The Nigerian government has taken steps to enhance access to and the quality of higher education. This includes opening up opportunities for foreign institutions to participate in delivering and expanding university education within the country.
The Nigerian government has taken steps to enhance access to and the quality of higher education. This includes opening up opportunities for foreign institutions to participate in delivering and expanding university education within the country.
The federal government of Nigeria has received applications from at least 270 universities seeking a license to operate in the country, according to Dr. Chris Maiyaki, executive secretary of the National Universities Commission.
Nigeria opening to transnational education
Maiyaki emphasized that the Nigerian government has taken steps to enhance access and quality in higher education. This includes opening up opportunities for foreign institutions to participate and play a role in delivering and expanding university education within the country.
“We recently consummated our guidelines on transnational education under, which foreign universities are now at liberty to come and contribute and be active layer in providing and expanding access to university education,” he said.
Facilitating globalized partnerships
He also highlighted that this initiative aligns with the globalized nature of education and the need for universities to showcase international attributes in their operations.
The executive secretary mentioned that despite having 270 universities in the country and ongoing efforts to expand, the commission has received over 270 applications for new private universities. He emphasized the necessity to embrace transnational education and highlighted the diverse models and guidelines that govern this process.
Empowering Academia
Maiyaki stressed an aggressive postgraduate development policy aimed at enhancing doctoral training for staff and providing opportunities for them to enhance their pedagogical skills, crucial to adapting to the continuously expanding higher education landscape.
During the workshop, Chikodi Onyemerela, the British Council Director of Programmes, highlighted the workshop’s objective, focusing on enhancing collaboration between the Nigerian and UK university systems to bolster quality, pedagogy, research cooperation, and various components to ultimately enhance educational outcomes.
He emphasized the need for Nigerian university systems, as well as university systems globally, to benchmark their practices in areas like curriculum, pedagogy, research output, and processes against global standards. This, he emphasized, is crucial to ensure competitiveness at a national level given the current global landscape of competition and opportunities.
“Transnational education has increasingly become a crucial component of higher education, as globalisation and digital technologies have made it simpler for institutions to operate across borders.” Onyemerela added.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof Tanko Ishaya, expressed satisfaction with the timely introduction of various transnational education models by the NUC. He emphasized the academia’s enthusiasm for these models, particularly those from the UK, to align and complement existing systems in Nigeria.
Fostering innovation
The Vice Chancellor of Azman University, Kano, Prof Fatima Batul Mukhtar, highlighted the benefits of transnational education, particularly how it can enhance the university system. She emphasized that their university offers unique programs, like Aviation, which are not available in other Nigerian universities, positioning them as pioneers in these domains.
She further explained that they are actively engaging with a UK university to collaborate on online teaching for these specialized courses. This underlines the significance of transnational education programs for her institution, especially in terms of accessing expertise from abroad to enhance the academic offerings.
Labor migration and recruitment
In a recent stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, the Human Capital Providers Association of Nigeria emphasized the need to bolster international recruiters’ involvement in labor migration and recruitment practices. Dr. Olufemi Ogunlowo, the President of HuCaPAN, led the discussion, highlighting both progress and concerns within the industry.
