Senator Iroegbu
18 November 2008
Abuja — In a bid to sanitise Nigerian universities, the National Universities Commission (NUC), in partnership with Gucci Chis Limited is to commence the NUC Data Base (NUCDB) project across the 94 approved universities in the country. This project is in addition to the N2 billion it had sourced through the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to improve the standard of learning in one university in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, who disclosed this at a press briefing, said the issue of data to manage information had become crucial, due to the need for information to take relevant decisions.
He said it was necessary to cultivate the culture of data gathering and storage, known as archivary, as an essential ingredient for sustainable development of any society.
Okojie said the project, which is in line with President Yar'Adua administration's Seven-Point Agenda for human capital development, became necessary in view of the unavailability of relevant data on the universities; a requirement, which he said was necessary for any educational system that was ready to embrace the opportunities which technological advancement offers to enable it compete favourably with other institutions of learning across the globe.
He decried the lack of honesty and integrity of baseline information from which data could be built and said the NUC was working on improving universities' data base that would aid in the harnessing of potentials, resource sharing, improved manpower, among others. "We must do something dramatic about these issues to improve our universities and bring them up to the standards obtainable in developed countries."
He said the project would be a repository of information that would provide accurate statistics of students, academics and non-academic staff, research staff and facilities in each university, adding that it would among other things, contain complete academic records of past and present graduates of Nigerian universities, automation of result gathering for present and future undergraduates, be a standard information storage structure for all universities.
Project Consultant, Gucci Chis Limited, Dr Olumide Oluwabi, said the unavailability of a centralised data system was the major reason for the high turn out of unqualified graduates in the country. "When there is no record, then unaccredited universities will spring up, unqualified lecturers will be hired, learning facilities will not match the teeming student populace, cultism will be rampant, regulation would be nonexistent and everything that should work will not just be available."
He said the NUCDB project was designed to capture and process information of all students of Nigerian universities (past and present), in a format that would contain personal information, as well as previous and present academic records so that they could retrieval their academic history for future use. He added that the project would also assist government in planning, especially for the distribution of research aids and allocation of resources to each university. It would enable NUC to enforce and check some of its educational policies like the ratio of lecturers to students. "With the information, NUC can give accurate analysis of the comparative performance of students in all higher institutions. Also, corporate organisations and individuals can use the service as a search platform. Reference can be made easily on students or graduates that meet a required standard that qualifies them for particular positions or entitlement", Oluwabi said. To ensure the collation of relevant data and submission of validated records in a timely fashion, he said the Commission would provide Biometric Data Capturing Booths in each approved university. Data gathered would be processed in a secured web-based application with a friendly user interface for authenticated and authorised users, which allows for a secure access to information by users of the application.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
