational system has come under the strain of poor finance and overwhelming criticism.

OBODO EJIRO