Sodiq Oyeleke
The National Universities Commission has urged all nigerian universities and higher institutions to adopt innovative learning methods.
According to the commission, research has established an interrelationship between higher education, individual and national development.
It said any country wanting development must give commitment and attention to higher education and university education in general.
Higher education, the commission said, was beyond getting a degree or preparing students for employment but preparing them to become problem solvers and great thinkers.
The Director, Open and Distance Education, National University Commission, Dr. Olamide Adesina, said this at the first annual lecture series of the University of Lagos Distance Learning Institute Students' Association (DLISA) held recently in Akoka.
Speaking on the topic, 'Open Distance Education: A Panacea in a Recessive Economy', Adesina cautioned that wastes should be avoided by higher institutions.
She said, "University education is beyond getting a degree or preparing students for employment. Rather, it should broaden students' mind and horizon, empowering them to discern connections, effectively analyse problems and exhibit creative understanding.
"These attributes must be in the kitty of those who turns the fortunes of the hope of a nation's development around.
"The higher the number of individuals who possess these abilities, the greater is the hope that there will be development.
"In a recession, wastage cannot be an option. Attention should be given to programmes that can bring about economic turnaround. Authentic entrepreneurship need be taught, so also should anti corruption be mainstreamed into the programmes of the entire universities.
"The same ODL mode could be employed to teach security, conflict resolution, indeed to address many of the national ills that make our society unsustainable and threaten our very existence. They should adopt innovative learning methods that will bring the issues home to learners."
In his address, the UNILAG's Director, of Distance Learning Institute, Prof. Olukayode Amund, called for more efforts to open and distance education.
He said, "In the past one and the half years, Nigerians seems to know economic recession by the experience of their living standards than by textbook definition of the concept.
"It is therefore imperative to put more impetus to open and distance education as it has been considered to have a strong correlation with social and economic development. After all, a society of literate and skilled citizens has a greater chances of development at the economic and social level."
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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