FG moves to end ‘make-believe’ accreditation in tertiary institutions

The Federal Government has moved to overhaul the accreditation system for Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, warning institutions against presenting a false or temporary picture of their academic and infrastructural capacity during accreditation exercises.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave the warning in Abuja on Tuesday while inaugurating a Ministerial Committee on Strengthening the Accreditation and Quality Assurance System for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.

Alausa said the era of temporarily assembling lecturers, equipment and facilities ahead of accreditation visits must end, stressing that institutions should be assessed on resources that are genuinely available and sustainable.

He said the government would deploy digital technology, identity-management systems, geospatial mapping and other verification mechanisms to ensure that what institutions present to accreditation teams reflects their actual capacity.

“An institution should not be able to prepare a temporary picture of itself simply for the purpose of an accreditation visit. Sadly, this is what we see in a majority of instances,” the minister said.

Alausa expressed concern over the temporary movement of academic and non-academic personnel between institutions, as well as the borrowing or relocation of laboratory equipment, workshop resources, library materials and other facilities solely to impress accreditation teams.

He said such practices undermined the integrity of the tertiary education system and denied students access to the resources and personnel used to secure approval for academic programmes.

“We must ensure that when an accreditation team visits an institution, what it sees and verifies should represent the actual and sustainable capacity of that institution, not an arrangement assembled for the accreditation exercise,” he said.