PART TIME EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

 Part-time and distance education have gained significant popularity in recent years, offering flexible learning opportunities to individuals who are unable to pursue full-time, traditional education due to various commitments. This article aims to explore and compare the state of part-time and distance education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK). Nigeria, being a populous African nation, and the UK, a developed European country, provide contrasting contexts for examining the evolution, challenges, and prospects of these alternative modes of education.

Distance Education have a lot of potential gains - such as meeting the education needs of the teeming population of qualified students who could not gain admission to tertiary institution; some of these are indigent students who could hardly afford formal tertiary education and so need to work and learn simultaneously. More so, the higher institutions in Nigeria are hardly able to absorb 30% of applicants on a yearly basis. With population increase, the situation is becoming aggravated with each passing year. The current state of the study centres needs urgent attention. This study, therefore, focused on empirically ascertaining the state of Open and Distance Education (ODE) in Nigeria and strives to evolve a pragmatic solution to the challenge of ODE in Africa. The research designs adopted for the first phase of this study is the case study design. The second phase of the study is devoted to test-running the proposed Information and Computer Technology (ICT) based solution. From findings in this study, the speculation that there are pertinent challenges in the current ODE practices in Nigeria has been confirmed. Thus, providing information required for improved platform for ODE implementation in Covenant University and hence the proposed recommendations.

Part-Time and Distance Education in Nigeria:

In Nigeria, part-time and distance education programs have become integral components of the educational landscape, addressing the diverse needs of learners. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is a pioneer institution in the country that offers distance education programs. NOUN provides opportunities for individuals to acquire higher education qualifications, including certificates, diplomas, and degrees, without attending traditional face-to-face classes. The institution employs various strategies such as print materials, online resources, radio, and television broadcasts to deliver course content to students across Nigeria. To get more details click here