UK, Nigerian Varsities Partner On Access

Minister of Education

Eleven universities from the United Kingdom were at the National Universities Commission (NUC), on Tuesday in a bid to identify various opportunities of partnering with the Nigerian universities in order to increase access to quality tertiary education in the country .

In a press briefing , the director  of the Training Gateway,  Amanda  Selvaratnam said  a previous seminar on the partnership for the  various  universities would avail them  of the opportunity to  learn more about  the educational system  in Nigeria,  adding that it had brought about the avenue to identify opportunities  that will benefit both nations.

Selvaratnam further said that there was need for expansion of the university system  in Nigeria especially as regards to the curriculum so that  young graduates would become self reliant after graduation.

The different speakers from the UK universities emphasised  the importance of entrepreneurship education , adding that  30 lecturers have been  trained in Abuja and Lagos so as to help them change their mindset  on how to teach entrepreneurship education,  which will at the same time make the students  understand more about it and how to become independent and self reliant.

The UK universities will partner with Nigerian  universities as regards to staff training of lecturers and the staff exchange which will help a great deal to exchange ideas for the betterment of education in both countries.

Other areas of  partnership  include capacity building, employer engagement, quality assurance, trans- national education and distance learning , split site PHDs and soft skill.

Cross border education, the  representative said was another aspect of the partnership whereby  Nigerian students  will study for one to two years in the country  and  finish up another two years at a UK university which they said will bring about   a better breed of  graduates  who were self reliant