Access to Higher Education: A Case Study of the Demand and Supply in Higher Education in Nigeria

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Master’s Degree Defense Presentation

By

Ogunyinka, Emmanuel Kayode

Supervisor: Tang Bin (Associate Professor)

@ Graduate School, College of Education, Central China Normal University.

Introduction Nigeria as a nation had (5) five Universities with a total enrollment of 3646 students

in 1962.

The Nigerian University system has grown to 129 institutions, made up of 40 Federal Universities, 38 State Universities and 51 Private Universities with a total enrollment of more than 1.3 million students, yet the problem of access to University education in the country persists.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) which regulates University education in terms of standards has set merit, carrying capacity, catchment areas and quota for educationally disadvantaged states as criteria for admission into Federal Universities.

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)/Unified Tertiary Matriculations examinations (UTME) in charge of entrance exam, only less than twenty percent (20%) on the average gain admission into the universities.

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Purpose of the Study

To investigate access to university education in Nigeria,

To Analyze its demand and supply, managed by JAMB/UTME ,and

To look into NUC’s admission criteria such as carrying capacity, catchment areas, and quota system formula imposed on university admission in Nigeria.

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Significance of the StudyTo see how the results of this study could contribute in persuading government to invest more in and provide more funding to Universities: 1. To enhance their infrastructure, increase personnel and provide more spaces for the ever increasing number of qualified candidates that seek admission into Nigeria higher institutions,

2. Findings to this study will be of immense benefit to educational administrators, policy makers and stakeholders in education as it will enable them to see the need for proper and efficient deployment of funds in the face of the dwindling financial resources bedeviling Nigeria’s higher education, and

3. The need to review the policies on admission that tend to restrict access.

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Conceptual FrameworkChannels or Alternative Routes to Higher Education in

Nigeria

A. The first channel assumes that a graduate go through NCE and then to the university. The other two channels are the more common ones, that is, those who go straight from secondary school to university and those who go through polytechnics to university.

A. Further, as an alternative, the other higher levels of education (Nigerian colleges of education and the polytechnics) are alternative routes after secondary education.

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Source: Adapted from Okuwa (2004)

Conceptual Framework contd.

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Data Analysis & Interpretation on the Demand & Supply in Higher Education in Nigeria

Theoretical Framework on Demand & Supply I. The theory of demand and supply is

adopted to explain the demand for higher education.

II. In Nigeria, the regulatory body controls admissions based on the available infrastructure such that the NUC only admits a small proportion of qualified students.

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The graph indicates that in order to obtain equilibrium in the higher education market, quantity Q2 spaces must be given by the universities at a fee of Pe.

The government legislate a maximum school fee that could be charged by government universities that corresponds to Pc in the graph.

At the government price Pc which is lower than the market-clearing Pe, applicants’ demand for higher educational spaces are more than what government universities can provide.

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Demand and Supply in Higher Education Services under Government Low Pricing of Education

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Applicant thus demand for quantity Q3 at price Pc but government higher institutions can only supply Q1 generating an excess demand for spaces in higher institutions. The normal adjustment to this disequilibrium that will be set in motion is an increase in price. Since price is not flexible, it constrains the number of spaces with the excess demand constituting the number of students rationed out of the system, and which provides enormous opportunity for domestic private and foreign higher education institutions. This excess demand therefore stimulates denial, consumption of private and going abroad for higher education.

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Demand and Supply in Higher Education Services under Government Low Pricing of Education contd.

MethodologyEmploying the ex-post facto design, this paper used existing

data from the relevant regulatory institutions such as:

1. National University Commission (NUC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),

2. Education Sector Analysis Unit of Federal Ministry of Education (ESA/FME),

3. JAMB/UTME, and

4. Other relevant journals to analyze the demand and supply in higher education in Nigeria.

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Results/Findings

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From the table, the result indicates that the relationship between the two variables involved is statistically significant difference “Total demanded (M = 527562.70, SD = 379742.09) Total supplied (M = 82989.09, SD = 84135.70); r (32) = 0.84, p = 0.00.”

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The Chart represents the scatter plot on the relationship between the demand and supply in university education in Nigeria from 1978/79 – 2011/12

Conclusion

1. The demand for university education in the last 34 years (1978/79 -2011/12) is far greater than the supply.

2. There has been unsatisfied supply of university education in Nigeria since the 1978/79 academic year, when over 82% of the candidates demanding for university education failed to secure admissions.

3. More than 83% of candidates seeking university admissions during 1992/93, and 94.9% during 2002/03 academic sessions did not get it.

4. There is a report from NUC that shows the gross inadequate provision of higher education in Nigeria due to absence of improved facilities to cope with the increasing demand for university education.

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Recommendations

1. Better Educational Planning,

2. Curbing Financial Wastage in Nigerian University System ,

3. Downsize the Number of Support Staff in Nigerian University System,

4. Re-training of Academic Staff in NUS to Embrace ICT/e-Learning ,

5. Mandate all Universities to Establish Distance Learning Programs ,

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6. Revision of Education Trust Fund Support for Book and Journal Production,

7. The issue of quota system must be re-addressed,

8. The existing conventional universities should be well funded in order to improve on infrastructural facilities,

9. Private universities can still be encouraged but profit-making should be minimized, and

10. Open Universities and Distance Learning (ODL) should be encouraged.

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Thank you for your kind attention!

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Obafemi Awolowo University

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Amadu Bello University, Zaria

University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

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