I don’t think the intelligence level has increased – Abah
Steve Abah is a 1975 graduate of Drama at the ABU and a professor of Theatre for Development in the department of Theatre and Performing Arts, ABU. He has been teaching Drama and Theatre for Development since 1979.
Are you surprised at the rain of first class degrees in Nigeria?
I am shocked. I am wondering, has the intelligence level really increased, and I don’t think so. I don’t think the intelligence level has increased. For me,what it signifies is the absence of the rigour that charecterised academic practice in the past. There is no doubt that a lot of information is available to students now, through the internet,than was the case in our own time,but also what I notice is that the level of interrogation ,the level of rigour has dropped dramatically,and if that is the case why are there so many people graduating with first class and I can think of two reasons. The battle of universities being ranked ,the battle of ranking. I think it’s part of the ranking gimmick. Whether that really helps anybodys ranking I don’t know, but somehow I think that is a factor. The other thing is the private universities in the country. By 1978/1979 there was hardly any private university in the country. Infact,state universities were hardly there. It was mostly federal universities and the number of spaces available in the federal institutions were limited ,and it was the best of the best that will be admitted. So,quality students were admitted. The kind of cheating
and examination malpractices we are hearing of now,is very much like fiction to me. Academic practice was a joyful practice. It wasn’t stress. There is a deluge of students coming into the university,and a lot of the private institutions like that deluge, because they want to make money, and because they want to make money, they must have a huge category of them saying they have first class, so people will struggle to go to that institution This is in no way to denigrate private institutions. Some are real good quality institutions. But a whole lot of others are mushroom universities,and they will do anything to have visibility, and I think first class is one of their visibility instruments.
What’s the way forward?
What is the quality control that NUC and the ministry of education are exercising, and I think that’s where the way forward lies. Quality control should begin with the number of universities you are approving. This also has to do with the education policy of the country. I think we have lost it because every single young person graduating from secondary school is primed to enter university, and that is wrong. A good number of them are not university materials, but the educational system in this country has provided no alternative. Therefore, everybody is enroute the university. If you take a look around ,and see the huge number of candidates who are trying to register for JAMB, it tells you the crises we are facing. ABU for instance, will not admit beyond 7,000 maximum, but every year we get 45,000 people applying to ABU as first choice of institution. That tells you there is a crises. It is a policy issue. Therefore,the way forward begins with the policy issue, to design a different kind of education structure. Next is the oversight or quality control function,and it falls squarely with the ministry of education and the NUC. The NUC is a quality control entity, as well as a an approving institution, because before any private university is established ,you must go through the NUC,as well as the ministry of education. These two institutions look at whether the universities are able to provide the necessary infrastructure, to provide the necessary human resource, and also to be able to interlink their institutions with other institutions outside of this country.