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Monday, January
10, 2022 / 09:12 AM / by FDC Ltd / Header Image Credit: Irish Times
Nigeria is home to one of the world's most youthful
populations - 14th largest in the world.1 As a result, there is a high number
of university applicants. In 2020, a total of 1,949,983 people applied to
universities across the country via the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board
(JAMB) entrance tests, this is 17.27% above what was recorded in the previous
year. Noteworthy is the fact that JAMB is currently trying to clear a backlog
of 706,189 illegal admissions. Higher education not only enhances the living
standards of individuals through access to better-paid jobs, it also has the
potential to increase productivity and enhance economic growth through research
and innovation. Despite a significant demand for higher education in Nigeria,
it remains underfunded – impeding the education system in its function as a
growth catalyst.
Failure of the current
model
The government, which relies on the performance of the
oil sector, is a key player in the funding of education in Nigeria. It is no
news that Nigeria is an oil-exporting economy and its earnings are mostly
dependent on the performance of the oil sector. The oil sector contributes over
65% of the government's total revenue.2 The drawback with this revenue model is
that oil earnings, on which the government is strongly reliant, is very
vulnerable to volatilities in the global oil market.
The recent emergence of the Omicron variant of
COVID-19 sent oil prices plunging 20.85% to $67.28pb from a peak of $85pb. In
Q3'21, the oil sector's contribution to GDP fell 1.24% to 7.49% from 8.73% in
2020 due to lower oil production.3 In addition to lower oil earnings, volatile exchange
rates, an expanding debt service burden, a growing population of students in
all educational institutions and the rising cost of state administrations, have
also hindered the government from meeting its financial obligations
satisfactorily. This has resulted in ongoing squabbles between the government
and the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria (ASUU) over ways of
improving the country's deteriorating education infrastructure, teaching, and
research standards, as well as saving the higher education system from
collapsing.
Underfunding education -
How bad can it get?
Insufficient financing has negatively impacted the
quality of Nigerian higher education. Schools have been deprived of facilities
and infrastructure that should have aided research, innovation, and capacity
building. A grossly distorted incentive system manifests in diverse ways like
the monthly salary of a Federal University Professor being as low as N400,000,
which is less than $1,000. In addition, these salaries are often delayed,
further fueling brain drain. In the year 2020, Nigerian students lost nine
months of their academic year due to strike actions by ASUU as lecturers went
unpaid for upwards of six months.
The lack of funding has also forced students to
shoulder additional costs. Students now need to purchase textbooks that were
once available in the library. The increased financial pressure puts undue
stress on students who are already grappling with constant blackouts, poor
internet access and other infrastructure deficiencies, which impair academic
performance. This has necessitated students to opt to travel to other countries
to continue their education. As a result, Nigeria is dealing with brain drain
at the student level as well.
Acknowledging that the government has fallen short of
expectations in terms of funding education in Nigeria, is the first step to
resolving this debacle. In the last decade, Nigeria has averaged approximately
8.09% for its education allocation. This is a far cry from the 26% benchmark
recommended by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
Given
that higher education in Nigeria has remained deficient in terms of quality,
accessibility, and funding, finding other sources becomes imperative.
University administrators and direct beneficiaries must devise more aggressive
and effective tactics for adequate university funding. Recommended strategies
to supplement funding higher education in Nigeria include the following:
Internally
generated revenue: Improving the internally generated revenue of universities
can potentially increase the viability of the institution's management. It also
helps reduce the heavy dependence on the government. Some of the ways through
which this can be done is reintroducing moderate tuition, commercializing
research work and undertaking consultancy services.
Public-private
partnership (PPP): PPPs involve the collaboration between the government and
the private sector in the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective higher
education. The United Kingdom introduced their private finance initiatives with
the primary purpose of constructing and remodeling schools through leasing
agreements and thus, established the Academy Sponsors Trust to acquire private
sponsorship.
Many
institutions in the United States get considerable funding through competitive
grants. As a premier university, Harvard University, for example, earns 30% of
its revenue from tuition, 10% from private contributions, and 60% from projects.
Bringing it home
Nigerian
banks can lend a hand by building libraries and funding research initiatives.
Fintech companies can collaborate with universities by donating information and
communication technology (ICT) facilities. Private companies can also build
hostels, facilitate scholarships, donate textbooks and other learning aids.
Conclusion
The
insufficient funding cycle is a toxic one. Poor funding demoralizes staff,
which leads to strikes, and cohort upon cohort of students losing years of
their peak employable years. The product of a poorly funded educational system
is an economy that suffers due to the production of weak intellectuals, who are
not equipped with the critical thinking and hard and soft skills needed to be
productive and innovative members of the workplace. As a result, the workplace
and ultimately, the economy suffers. This is the reality Nigeria faces. It is
imperative that school administrators and other stakeholders seek alternate
sources of funding in order to achieve the economic development Nigerians
desire.
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