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Standard of education in Nigeria has declined — Buhari

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Senators congratulate Buhari, hail colleagues turned GovernorsPresident Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the standard of education in the country has declined drastically.

He made this remark on Saturday in Rivers State at the 30th convocation and 40th anniversary of the University of Port Harcourt.

The president urged university authorities to also give more attention to security of lives and property within their terrain.

Represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, the president noted that no meaningful teaching, learning and research could take place in an atmosphere of insecurity and fear.

“The Federal Government is aware of the setback to research in our universities due to brain drain, loss of research development assistance and weakened links with overseas development partners in the last three decades.

“In recent times, the efforts of the private sector and government in the expansion of access to university education through the establishment of universities have been unprecedented.

“We must continue to ensure that our deserving youths, who are desirous of university education, are able to gain admission into universities and receive quality education.

“Students are at the centre of university life and must therefore be well catered for. Universities must strive to engage the private sector in adequately regulated Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model of provision of students’ accommodation to ensure that students are not exploited in any way.

“Universities must therefore endeavour to complete their perimeter fencing, where needed and adhere to legal processes concerning land titles and other issues,” the President said.

He pointed out that the capacity building project for improved quality of lecturers was yielding the desired results, disclosing that over 12,000 university teachers have benefitted from it.

“This administration will continue to support the Nigerian university system in ensuring that learning, teaching and research facilities are constantly upgraded and up to date so as to make the institutions globally competitive.

“We are aware of the concerted efforts made by UNIPORT in various aspects of research, particularly in the area of oil and gas studies, through your Institute of Petroleum Studies, “ he said.