5 February 2008
interview
Lagos — Kaduna Polytechnic is one of the few tertiary institutions that have e-learning centres. In this interview with Correspondent, JOHN SHIKLAM, the Dean, Students Affairs Division of the polytechnic, Mallam Abdul Audu, an engineer, speaks on the benefits of computer literacy to students. Excerpt
THE institution's e-learning centre will soon start operation. Of what benefit do you think this would be to the school and students?
The benefits of e-learning centre to the school, students and even Nigeria are unquantifiable because now the world has embraced the use of computer to get things done. Almost everything is done on-line these days and because of the level training of our graduands, we discover that more than half of them are unemployable because they are near computer illiterates, they don't even know how to apply computer to modern day activities.
So based on this, and in line with the federal government reforms in the education sector, the federal ministry of education has directed that all tertiary institutions should go on-line and conduct their programmes. Almost all tertiary institutions have implemented this.
In the polytechnic sector, of the 17 federal polytechnics, only Kaduna Polytechnic has not started the usage of e-learning centre. The reason is that we wanted the structures to be in place before the students can pay. That is exactly what is happening. When the centre takes off, students will now be able to do their registration on-line without any stress, they can access their examination result on-line, they can access lecturers' assignment on-line, and they will have 24 hour access to the internet. They can browse and study on the internet. The structure you see on all campuses of the polytechnic are built by Oceanic Bank in conjunction with BTS consultancy Information Technology an IT firm.
They built them with their money, they will recoup their money over a period of time and after that they will turn over the property to the polytechnic. That means while these people are doing their business and while the students are learning at the centre, the school authority would have had a golden chance of having a permanent structure so as to have a portal for educational material, instruction and training.
One problem we have is poor maintenance culture, how would the school ensure that the facilities at the centre are properly taken care of?
It is part of the agreement that for as long as long as the consortium is around managing the centre, they will continue to maintain the centre and the facilities and by the time they turn it on to the polytechnic, certainly the polytechnic will maintain it. I can beat my chest and say that in Kaduna Polytechnic, we have a very good record of maintaining our structures and facilities, if not, the buildings we have which were erected since 1968 will not be standing today. So we have a very good maintenance culture here.
Is the programme getting the support of the students and the polytechnic community?
Well, you know like any other change in life, people will certainly oppose it if they don't know the benefits. So originally the project was opposed by students because of the amount of money they are supposed to pay per session. They are supposed to pay N3,000 per session, that amount was even beaten down by the management in the negotiation process. In other places where they pay more than that, some of the places don't even have as much facilities as we have here.
THE institution's e-learning centre will soon start operation. Of what benefit do you think this would be to the school and students?
The benefits of e-learning centre to the school, students and even Nigeria are unquantifiable because now the world has embraced the use of computer to get things done. Almost everything is done on-line these days and because of the level training of our graduands, we discover that more than half of them are unemployable because they are near computer illiterates, they don't even know how to apply computer to modern day activities.
So based on this, and in line with the federal government reforms in the education sector, the federal ministry of education has directed that all tertiary institutions should go on-line and conduct their programmes. Almost all tertiary institutions have implemented this.
In the polytechnic sector, of the 17 federal polytechnics, only Kaduna Polytechnic has not started the usage of e-learning centre. The reason is that we wanted the structures to be in place before the students can pay. That is exactly what is happening. When the centre takes off, students will now be able to do their registration on-line without any stress, they can access their examination result on-line, they can access lecturers' assignment on-line, and they will have 24 hour access to the internet. They can browse and study on the internet. The structure you see on all campuses of the polytechnic are built by Oceanic Bank in conjunction with BTS consultancy Information Technology an IT firm.
They built them with their money, they will recoup their money over a period of time and after that they will turn over the property to the polytechnic. That means while these people are doing their business and while the students are learning at the centre, the school authority would have had a golden chance of having a permanent structure so as to have a portal for educational material, instruction and training.
One problem we have is poor maintenance culture, how would the school ensure that the facilities at the centre are properly taken care of?
It is part of the agreement that for as long as long as the consortium is around managing the centre, they will continue to maintain the centre and the facilities and by the time they turn it on to the polytechnic, certainly the polytechnic will maintain it. I can beat my chest and say that in Kaduna Polytechnic, we have a very good record of maintaining our structures and facilities, if not, the buildings we have which were erected since 1968 will not be standing today. So we have a very good maintenance culture here.
Is the programme getting the support of the students and the polytechnic community?
Well, you know like any other change in life, people will certainly oppose it if they don't know the benefits. So originally the project was opposed by students because of the amount of money they are supposed to pay per session. They are supposed to pay N3,000 per session, that amount was even beaten down by the management in the negotiation process. In other places where they pay more than that, some of the places don't even have as much facilities as we have here. We have about 500 computer units in the centre at main campus, the one in College of Business and Management Studies (CMBS) will house 300 computer units, the one in (College of Environmental Studies) (CES) will house 300 computer units. There are also plans for the construction of the centre in the new, College of Administrative and Social Sciences (CASS).
This N3,000 is rather on the cheap side, so I will admonish my students to try and pay the money and have a maximum advantage of using the centre because if a student decides not to use the centre and go outside to browse he will spend more than the N3,000 he is being asked to pay per session.
Assuming a student spends N500 in a week to browse since assignments come on line and you have to use the internet to register or you check your result on-line. There are 15 weeks in a semester. N500 times 15 will give you N7,500 in one semester. The second semester have another 15 weeks and assuming you have to spend N500 in one semester. The second semester have another 15 weeks and assuming you have to spend N500 a week to do assignments and register on line, you will spend another N7,500 making a total of N15,000.
But for this centre, you are paying only N3000 for a whole session and you have 24 hour access to the place. In fact, there is a standby generator in all the centres in the school. You have all these advantage, so compare the N3,000 you will pay and the N15,000 you will spend browsing. With the N3000 your browsing is not limited as you can browse till the next day. Unfortunately some people don't see it like that. It is painful to some of us because I attended school here and as a student of engineering, there was even no computer in my department, the only computer that I knew then was the ones at the Mathematics and Computer departments. They had just three computers that time and we will just stand by the window and watch the Indians operating the computer in that department.
So what we are providing for the students now is what we didn't get but we also know its benefits. As I am talking to you, I am almost computer illiterate. I don't do much on the computer because I have not been very exposed to it. So if I go to any country where there is high level of IT, I will be unemployable. If I go to South Africa or Malaysia or Singapore for example, I will be unemployable, not to talk of places like the United States and the United Kingdom. What we are telling the students is that they have a lifetime opportunity of using a facility that is there for them for the asking and then they are resisting it. Some of them after graduation have to go and spend about N15,000 to N20,000 to attend roadside computer schools. This centre will give them all the training they require. The students should just zero their mind and pay.
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