Plans scholarship for foreign students
Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said it has discovered why African universities could not be found in the list of global best institutions.
It insisted that until the points are addressed, African universities would continue to produce low quality graduates that would obviously not be able to defend their certificates in a global competition.
Its spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said in a statement released, in Abuja, on Sunday, that JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, listed the points in a paper he presented at a conference of West Africa Universities held in Senegal.
Oloyede listed differences in education system in the region, weaker internal assessment mechanism, superficial external quality assurance system, lack of uniformity in accreditation agencies autonomy, proliferation of institutions, as being few factors responsible for poor quality and weak education system.
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He challenged participants at the conference to critically deliberate on the aforementioned issues and possibly offer superior suggestions that would herald significant transformation in African education system.
Oloyede took the opportunity to share the University of Ilorin (UNIILORIN) experience, where he claimed a deliberate effort was made to offer admission opportunities to eligible students from neighboring West African countries.
He, thus, challenged African universities to develop appropriate policies, mechanisms and structures that would streamline and strengthen current efforts to ensure quality, relevance and excellence in African Universities research and education network.
He was equally convinced that quality and stronger academic programmes would attract foreign students and also ensure that a certain quarter of their admission space is set aside for international students.
Daily Sun was informed that JAMB has concluded plans to offer scholarship to foreign students with outstanding academic performance in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), and are interested in schooling in Nigeria.