By Amaka Abayomi

THE German Consul-General in Lagos, Mr Ingo Herbert, has attributed the high quality of education in German universities to the collaboration between the varsities and companies in areas of research and trainings, adding that for any country to attain accelerated development and growth, it must invest massively in the education of its citizens.

Speaking at the launch of SJJ Education, an education consultancy firm for students seeking admission into German varsities, Herbert said Germany is the third country, after UK and USA, with the highest number of foreign students, a fact he hinged on its free education policy.

Political decision

His words “Education in Germany if free, from primary to tertiary level, and this is as a result of a political decision taken a few years back, and this applies to Germans and foreigners. German higher education is based on several sections such as the classic varsities, technical varsities which deals with engineering and technological courses and this section alone has 25% of its students as foreigners.

“On the other hand, the applied sciences varsities work closely with companies to meet their needs. In general, the German education system combines teaching and research, and quite often, these researches are funded by companies.”

Urging Nigerian leaders to intensify efforts in equipping the teeming youths with quality education at all levels, the Consul-General said the German government took the step to completely scrap tuition fees in all public varsities, and with this arrangement, in 2014, 300,000 of the 2.7 million varsity students were foreigners.

Pointing out that SJJ Education’s main objective was to create more awareness on its activities and opportunities that abound in German varsities, its Chairman, Mr. Saturday Jackson, said over 200 Nigerians have benefited from its services.

He said “We act as a bridge between German varsities and Nigerian students by screening these candidates for these varsities. Our job is to package all the education needs and travel requirements for students who genuinely show interest in studying in Germany.

“As Germany opens up to international students, many of her institutions now offer courses and programmes entirely in English language. This means Nigerian students can take up Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, as well as PhDs and Research Fellowships without a prior study on German language.”