Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has urged Nigerian universities to address the over 75 percent shortfall in university admissions in the country.
He made the call yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with vice chancellors of Nigerian universities.
As part of these reforms, the minister has mandated all institutions to implement hybrid learning models by 2025, urging universities to prioritise specialised education programmes to bridge the growing skills gap in the workforce.
He said every year, around two million people apply to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for admission to universities, polytechnics, or colleges of education, but only about 330,000 are admitted, resulting in an admission rate of 22-25%.
He said this leaves a significant number of applicants, around 75 percent without access to higher education.
“So what happens to those 65%, actually 75%, year over year? The government has built universities across the country. We have invested a lot of money in building infrastructure which is meant to be for students. So we shouldn’t be limiting the number of people we admit to our universities based on available accommodation.
“And if you want to provide accommodation for your students, you can go negotiate with private builders out of the university within a certain mileage of the university. That’s one side of the pie,” he said.
The minister stressed that universities must embrace modern technology, particularly hybrid learning, to address these issues, stating that by the end of the year, all universities must implement Anthology Blackboard.
“You need to embrace modern technology. I should not be telling you this. This is what you should be doing. Now, I asked TETFund to present to you yesterday. Every one of you must start using Anthology Blackboard before the end of this year.
“That is one of the best technologies that we have now. That will help you with your hybrid classes. I know there might be some training involved.
“We will talk to TETFund to provide how you adopt it. You have to start adopting hybrid classes. More so with the folks from the North. We talk about security. Students can’t come to school, you should be the one, that should have been your solution to keep your students.
“If you can enrol, take your classes. We are developed. This is the modern society. This is what they are using. We cannot just stay and continue. This current is not working. We can’t afford to continue what we are doing now, please. This is not a talk show. You would have to implement this.”
