Varsity VC Prescribes Practical, Hands-on Curriculum to Bridge Skills Gap, Check Graduate Unemployment

Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The Vice Chancellor (VC), of MIVA Open University, Prof. Tayo Arulogun, has recommended that institutions of higher learning should tilt towards practical hands-on curriculum to enable their graduates acquire skills that make them job creators, and not just job seekers.

Speaking during a media chat with journalists on Wednesday in Abuja on the institution’s journey so far and the plans ahead, Arulogun explained the school’s curriculum is now tilted towards practical teaching that leads to job creation rather than the traditional theoretical teaching that lends credence to employment-seeking.

He said Nigerian universities can bridge the skills gap between the academia and the industry.

According to him, “We know that we must not just be teaching theory only. We must tilt our curriculum towards practical hands-on sessions so that once people graduate, they can actually be job creators. They are not just people who are looking for jobs.

“It is about mindset change so that people do not start looking for jobs. They become job creators. And that is what we are doing at MIVA Open University to ensure that we have embedded that into our curricula. 70% of them are already employed with this approach.

“And also, we set up what we call Career Advancement Centre so we link them to the industry. Also, we teach them practical skills for them to become innovators and to become founders. All these are things that we are doing for our students.”

Arulogun noted that partnership with industry players had helped in bridging the gap, adding, “We go beyond theory. We have an existing MoU and working relationship with industry. For example, we have a relationship with Terra Industry to ensure that our students are able to design and develop robotics, design and develop robots, drones.”

The university vice chancellor stressed that part of what his institution had actually done was that the robotics laboratory donated by Terra Industries was developed, adding that Terra Industries understood that the university needed to build people, increase the capacity of graduates so that they can function in that industry.

“We have that relationship with Them and some other organisations,”” he explained.

On how MIVA Open University was able to achieve practical teaching, he said, “MIVA is digital. I know most of the time we associate digital with online. What we do is blended learning-technology mediated learning.

“It’s not that everything is done online. We have some components that we do online. So, students will do what we call self-study, and then there is physical interaction, hands-on session that they have to do at our study centres and at our partner locations across Nigeria.”

According to him, “traditionally, all universities are tailored to be a teaching university. But we are moving to a research-based university. Our last convocation, we graduated 1,212 students.

“And more than 60% of them were post-graduates. So, what that means is that we must go through that process to go into research. And by next year, we will start academic post-graduate programmes.”

He disclosed that the institution runs five undergraduate schools, including Communication and Media Studies; eight postgraduate programmes, including DBA, MBA, MPA, Master of Public Health, and Master of Information Technology.

In her presentation, Head, School of Applied Sciences, Dr. Josephine Ibu reaffirmed that the university’s lectures are also hands-on, and given practical expression in the laboratory to demonstrate what has been taught in the classroom.