NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NOUN – GETTING IT WRONG! When in 2001 President Olusegun Obasanjo flagged off the National Open University , NOUN, a distance learning programme, many Nigerian school leavers heaved a huge sigh of relief. For some years before then, gaining admission into the mainstream universities had become like the proverbial ‘carmel passing through the eyes of a needle’. The ban and closure of satellite campuses of universities and polytechnics across the nation compounded the problem of school leavers and post graduate students who are only available for weekend classes. Part time programmes were also no longer attractive as many young persons who had found solace in the evening classes were banned from taking part in the compulsory one year national youth Service Corps, NYSC even though many of them where under 30 years of age. The inability of the school’s management to mobilize its graduates for the NYSC had been a minus and a source of discouragement to millions of university applicants. However that seems to have been resolved now as it has sorted out its problems with JAMB and has released a list of qualified graduates to take part in the next Batch of the scheme. The fact that the examinations of the 1 and 2 levels are computer based does not in any way stop malpractices. Some staff connives with some of the students to cheat. A few students are allowed to go in with textbooks with which to consult with while writing the exams. What a shame! A much more worrisome aspect of the Open University is the inability of the school management to provide facilitators for more than a third of their courses in the various study centres. For example the Benin study centre has no facilitator in all their courses to guide the students. Are they saying distance learning programs are not supposed to have lecturers? This is certainly not what the students bargained for. They have been making efforts at studying alone and with difficulty at understanding certain ambiguous course materials. NOUN isn’t an online university where students can just study at home and write the exams anywhere they desire. There are many graduates who want to become facilitators but I was told when I visited the Benin study centre, they only accept Masters Degree holders. Sometimes exceptions have to be made when what is required isn’t available. Which is better, to have the entire centre without a facilitator or to have a bunch of first degree holders who are intelligent and have the passion to lecture? After all, universities employ first degree holders as assistant lecturers. Some graduate students and others have taken advantage of the gap to organize tutorials outside the campus but only for a few courses. Now to the main point that made me decide to write this commentary. Apart from exam registration that is N1000 per course, students pay between N1 500 and N3 000 for course registration per course. The amount paid depends on the number of credit unit. That amount is inclusive of course material (textbook). There’ been a disturbing trend I observed since I started monitoring activities at the school. Despite paying for the course materials, students don’t get them until long after the end of the semester or year they were meant for. Most of the students receive their year one course materials while they are in their year two or three. I did asked why and I was told only few copies are usually sent from the Headquarters in Lagos. Isn’t it ridiculous, callous and wicked to deprive students of their course materials especially when no facilitators for such course. Students resort to buying printed and photocopied versions from business centres around the study centres. That is paying double for course materials. Although the course materials are downloadable from the NOUN website, only a few students have personal computers or laptops. If the University authority knows that they are unable to provide these materials when the students need them, they should simply come out with a policy of making the students download course materials online. After all, the students pay N10 000 as ICT charge every semester. That way, students would even be encouraged to purchase personal computers and laptops to enhance their studies. The inability to provide the materials and facilitators is in contrast to is suppose to be as stated in on Wikipedia concerning the school; “The NOUN employs a range of delivery methods to take education to the people and make learning an enjoyable activity. These methods include: • Printed instructional materials, audio, video tapes and CD-ROMs . These would be transported to you by courier companies, NIPOST and NOUN’s in-house transport division. • Television and radio broadcast of educational programmes • Electronic transmission of materials in multimedia (voice, data, graphics, video) over fixed line (telephone or leased lines), terrestrial and VSAT wireless communication systems. Study centres in each of the geopolitical zones, states and local government areas shall perform critical roles in the delivery of instruction. Study centres are resource places where a student will pick up course and other study materials as well as interact with Instructional Facilitators and Tutors, Student Counselors, Study Centre Directors and with other students. A number of other learner support facilities including internet browsing, e-mailing, library and a range of communication channels will also be available at the study centres”. However, I still recommend the school to Nigerians seeking admission into the university both as undergraduates and graduate students. Instead of spending years waiting to go into the mainstream university, do well to take advantage of the opportunities the Open University offers especially now that they go for the NYSC. It is also recommended for persons who might want to be in charge of their pace of study. Another advantage of the school is that when you do not have the money for a particular semester, you might choose not to register until you are able without any negative effect to your grades. Running three semesters also makes a good advantage to many who might want to graduate very early. You can complete a four year course in three years if you are capable mentally and financially. Also one can run a post graduate programme and Masters while waiting for the compulsory NYSC scheme. I am also in agreement with the Executive secretary of the national University commission, Prof Julius Okojie who is calling on the mainstream universities to adopt distance learning as the National Open University to accommodate the large number of applicants who are unable to secure admission due to the limited space in the campuses. If the authorities of the NOUN look critically and objectively at the points I have raised, it will be for the better as they look forward to admitting more students as the way to NYSC is now open for their students.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:08:48 +0000
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