Only 1% of Nigerians in universities – NUC

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has said only one per cent of Nigerian population form the total enrollment of students in the 164 universities across the country.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Abubakar Rasheed, said this while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja.
According to Rasheed, the 75 private universities in the country account for 5.31 per cent of the total enrollment in the universities across the country.
He described the situation as “unhealthy”, saying there is need for more access either by creating more universities or expanding existing ones.
“If you look at the population of 198 million which is close to 200 million and bear in mind the total enrolment in our universities today, all the 164 universities, is slightly less than two million.
It is 1.961 million, which translates to roughly 1 per cent of the population.
“One per cent of the population are in the university and I think it’s not healthy,” he said.
Rasheed said it will be difficult for the commission to regulate the fees of private schools.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said the authorities must ensure that indirect costs do not become a barrier to access university education According to him, while expanding access to university education is a good thing, it’s absolutely important that the authorities must ensure that quality is not compromised.
He said every initiative must aim to improve quality in our universities across the country.
“Despite the increase in population, the provisions for education is relatively low at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary,” he said.
Mr Soweto said the Nigerian government has not been able to meet the huge demand of education despite the proliferation of private universities.
“It is essential for the vast majority of the population regardless of the status and economic conditions to be able to access free quality education.
Moreover most Nigerians can’t afford to pay the tuition fee for private universities,” he said.
Presently, there are 164 universities in Nigeria, 42 are federal universities, 47 are state owned while 75 are privately owned.

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