Education Quarterly Reviews
ISSN 2621-5799
Published: 11 April 2023
The Precarity of the Nigerian Public University Education: Considering Alternative Models
Abiodun Odusote
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Download Full-Text Pdf
10.31014/aior.1993.06.02.735
Pages: 29-39
Keywords: Funding, Public University, ASUU Strike, Higher Education, Brain Drain
Abstract
Nigerian public tertiary education has witnessed many industrial crises in recent times which has consistently led to the closure of public tertiary institutions on several occasions and for more than a continuous period of up to eight months in the public universities in 2022. This is a result of elongated strikes embarked upon by the workers in Nigerian public tertiary institutions. At the core of the problem is underfunding of the tertiary institutions characterized by decaying infrastructure, low wages and low morale. Government is the significant financier of public tertiary education in Nigeria. However, it is now generally agreed by all stakeholders, including the government, and workers’ Unions that the government is finding it increasingly difficult to fund tertiary education. With dwindling resources and increasing government expenditure across all sectors, it has become evident to all that the government cannot continue to almost solely fund tertiary education. The focus of this paper is to examine the challenges presented by the current funding model, the implications of inadequate funding and the recommendation of possible alternative models which has the potential to enhance effective and qualitative higher education and put an end to perennial strikes in the Nigerian public tertiary institutions.
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