Lecturers’ ratio to students in Nigerian universities too low – Ex-UI VC
A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, has said the ratio of lecturers in Nigerian universities to students is very low.
Bamiro said this was one of the reasons why no Nigerian university was ranked among the best 100 in the world.
The former VC mentioned this in a lecture he delivered at the symposium organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ibadan branch, in honor of Emmanuel Oladeji, who is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern engineers in Nigeria.
In a lecture titled, ‘Engineering: A panacea for economic development’, Bamiro explained that Nigerian universities were overpopulated by students and had few academic staff.
The former vice-chancellor stressed that lecturers in Nigerian universities are too overburdened. According to him, this is the main reason why many lecturers do not know all their students.
Bamiro said apart from the ratio of students to academic staff, number of facilities, number of accredited courses, students’ performance, employability, and contribution to the economy were some of the factors being used to rate universities in the world.
He explained further that the inability of Nigerian universities to meet these standards was responsible for their exclusion from the list of the best in the world.
Bamiro said, “Academic staff in Nigerian universities are overburdened. We are overburdened. The ratio of academic staff to students is over 30 students to a lecturer. That is why we are not among the best 100.
“What is the ratio of academic staff and students in the universities that are rated as one of the best 100?
“The ratio in universities like Harvard, Oxford is ratio 1 to 5. Five students per lecturer. The class that has the highest number of students will be 20 students. So, why will they not know their students?
“But, what we need to do in Nigeria is to follow the pattern. All the stakeholders must work to achieve this. The critical stakeholders, NUC, NABTEB, BOI, ITF must be involved. “
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