Imo State Governor, Chief
Rochas Okorocha, has called for the scrapping of the National Youth
Service Corps (NYSC) and advocated for the setting up of specialised
institutions to improve the standard of education in the country.
Okorocha
who said this in a speech he delivered at the 50th anniversary lecture
of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in Kaduna State said the
NYSC scheme had outlived its usefulness. “The NYSC was set up to promote
unity but that has failed, so we need to look into other areas to
improve the quality of education for our youths’ he said.
Okorocha
called for the establishment of specialised schools like the Law School
in all fields of study to equip students with practical skills to fit
into the modern society. “It is worrying that some of our graduates
cannot read or write but if they attend specialised schools after
graduation they can have more practical skills than theoretical,” he
added.
Okorocha said exposing graduates to further practical
skill acquisition would also assist government to determine the
placement of universities on the scale of excellence. “We should stop
grading universities by age but by specialisation which can be achieved
through exposure to other graduates in a post graduate school,” he
added.
The governor called on universities to also consider
alternative sources of funding rather than relying on government for all
revenue. “Universities can set up farms to produce food and technology
firms to bid for contracts to increase internal revenue,” he said.
Okorocha
also called on universities to look into the bloated number of staff to
save costs. “Most universities have a huge number of non-academic staff
and other non-essential staff coupled with adjunct teachers that are a
drain on the resources of universities,” he stated.
Okorocha
challenged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to cooperate
with university authorities to survive by reducing consistent demands
for wage increases and allowances. “ASUU should do more than just plan
for strikes over the least problems. They should engage university
authorities on ways to save costs,” he said.
Source: THISDAY News
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