FROM CLEMENT ADEYI, OSOGBO

President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerian university au­thorities to collaborate with the government in the efforts to proffer lasting solutions to the poor funding of the edu­cation sector, particularly the tertiary institutions.

The president stated this at the weekend in an address during the 40th convocation of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

While lamenting the chal­lenges facing the nation’s education sector, he cited poor funding as a major bane, stressing that after Defence, Education got the biggest ap­propriation in 2014 federal gov­ernment budget, yet the sector remains under-funded.

He explained that no amount of government funding could be adequate for education, in view of the rising demand for it and the fact that other sectors of the economy compete for the lean financial resources.

He, therefore, called on uni­versity authorities to ensure prudent and effective manage­ment of the available resources at their disposal, stressing: “To overcome the financial crisis, our universities should make conscious efforts to use the existing resources more effectively and prudently by increasing efficiency.”

Jonathan also decried the inability of several admission seekers to obtain admission into the nation’s universities in the country, noting that less than 20 per cent of prospective candidates were able to secure admission on yearly basis. He challenged first generation universities to be deeply in­volved in proffering solutions to the myriad of problems that have bedeviled the university system.

The president who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Professor Viola Onwuliri, urged univer­sities to diversify the mode of delivery of knowledge by pro­viding mass continuing edu­cation for many categories of students.

“They should adopt the use of networking facilities such as audio-visual and other modern teaching aids that would en­hance the reach of delivery and raise the level of sophistication of most courses,” Jonathan said.

He expressed displeasure with the low global ranking of the institutions, lamenting that no Nigerian university had been ranked globally among the best 100 universities.

He, therefore, urged the management of the nation’s universities to brace up and be counted among the Ivy League universities in the world.

Earlier in his address, the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. ‘Tale Omole, said the institu­tion was conferring first de­grees on 9, 094 students from 13 faculties, out of whom 127 made first class honours. He added that 2,755 students got master degrees, while 150 got Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree.

In his remarks, the Pro- Chancellor of the institution, Professor Rowland Ndoma- Egba, said OAU had continued to witness not only physical transformation but also rein­vigoration of academic life by adopting modern technology in its research and teaching.

-Sun