Tertiary / Higher Education (2)

The higher education systems of the United States and of Russia provide excellent examples which we can borrow and adapt.

THE AMERICAN MODEL

The American system of higher education is based on the functional equivalence and equality of all tertiary or higher educational institutions by whatever name. Individual institutions will naturally vary in quality, depending on the quality of teachers, facilities and curricula, but they are all academically first class citizens. Some “institutes,” “polytechnics” and “colleges of technology” enjoy a reputation equal to or higher than many “universities” so-named. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), the Illinois Institute of Technology (IllinoisTech), the Georgia Institute of Technology (GeorgiaTech), and Ransselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) rank with the very best universities in America including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley and the University of Chicago.

The American four-year undergraduate system regards every student, whatever his field, as a potential bachelors degree graduate, and facilitates his advance to that ultimate goal. It permits him to transfer from one institution or subject area specialty to virtually any other before his third year; to terminate his studies after his second year with an “associate degree,” something like the Ordinary National Diploma (OND); and to resume studies at some future date, all with little or no loss of credit-time. A student may transfer to an institution or specialty whose entry requirements he did not originally meet, if in the meantime he has performed creditably in advanced courses in related fields.

Fortunately, a semblance of this system is already in general use in Nigeria; it is now a question of converting the HND into a BSc or BTech, redesigning the NCE as a BA or BEd, and realigning the various one-, two- and three-year diploma programs as recognised sequences within the ultimate four-year bachelors degree structure.

THE RUSSIAN MODEL

An even more usable model is the Russian higher education system. Russian polytechnics, agricultural institutes, pedagogical institutes, economics institutes, medical institutes, the Institute of Literature, the conservatories, art academies, institutes of theatre, cinema, culture, applied and decorative arts, industrial arts, physical culture and sports, etc.—all of these specialized institutions of higher education have parity with “universities.”

Universities specialize in the training of scholars and researchers in the natural sciences and humanities; polytechnics in the training of engineers, designers and builders; medical institutes in the training of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, etc.; economics institutes in the training of economists, accountants, managers, etc.; conservatories in the training of musicians; pedagogical institutes in the training of teachers, and so on.

Each type of higher institution is like a finger of the hand: separate, unequal in size, but equal in function. Each is run by its own specialists, from “candidates in science” to “doctors of science” to “professors.” The period of study is 4 to 6 years, depending on specialty.

Students are recruited from all three types of Russian secondary schools: vocational schools, specialised secondary schools, and general secondary (“grammar”) schools. Whatever the differences in orientation or emphasis between these three types of secondary school, one thing is clear: no obstruction to further education and specialisation is placed in the way of their students. The best of them (and only the best) in each category of school are eligible for the competitive entrance exams to higher institutions, and can go on even to post-graduate studies.

Whatever his type of skill or specialty, whatever his type of secondary school or higher institution, every Russian student is an academically first class citizen, co-equal with the rest.

As “knowledge factories,” American institutions of tertiary or higher education are classifiable into two broad groups: “teaching institutions” and “research institutions.” All the teachers climb the same promotional ladder from “Instructor” to “Assistant Professor” to “Associate Professor” to “Professor”; however, the criteria for promotion, extra salary increases and tenure (“confirmation”) vary considerably. In teaching institutions (such as the 4-year undergraduate liberal arts colleges), what is most valued is excellence in teaching (i.e. the communication of known knowledge) as well as the counselling and mentoring of students, whereas in research institutions (which run both undergraduate and post-graduate programs) it is teaching plus research & publishing (the discovery or invention of new knowledge).

Given the beaten-down state of Nigerian higher education, it would make sense to re-define our tertiary institutions as primarily “teaching institutions.” They should concentrate, at least for now, on excellence in teaching and the production of well trained young men and women equipped with skills needed in the 21st century industrial marketplace. Scholarly research & publishing should count as an added bonus, not a requirement for confirmation, promotion or extra salary increases for lecturers.

Fortunately, Nigeria has some three dozen fine research institutes including the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, the National Veterinary Research Institute, the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, and the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization. In short, research, invention and development can safely be left in their hands while the tertiary institutions focus on the moulding of human capital.

Onwuchekwa Jemie