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DESPITE opposition by the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to what they described as proliferation of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, the Federal Government has revealed that the establishment of additional universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and allied institutions has led to massive job creation both in the public and private subsectors of the education sector.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who spoke while briefing newsmen in Abuja on reforms in the education sector, added that the creation of the tertiary institutions had led to provision of over 20,000 direct jobs made up of academic and non-academic staff.
A major grouse of ASUU against the Federal Government is the consistent establishment of new tertiary institutions, especially universities, which the ASUU president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, warned should not be “turned to constituency projects.”
The minister, however, noted that in line with the policy of the Federal Government that every state of the federation should have at least one federal university, polytechnic, and a college of education, for 2022, three new polytechnics were established bringing the total number to nine from 2020.
He added that the current administration had ensured that all the states of the federation now have a federal university and a polytechnic, with nine universities, nine polytechnics and six colleges of education established between 2018 to date.
Adamu further explained that at the inception of the current administration in 2015, Nigeria had 40 federal universities and additional nine universities had been established, bringing the total number of federal universities to 49.
“Similarly, we met a total of 39 state universities. We have licensed additional 16 universities, bringing the total number of the state universities to 55. Therefore, the total number of public universities (both federal and state) now stands at 104.
“In the same vein, we have licensed a total of 50 private universities. This is more than what any other administration has done in the history of Nigeria. As at 2014, the country had 49 private universities. The country now has 111 private universities. Put together, Nigeria now has a total of 215 universities, both public and private.
“In spite of these laudable efforts at ensuring unfettered access to university education, the challenges posed by illegal universities, ‘Degree Mills’ still persist. As I speak, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has identified approximately 70 illegal universities in the country. We will not rest on our oars in cracking down on illegal universities in the country,” Adamu stated.
On polytechnics and allied institutions, the Minister said as at 2014, Nigeria had 24 federal polytechnics, disclosing that the Buhari administration had established 12 more, bringing the total number of federal polytechnics to 36.
He said: “In the same vein, we had 41 state polytechnics as at 2014 and additional seven have been added, bringing the total number of state polytechnics to 48. We had seven private polytechnics as at 2014. This administration has licensed 41 private polytechnics, bringing the number of private polytechnics to 48.
“In terms of carrying capacity, the federal polytechnics had 60,800 as at 2014. Today, we have 63,700. The carrying capacity of state polytechnics stood at 52,480 in 2014. We have increased this to 60,880.
“At the inception of this administration, the country had 21 federal colleges of education. We have established additional six in the last six years, bringing the total to 27. The process of establishing nine more colleges of education has already commenced.
“We also inherited 46 state colleges of education in 2014. Between 2014 and now, we have 50 additional state colleges of education, bringing the total number of State colleges of education in the country to 96.
“In the same vein, we met 48 private colleges of education when we came in. As I speak, we have a total of 120 private colleges of education. In terms of carrying capacity, we have improved the carrying capacity of federal colleges of education from 39,350 in 2014 to 104,450 as at date.
“The carrying capacity of state Colleges of Education has moved from 153,490 in 2014 to 405,132. Put together, the carrying capacity of private and public Colleges of Education now stand at 509,582. I must add that capacity utilisation in some colleges of education has been on the low side.
“The challenges of illegal colleges of education are as profound as that of illegal universities. We have also identified an alarming number of illegal colleges of education totalling 125.
“The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) has written their proprietors to shut them down within a specific time frame, after which the appropriate measures will be applied,” Adamu said.
On Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Minister said one of the greatest achievements his administration has recorded in the education sector during the period under review, was the development and launching of the e-learning website for all levels of our educational system.
“I would like to use this opportunity to direct all regulatory agencies in the sector to ensure that all educational institutions under their supervision interface with the ICT Department of the Ministry to develop and deploy relevant content on the website.
“Apart from ease of access, this will also ensure that teaching and learning will continue seamlessly even in the face of a pandemic or future strikes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, disruption to learning was greatly reduced with the roll-out of three e-learning packages viz (a)Inspire for Learners (b) Ignite for Education and (c) Nigeria Learning Passport.
“Preliminary evidence from the release of this year’s West African School Certificate Results indicated that performance was better last year (2021) than 2022. Perhaps, this could be alluded to as a self-paced learning opportunity provided by digital learning,” he said.
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