When Folashade (Shade) considered studying abroad a number of thoughts crossed her mind. Her older sister, Funmilayo (Funmi) has just been awarded a Master’s degree in African Studies from the University of Oxford, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Funmi narrated her experiences at Oxford, which made Shade dream of studying either at university/college in the United Kingdom or the United States of America (USA). She opted for the USA because of the entrepreneurial flair that goes with USA education. Above all international education improves world peace because student to student interaction is the best form of international diplomacy.
Some of the Oxford experiences Funmi narrated to Shade were about student-teacher relationship, access to top-notch research facilities, opportunity to challenge and be challenged by school mates. It is worthwhile to zoom into each component of the experience outlined above. On student-teacher relationship Shade was excited about the fact that her teachers not only taught her with dedication and were humble, they were always available even at some odd hours to respond to the many questions she wanted answered. This is quite unlike the typical experience reported by 80 percent of students on Nigerian university campuses, where some lecturers assume students should beholding to them.
In fact, Shade was shocked that Funmi’s lecturers at the University of Oxford were available to respond to her questions, because Shade’s experience at one of the first generation Federal Universities in Nigeria has been unpleasant. Most of the lecturers did not care about the students and some consciously fought to make sure brilliant students did not excel for some awkward reasons.
Two more factors, top-notch research facilities and opportunity to challenge and be challenged by peers made Shade’s Oxford experience significantly different from what is available in a typical Nigerian university; besides employers in Nigeria prefer candidates with foreign degrees according a Philips Consulting survey. In addition, infrastructure on most Nigerian university campuses is decaying and overburdened.
According to Peter Okebukola, former National Universities Commission (NUC) boss and Chairman of the governing board at Crawford University in Ogun State, “it is estimated that about 1.5 million candidates participate in the Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually, and less than 25 percent of this actually gain admission into the universities” he said
He added “it is obvious that the available public universities cannot absorb them. With the advent of private universities, this problem is gradually been checked, as some of the eligible candidates are now been absorbed by the private universities”.
Similarly, “in 1989 we had less than a hundred students for most courses. Today, for the same courses we sometimes have between 500 and 900 students, but carrying capacity has not increased. This is a big challenge because it adversely affects the teaching and learning experience on these campuses,” said Cecilia Oladapo, professor of education and head of department adult education, University of Lagos.
Studying abroad, such as in the United States of America comes in handy as public universities in Nigeria continue to decay and private ones make haste to offer outstanding education. EducationUSA is at the forefront of efforts to help students who want to study in the USA secure placement at Universities or Colleges in the USA. During its recent College Fair, over 30 American Universities and Colleges were in attendance.
One of the best ways to improve relations among nations is by people to people interaction. “We know that when you come to the United States of America, you will learn about the USA first hand and that student who will sit by you is going to learn about Nigeria. Nothing beats people to people interaction. Besides, our Colleges and universities want you there because they do not know where or from whom the next innovative idea is going to come from. These colleges want you there and want to harvest the next big idea that might come from you” said Darcy Zotter, Public Affairs Officer at the United States Consulate General, Lagos.
She added “we know that the USA offers an unparalleled opportunity for excellent education and that studying in the USA equips you with skill sets that are in high demand because of the quality of education we provide.”
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
