The National Universities Commission (NUC) has disclosed that only 20 percent of the data base for Nigeria university graduates is accessible.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Julius Okojie, made this known in Abuja during a one-day workshop jointly organised by the Commission and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisations, Tracer Study of graduates from the Nigeria university system.
Professor Okojie said that the tracer study will assist the Nigeria University system in gathering required information needed to improve on curriculum, teaching and research.
According to him, “The NUC has been requesting from the Universities to provide 5years data base for Nigeria graduates and it’s unfortunate that most of them have refused to bring this forward i can tell you that less than 20 % of what we requested is made available and i must sound this warning that any universities that fail to provide 5years database of graduates from its university will be sidelined; if we have carried out accreditation of programmes for such schools we will withheld results from them and other quality assurance processes will be withdrawn from them.
“Tracer study is an important activity for us at NUC aimed at building robust links between institutions, their graduates and the Labour Market, it focuses on gathering necessary information required to improve the curriculum, teaching and research in the Nigeria University system.
“There is no doubt that tracing our graduates will assist the NUS in measuring the extent of professional and academic careers pursued by our graduates”.
Professor Okojie stated the objectives of the study ascertaining the relevance of the degrees obtained from the university system to the Labour Market.
“The programme will ascertain the relevance of the NUS curricula to the job functions of the graduates in the various work places as well as their professional development in the various field”, he said.
He added that the contributions of the Nigeria University graduates in the public and private sectors to the development of the Nigerian economy would also be ascertained.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, represented by a top official of the Ministry, said that it is pertinent for Nigerian universities to produce the skilled workforce that matches the needs of the market both in quality and quantity.
The Minister said that the survey will provide information required to evaluate the employability of graduates of science and Engineering programmes.
“A clear understanding of what happens to our graduates and how likely they are to find employment related and relevant to what they studied is a major concern”, he noted.
He added that the tracer survey is in line with the federal Government’s National Industrial Revolution Plan programme.
The pilot tracer study is focused on Petro- chemical and steel industries. 36 universities in Nigeria (public, private and state) have been selected for pilot programmes of the tracer study.
