Making higher education relevant to job market

THE recent linkage made between tertiary education and the job market by the National Directorate of Employment deserves close scrutiny by stakeholders. Abubakar Mohammed, NDE’s director-general, brought the nation’s attention to the explosive unemployment rate and the attendant crisis of relevance of our universities. The federal and state governments should urgently lead the way in fashioning a tertiary education system that will impact positively on the job market.

We welcome Mohammed’s directness in highlighting the growing gap between university education in Nigeria today and the job market. His blunt declaration that the creation of more universities has compounded the unemployment challenge is a refreshing display of candour in a country where living in denial by public officials is the norm.

That something is wrong is not deniable. The latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics shows an unemployment rate of 24.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year, up from 23.9 per cent in a labour force of 73.4 million. This figure is believed to be understated by Organised Private Sector and even the Federal Ministry of Labour, which, by 2012, put unemployment among youths at 41 per cent and unemployment among university graduates at over 50 per cent.

OPS representatives have for years bemoaned the lack of requisite skills by university graduates. Suggestions by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association over the years for a review of the current curriculum have also not been heeded. Instead, the federal and state governments have compounded the problem by establishing more (often sub-standard) universities. The National Universities Commission website shows that there are now 46 federal universities and 40 state universities in addition to 61 private ones. On the eve of its departure on May 29, the Goodluck Jonathan administration approved several more federal ones, bringing the total number of under-funded universities he “created” in four years to 18.

But higher education must have a purpose and direct, beneficial impact on the society. The universities should provide the highest level of skilled labour and thinkers to drive innovation and entrepreneurship. Universities partnered entrepreneurs to create Silicon Valley in the United States, a country that still leads the world in innovation. Nigerian policymakers of the three regions that made up the federation at independence devised policies to create a multi-tiered workforce for a fast-developing economy. Primary schools, “modern” schools, teachers’ colleges and universities were built. A National Policy on Education was inaugurated in 1977 that emphasised technical education and led to the promotion of polytechnics on the United Kingdom model. These and colleges of education, along with scholarships for medical, agriculture and engineering students, among other disciplines, were to produce skilled labour for a rapidly growing economy boosted by indigenisation laws, import-substitution schemes and infrastructure investment.

But we missed the way somehow. The high demand for university and polytechnic products up to the early 1980s has gradually thinned as national economic policies failed and sectors such as iron and steel, railways, energy, mining and agriculture that should have absorbed and provided practical training, challenges and research opportunities collapsed. For instance, the failure of large-scale farming to replace the prevailing hoe-and-cutlass one-man enterprise made nonsense of the specialised agriculture universities and their graduates, unemployable. Similarly, the failure of the steel industry to thrive and the collapse of state-owned enterprises deprived technology graduates of places to deploy their knowledge.

Crucially too, because of the disconnect between town and gown, as well as poor funding, curricula and teaching have not kept pace with global development and new technology. Universities are still using outdated textbooks and theories, while fieldwork and collaboration with industry are lacking. It is time to return to the drawing board. When the UK economy started shifting from heavy industry to service-based one, it dumped the polytechnic system as factory technicians were no longer needed in such large numbers. Germany, however, remains a leader in industry and retains an education system with emphasis on vocational, technical and applied knowledge, where the school system is integrated with the job market. No wonder that its jobless rate is a low 4.7 per cent.

To actualise UNESCO’s categorisation of education as an agent of change and make it relevant to the economy, the government should halt the reckless creation of universities immediately. What is the point churning out 1.8 million new entrants (NBS) into the job market each year when only a small fraction have the hope of securing jobs? Employers then need to spend more to train the few that do get jobs while some say our graduates are simply “unemployable,” lacking basic analytical and communication skills.

In reviewing the curricula, we should assess the needs of the job market. Since the NBS found that 90 per cent of products used in Nigeria are made by small and medium scale enterprises, emphasis should be on technical, vocational and practical skills in the ivory tower. We should adapt the German model of mandatory apprenticeship and forge a close collaboration between the OPS and universities. The ambiguity over polytechnic qualification should be resolved through a comprehensive programme of liberalisation of railways, steel, oil and gas downstream, mining sectors and policies to draw foreign direct investment and absorb its graduates. A rejuvenated manufacturing sector will determine its own job needs and qualifications, while mechanised agriculture will provide job outlets and opportunities for research and updating of curricula.

Productive knowledge, it is argued, is the key to prosperity. But accumulating bits of productive knowledge will make little sense in places where the industries that require them are not present. President Muhammadu Buhari should lead the way by simultaneously instilling purpose and relevance into the university system and re-energising our moribund industries. We restate our position that all public policies should be geared towards expanding production, promoting investments and creating millions of jobs for our youths and the university system should fit into this model.