Nigeria Lacks Adequate Facilities for Effective Virtual Teaching, Learning -Prof. Osodeke

The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has said the country lacks adequate facilities for effective virtual teaching and learning.

Osodeke, in a chat with Vanguard, said the dearth of such facilities is impacting negatively on the quality of virtual teaching and learning.

He was reacting to a recent gaffe by a graduate of the National Open University, NOUN, who said she got a Bachelor of Science degree in Law, while Nigerian universities don’t award BSc degree in Law.

“Though I learned that a law graduate said she got a BSc degree in Law from NOUN, I have not seen the video and we don’t react to issues on social media, the real issue here is, do we have the facilities to do effective virtual teaching and learning? The answer is we don’t.

“The schools that are to do virtual teaching and learning, power is a big problem, it is a problem killing even conventional universities gradually. How many schools can do say six hours of virtual teaching without interruptions or glitches here and there? How many students can stay to be taught virtually for six hours?

“The school lacks the facilities, the students too lack same. Apart from power supply, the students are unable to connect for long hours because of the cost of data. What you now have is a sort of crash programme. As a union, ASUU has been in the fore front of making education accessible to the citizens and making the environment conducive to the teachers and students.

“ASUU does not believe in the proliferation of institutions that are poorly funded, making it look like if you combine two of such institutions, they are not up to one. The focus should not be on numbers, but on quality, ” he stated.

Recall that a police woman, Vera Anyim, while giving testimony at a church in Abuja, said she graduated BSc in Law from NOUN.

Some attributed the gaffe to stage fright, while some said the way the Pastor, Paul Enenche, cut her short was not too good.

However, some faulted her spoken English during the encounter.

Though the church leadership and the woman have made up, the incident threw up debate about virtual teaching and learning in the country, given the state of facilities.

April 25, 2024