By Otomewo Oritsejolomi Joshua.
Earlier this month, social media buzzed with the news that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had passed a bill to upgrade three tertiary institutions in the state, into what would now be the Lagos State University of Science and Technology and the Lagos State University of Education. The news was met with jubilation from several quarters.
The universities were created to solve two major problems. The first is the increasing demand for university education among the youths. Earlier, Sanwo-Olu stated that the upgrade of the State Polytechnic and Colleges of Education to universities was borne out of the desire to address the gap in providing university education to people of Lagos State and Nigeria in general.
There are only two public universities in the state and the number of people who are admitted into these schools is low compared to the number of students who apply, leaving a huge educational deficit in the state.
According to Premium Times in 2017, 36,000 candidates applied for admission into Lagos State University (LASU) but only 3,500 actually got admission. While in 2021, only 7,815 of the 59,190 candidates who applied to University of Lagos (UNILAG) got admission.
Over the years, polytechnics and colleges of education are seen by the public as inferior to universities. Graduates from polytechnics are treated less favourably than university graduates in the job market and so young people now prefer to go to universities than polytechnics and colleges of education.
However, there is limited space available in these universities; only few students eventually gain admission. The upgraded institutions are expected to solve the problem.
The second problem these universities can solve is based on the fact that they would focus on certain sectors.
The new Lagos State University of Science and Technology formed from the Lagos State Polytechnic would address the growing demand for tech talent in the state. All over the world, technology hubs are associated with a strong science and technology focused-university. For example, Silicon Valley and Stanford University or Tsinghua University in China and Beijing. So, the new Science and Technology University would help in securing the future of Lagos as the continent’s leading technology hub.
Also, the new Lagos State University of Education which was created from the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education,Otto Ijanikin and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Noforija,Epe, would focus on the education sector,since the standard of learning in Nigerian schools is very low due to lack of qualified teachers.
Currently, the pupil to teacher ratio in the country is 1:40, double the standard 1:20 approved by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Thus, the Lagos State University of Education would solve this problem by training more teachers.
The upgrade of these institutions is a step in the right direction. It would help in achieving the sustainable development goals of quality education and reducing inequality.
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Nice read
Thank God. At least some of the pressure will be relieved on Unilag
I doubt this universities will be competent enough to teach the needed tech skills like programming.
The young generation sees university certificates as fulfilling their parents wishes. It won’t make any difference