Prof. Kunle Oloyede, A Distinguished Academic And Researcher Is The Vice-Chancellor Of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State. He Speaks With BABATOPE OKEOWO On The Fallen Education Standard, Rivalry Between Private And Public Universities, And How To Source For Research Grants, Among Other Germane Issues.
What do you think is responsible for the low standard of education in the country?
Well, my opinion about the entire scenario of the education sector is that the country has lost track of global development in higher education. There was a time in the country when universities were practically for an exclusive group of people, especially most of the people, who are in education system today.
But presently, it is mass education for mass of students. The transition from the exclusive group that had quite detailed education and can compete across the world could today be compared to the technological driven society.
It does not matter where you are or may be, technology will definitely play its part, especially now that we have the World Wide Web. You have to be part of it. So, if you do not recognise the pace at which these things are changing and moving, it is very difficult to understand where you ought to be. So, given that situation and the pace at which we should be developing, there is the urgent need for us to keep on changing our curriculum.
No Nigerian university is ranked among the best 1,000 you in the world. What would say is responsible for this?
This is a sad development. But, for instance, whenever we mention something along the line of universities’ ranking, most of the academics do not get it to hear about it. There are a small number of them that really appreciate the role of university ranking in the growth and development of the university system.
But the majority, I will say over 90 per cent of academics in this country do not still get the fact that university ranking is a critical aspect of the university business. No Nigerian university is in the first 600 universities in the world. I think recently you got some of our universities coming in around 650 out of about 22,000 universities ranked in the world.
What do you think is the way out?
First and foremost, the tax payers and the government should be very active in driving the agenda of the university system. One of the challenges in this country is that we have in the universities Governing Councils that are not really professionals in the area of education. They are not driving the agenda of universities.
Instead of giving the vice-chancellors and principal officers of the universities responsibilities of what they want from them and that if they failed to get there, then they are all out. It is as simple as that and we have to do that.
Let the councils put the vice-chancellors and the management on their toes and not to witch-hunt anyone. Let them assure them that they are not going to be on their path, but if they do not achieve what the councils want, they should be sent out. We will not change things until we get what we want as a nation.
Are you speaking from experience or you are merely giving suggestions?
For instance, between 2007 and 2008 in Australia where I was living the government asked why there was no Australian university among the top 100 universities in the world. The Australian Government directed that it wanted Australian universities to be among the best 100 universities in the world.
That country has about 40 universities. Today, in less than 10 years, we have more than six of the Australian universities among the top 100 in the world. This is a population of 25 million people and about 25 of its universities are ranked among the top 400 universities in the world.
That is to tell you the role of a proactive leadership counts. The government makes a pronouncement that it will fund the universities well because they represent the tax payers, who expect and need more from the university system. If we want to achieve this, we must recognise the fact that government through the councils should pass this down to the university management
You just said many academics aspiring to be Vice-chancellors are not fit. Why saying so?
Look at their academic record in terms of what they have done to attain their professorship and what they are doing since they became professors. The role of the National Universities Commission (NUC) is not encouraging in this area. NUC dictated to the universities that they must have so so number of Professors; 20 per cent this, 30 per cent this and 45 per cent that.
No, this is not right because you are being forced to produce Professors, Associate Professors or Readers and so on out of those who have not attained that level of role. They got there without the required level of academic attainment and the required level to sustain them in that position since attaining a level of a Professor is not a child play.
It has enormous responsibilities because they are supposed to lead especially in research. More importantly, the world ranking of universities has a lot to do with this. You are to lead research process and this is where you are supposed to have the freedom to profess and to engage in high level of cutting-edge research. If one does not have that and believes that when he becomes a Professor, his job is administrative, then he has got it wrong and will have a problem.
But, what is Elizade University doing to achieve this?
Well, at the Elizade University, at least during my administration, we will put in place what I will call, “real professors doing real professorial work, and leading the university agenda.” We want to have professors who can innovate in learning and teaching. We want to have professors and academics, who are globally aware and know what is going on around the world.
What innovations have you brought on board?
When I resumed at Elizade University, I looked into the engineering curriculum, and I discovered it was completely devoid of new age engineering characteristics curriculum. For instance, engineering has got to a level where the required level of technicalities and innovation is beyond pen and pencil calculations. There is lot of computational work that is being done. It does not mean you do not teach students theory and things like that, but what we need to do in this country goes beyond mere pen or pencil and paper.
Most stakeholders perceived private university as business, do you share their views?
In Nigeria there is this thing about private university that it is a business and they want to distinguish it from public university or higher education system. Whether private or public, university is a business, but a different type of business.
It is not business that you actually make profit or make money. It is a business because are serving the clients. You have stakeholders you are serving and people who have investment in the existence of that university. There is the government and the general public as well as the future of so many young boys and girls in your hand.
So, universities are a type of business, but a different type of business that must be run in that way. Private universities are educating the younger ones who are the future of the country. We are all in the business of educating the custodian of Nigeria’s future.
That is exactly what we are doing. Distinguishing between private and public universities is only a matter of who funds the university. It is not what they do but the context of what they do in facilitating the future of the country and it does not matter whether it is private or public.
The government should have specific interest in this. The government is the supreme custodian of the future of this country. It is in partnership with the people of the country who are sending their children and relatives to the universities.
So, we are all in the same business of guaranteeing a sustainable future for the country. In that context, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) should be available to all universities and we should all be allowed to compete for it.
Lastly, I will add that, there is this belief that the proprietors of private universities can fund the universities because they are so rich and that they are going to make profit. Let me emphasise here that there is no single individual that can singlehandedly fund a worldclass university. It is just not possible. It demands and requires so many resources for one to do that.