The Director, Calabar Study Centre of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Dr Andee Iheme, has said that the Centre was targeting over 10,000 students between now and 2019.
He said there were about 5,000 students enrollment currently.
Iheme, who made the remarks in Calabar, said “we intend to do this by strengthening our advocacy and doing more public awareness and enlightenment through the media and other social means.”
He said: “We also intend to discuss with teachers and principals of secondary schools in the state in order to make them contact points to their students who are our main target.
“NOUN is an accessible and affordable university, with relevant entry qualifications of five credits including English Language and Mathematics. The duration of courses in NOUN depends on one’s choice of programme and level of study.
“All undergraduate programmes in the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Education and Management Sciences, run for a minimum of four years and a maximum of eight years.”
He added: “The LLB-Law in the school of Law and BSc Nursing Science and Resource Management in the School of Science and Technology have five years minimum and eight years maximum.
“All PGD programmes, irrespective of one’s area of specialisation, run for one academic session, while all Masters degree programme run two academic sessions.”
Iheme explained that NOUN facilitators were drawn from conventional universities in their various disciplines and that the students were rated very high in academic performance.
“In 2012 NOUN came first in the Law student’s moot court competition organised nationwide. For now, we have a student population of 111, 000 spread across the 54 study centres in Nigeria. From inception, NOUN had held 11 matriculations and three convocations.”
He, therefore, called on prospective students to avail themselves of the opportunity which NOUN offers, and advised students of the university to take their academic work seriously.
