Senate to amend Open University Act

Efforts by the Senate to uplift the standard of the National Open University (NOUN) to put it at par with other similar institutions across the world was put in motion Thursday, as the upper legislative chamber moves to amend the NOUN Act of 1983.
A public hearing organized by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND on the Bill for an Act to amend the National Open University Act, No 6 of 1983, to provide for the inclusion of ICT as another means of providing tuition in the National Open University of Nigeria throughout Nigeria revealed the need to amend relevant sections of the Act including Section three (3) of the principal act that mandates the University to establish 774 community study centers in virtually all the Local Government Areas in the country.
Vice Chancellor of the National Open University, Abuja, Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu, in his submission urged the Senate to amend the act to incorporate requirements that must be met by would be community-study-center hosts, including undertaking the responsibility of providing 80 percent of infrastructure as well as structural materials required for the establishment of such centers.
Other areas which need to be considered for amendment as disclosed at the public hearing, deals with the issue of admission into the University, a situation which according to Prof Adamu, has been a source of standing controversy between NOUN and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
While the university authority is equally demanding a change of name from National Open University to National Open University of Nigeria as part measure to adequately redefine its status and give the institution a proper identity, it revealed that the inclusion of such concepts as ‘correspondence and part-time’ gives the impression that NOUN is not a full university but a temporary measure.
Adamu argued that “for the fact that the law gives room for the establishment of study centers which allows for interactions between the school and the students, it cannot be termed part time.
It will be recalled that sequel to the establishment of NOUN to accommodate the working class individuals who were either too busy with their work schedules to attend the conventional institutions of higher learning or unable to secure admission into them, JAMB had insisted that it has the sole responsibility of issuing admissions to candidates into Nigerian tertiary institutions, against the wish of the open university. Although a temporary resolve was reached by both institutions in that regard allowing NOUN to temporarily have its way, Professor Adamu says it is essential to amend such grey areas in the Act to define NOUN’s position on such controversial areas, adding that it is unfair to subject students to pay for exams they did not sit for.
Stressing that provisions of the Act which call for amendment when addressed and passed by the National Assembly including the establishment of more community study centers will further legitimize academic programs of the National Open University which has already established about 78 study centers and has received over five thousand (5000) requests for the establishment of community study centers.
“If the Act is amended and accepted for instance, the problem of our students not being called to bar by the Nigerian Law School will become history, because for now the law school considers our law program as a correspondence course, while the National Youth Service Corps sees us as part-time, but with the amendment we are seeking will address these problems,” he explained.
The Director, Open Distance Education in the National University Commission (NUC), Dr. Olamide Esther Adesuwa, also corroborated Professor Adamu’s position, insisting that the National Open University is not part-time but a flexible means of learning. She however attributed part of NOUN’s problems to what she described as the ‘’success recorded by the university which is now being considered as an alternative for the conventional tertiary institutions by students.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND, Senator Jibril Barau, has reaffirmed Senate’s commitment to uplifting the standard of NOUN through necessary legislations to enable it compete favorably and at par with similar universities in the world. “We will create an enabling environment to make it the best in the world,” Barau assured.
He explained that the essence of the public hearing is to provide a platform for online tuition as a method of instruction will not only ease the troubles associated with the traditional ways of teaching , but will also bring about efficiency, convenience, flexibility and effectiveness in Open University system.
“As a foremost university that has brought education to the door steps of many individuals and has made learning easier for all, this amendment is apt, timely an in tune with the global best practices”, Barau noted, adding that it will reposition the Open University for better service delivery and help in producing quality graduates for the Nigerian society.