By DAYO ADESULU

Professor Timothy Oyebode Olagbemiro is the Vice- Chancellor of Bowen University and the  Chairman, Committee of Vice Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities. In this interview,  he speaks on the education sector and the need to improve the system.

Olagbemiro amongst others, stated that university administrators are to face the core business of producing quality and competent undergraduates rather than distracting university education with part-time programmes. Excerpts:

What measures do you suggest as the way forward for education in Nigeria?
The truth is that the base of the students is weak and something concrete should be done to improve the quality of undergraduate education. The Higher School Certificate (HSC) programme is one veritable area to achieve this objective and it should be introduced to revamp the education sector. Students offering Medicine should obtain first degree in science to prepare them before they can now get to the medical school and get matured to become good doctors in Nigeria.

A lot still needs to be done in terms of policy for our educational system. There is the need for us to change a lot of things concerning our educational system. Students secure admission into the university without the commensurate experience and maturity. Students should pass through the HSC programme which is very tough, before gaining university admission. The system also needs more teachers even as more universities are required.

Bowen VC, Olagbemiro

University administrators should face the core business of producing quality and competent undergraduates rather than distracting university education with part-time programmes. The HSC programme should be encouraged in the Nigerian system of education because I observed that students’ base is weak thereby informing their not being fully prepared for university education. Students are not fully matured to effectively go through the university education unlike the HSC system whereby students undertake the advanced level educational programme in preparation for university education.

Higher institutions like University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Nigeria Nsukka and the University of Benin should be focused on training students for post-graduate programmes that should be well funded. This should be the role of the older universities in order to enhance the quality of education in the country.

What is the niche of Bowen University that stands it out from others?
Bowen is a faith-based university, instilling the fear of God in students. It is a beacon of hope to the students and we inculcate Godliness in our curriculum. The focus of the school is to combine academic excellence with godliness and that is the main reason students are trained to be godly and upright.

The attitude of leadership is also one key area that Bowen University focuses on to develop sound moral doctrines in the students. Parents have observed the unquantifiable role of the school in remolding and shaping the lives of the students beyond academic development.

Bowen University recently obtained approval for its College of Medicine, thus becoming the first private university to have a full fledged teaching hospital to support its MBBS programme. The Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomosho has been restructured and developed to provide the necessary support services for the college of medicine programme.

What in your opinion, should be done to enhance the quality of education in the country?
There should be a way to checkmate the increasing rate of students’ population which does not match the facilities on ground. For example, in Bowen,  we have decided not to exceed 5,000 to keep Christian values and godly excellence. Students should be able to learn under comfortable and habitable learning environment.

When we say the students are leaders of tomorrow, we should be able to provide quality education for them in an atmosphere devoid of distractions and evils. I want to see a situation whereby students have a sense of ease in the academic environment. This has great impact on their mental state. Students should have well equipped libraries and access to basic facilities.

When all these are done, the quality of the teaching process is enhanced and this will ultimately reflect in the students. Another area that can enhance quality of education is the abolition of part-time programmes which are not necessary. The core business of the university is undergraduates and looking at the university, the system cannot run full-time and part- time degrees together.

Hence, it is more important for the university to face its core business which is the undergraduates. It is important for university administrators to focus on quality education and not quantity. A university should have reached an advanced stage before focusing on awarding diplomas.

My university in the US never exceeded 3,000 in terms of population and the university has been in existence for several decades. I am the Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities and I have made my points known to my colleagues. They all agreed that part-time degrees are not necessary because universities that cannot run full-time programmes are running part-time programmes. We should face what we have to do and that is undergraduate education.

The university just obtained accreditation for its College of Medicine programme. How did you achieve this?
The accreditation is an indication that the university is worthy of the recognition and it means the university is fully prepared in terms of facility and the manpower. On  our own part, we endeavoured to fulfill all the conditions and guidelines set by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

The accreditation comes from both the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). They visited the teaching hospital and gave us the exact specifications of facilities and manpower needed to obtain the approval and we complied within five months after the two earlier visits. In all, it took us a year to secure the accreditation which would have taken others longer.

The university has embarked on investment through infrastructure development and provision of facilities at Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), formerly known as Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomosho. For us too, we are not resting on our oars to sustain the accreditation through upgrading of facilities and maintaining the hospital to a world class standard.

What are you doing to maintain academic standard in your institution and how can other universities maintain academic standard?

The basic thing is that each university should have a system in place to ensure a continuous monitoring and ensuring adherence to professional and academic standards. It is not only to have policy but there should be continuous monitoring and enforcement.

For us at Bowen, we established the Protocol and Courtesy Unit in the university. The group adds value to the university by ensuring that the vision and philosophy of the university are maintained. The group maintains law and order in the university and ensures proper dressing, comportment and etiquette amongst students and staff.

We also have the monitoring group with members who are doctorate degree holders. This group sees to examinations and quality of teaching in the university and they are referred to as the Quality Assurance Group. The quality of teaching and adherence to standards are evaluated in line with the vision of the university.