Private institutions need ETF’s support - Olukuwade

Mr. David Olu Kuwade, Registrar,
Crown PolyThe registrar, Crown Polytechnic, Odo, Ado-Ekiti, Mr. David Olusegun Olukuwade, in this interview with Gbenga Olumide, speaks extensively on why students from Nigerian higher institutions come out half-baked and what the polytechnic education stands for. Excerpts:

What do you intend to introduce into the polytechnic education in Nigeria to improve it?
Incidentally, polytechnic education is entrepreneurial; the purpose is to impart knowledge and skills into students, that’s why it is different from conventional universities. We want to emphasise this entrepreneurial aspect, we are going to make our students undergo practical training intensively. For instance, Electrical/Electronics Department, we make sure that they do the practicals on their own, we give them projects, we supervise them and so on, so as to enable them to acquire the skills, not just the theoretical knowledge, so, that’s where we want to be different, we want to distinguish ourselves in that area.

What are the challenges facing tertiary education in Nigeria and what is the way out?
The challenges are numerous; there is under-funding, there is mismanagement, we have corruption, there is cultism, there is examination malpractice and all that, there are many challenges. I think the way forward calls for the collective effort of the government, all the stakeholders, the authorities of institutions and then the student bodies, we all have to work together to resolve this; government should play its part. I mean, if you have an institution, please make sure that the institution is adequately funded to enable the students to achieve the purpose of going there. Now, the authorities who are entrusted with the management of the institutions should understand their responsibilities, thereby, discharge their duties creditably very well.

As for the students, we realise a lot of rascality in them now, what we do is to ensure that there must be proper supervision of the students by the authorities. Authorities should make sure they supervise these students and monitor their activities. One way of eliminating cultism is to make provision for social activities, let them be involved in games: indoor and outdoor games and other social activities. This would take their minds away from planning this secret things. It is when the mind is not engaged that you think of the alternatives, that’s why they get into secret cults. So, they should emphasise sporting activities in the institutions. Here, we really plan to have a standard sports centre for football, table tennis, basketball and so on and so forth, so that our students will not be idle and fall prey to cultism and the likes.

How do you want the government to assist the private institutions in Nigeria?
Well, we have ETF. It is a creation of the law, federal law. The Federal government is the father of all the governments in this country; the government too is responsible to the people. If we have entrepreneurs, who now establish private institutions, there is no need to discriminate against them, since all of us are under the care of the government. So, government should allow ETF to participate in the development of private institutions that is my recommendation. They are also playing significant role. They are aiding government in providing education, skills, and employment, can you see all that? These are the roles they play, so government should encourage them. Let ETF help them to grow to develop their programmes.

What would you say about the authorities’ polytechnic curriculum?
The polytechnic curriculum is unique. It is tailored towards technological development because of the emphasis on skills. You see, when you acquire skills; that’s what we call applied knowledge, that’s technology. So, polytechnic education encourages technology, it’s not just theoretical, not only acquiring this intellectual pursuit, you are also made to make use of your hands, and that’s what we need. In overseas, people who are in the civil service, in the white collar job get paid less compared to those who are skilled working outside the civil service. They get more because the emphasis is placed on the skills which you have.

So, polytechnic education, to me, is more relevant to developing countries, because the problem of developing countries is lack of technology, and we are trying. They say we should try technology, they should transfer technology, these people are reluctant, so all we need to do is to ensure that programmes are directed towards acquisition of technology, that’s how it is, and polytechnic offers that opportunity.

The quality of products of higher institutions in Nigeria has become a serious issue in the labour market, what’s your comment?
It is a very disturbing situation. The reason is that, the school system has broken down. Nobody keeps to the academic calendar, at the end of the day, courses are rushed by the lecturers and there is no time for students to thoroughly imbibe this knowledge. Therefore, they come out half-baked. Periodically, the institutions are shut down and the students themselves while away the time in cultism, so the totality of all these is the type of thing we have, the products are not of high quality. Therefore, they can’t make it in the industry, which is the problem we have.

So, government must make sure that the normal academic calendar is sustained and teaching is taken seriously and the students are thoroughly examined, that is why we have what we call this continual assessment test, which is very helpful. We should not rely on the terminal semester examination and so on. So, all these are recipes to improve the quality and reduce the quantity, reduce examinations malpractices; some are not prepared, they then come and begin to cheat to pass the exams. The teachers themselves should avoid corruption, don’t award marks, some of them just award marks; because of selfish reasons, when they fall in love with female students, then they award marks. They help to produce half-baked graduates. There must be discipline in the system, the teachers must be disciplined, they must assess these students objectively, and they should make sure they teach them very well so that they can do well in their exams. If they are hardly taught, they will not perform, then at the end of the day they will push them out. What is the purpose? The whole thing is very disturbing.

Assuming you are appointed the minister of education in this country, how will you manage the ministry?
As minister of education, I will make sure that the school system is reorganised, the stakeholders must undergo orientation. The curriculum will be reviewed, and then the teachers will undergo periodic seminars. All these are the programmes that will be introduced. There have to be seminars for the teachers from time to time, the inspectors will do their job, they make sure that those teachers perform their duties. The policy would be brought under review from time to time. We have to look out and see what’s going on in other countries. If there is any new development, we will incorporate it into our own system right away. So, there will be thorough supervision in the system; there will be discipline in the system.