FUNAAB Institute not affected by NUC ban, says Director

http://www.gatewaymail.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Prof.-Francis-Showemimo...Director-INHURD..jpg

 

NIGERIA: THE Director, Institute for Human Resources Development (INHURD) of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Professor Francis Showemimo, has explained that the recent scrapping of pre-degree and Diploma programmes in Nigerian universities does not in a way affect the institute negatively.

Showemimo explained that INHURD is an institute that is semi-autonomous in nature and that the major thing that links the institute with FUNAAB, as a University, is ownership.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) had recently ordered universities to stop running the pre-degree and Diploma programmes.

But, INHURD Director stated that the ban did not come to the institute unprepared, hence the reason why INHURD is located far from the main campus and operating on the semi-autonomous status.

According to a release by the Head, Directorate of Public Relations, Mrs. Emi’ Alawode, the Director, however, emphasised that the ban would help the university management to expedite action by incorporating INHURD with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), so that it would be able to stand on its own and only be overseen by FUNAAB.

The Director justified the Federal Government’s stance for placing the ban, saying it was because other universities running the programmes were breaking the rules of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) by promising their students automatic admission without even sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

“One of the major and notable differences between INHURD and other universities running Pre-degree and Diploma programmes, is that INHURD students usually undergo academic training for a period of time before they sit for the INHURD internal examination and at the same time sitting for UTME, which they must pass excellently,” Showemimo said.

These, according to him, would enable the students to be admitted into the universities of their choice.

He said this year, the Pre-degree programmes had commenced over a month ago so that admitted students would be able to sit for the examination and pass the screening before being admitted as substantive candidates into any university of their choice.

On the alleged high cost of running Pre-degree programmes in the country and the possible ways to close the gap between the rich and the poor parents in order to have their children enrolled for the programme, Showemimo disclosed further that INHURD remained the most affordable establishment that runs pre-degree programmes in the whole of South-West.

He, however, disagreed with the notion that education, once acquired, can be termed expensive, saying that if education is seen to be expensive, ignorance should be tried.

Showemimo also added that INHURD was very considerate in the charging of fees and that for the institute to keep on running administratively such as pay staff salaries and tutors, maintain equipment, keep the lawns and the environment clean and many more, money was needed to do so, while the institute would not exploit its students.

The programmes being run in the institute, according to him, include Pre-degree in Science and Management Science, Cambridge A’ level that is being administered from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and the Joint Universities Preliminary Examination Board (JUPEB), which a consortium of universities established and which is still expanding.

Another programme, he stressed, is the Interim Joint Matriculation Board Examination (IJMBE), which is being supervised by the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while both JUPEB and IJMBE are also ‘A’ level programmes.