The Senate has
passed an amendment to the law establishing the National Open University, which
will make graduates of the institution eligible for mobilisation by the
National Youth Service Corps and to attend the Nigerian Law School.
The passage
followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Tertiary
Institutions and TETFund on the ‘Bill for An Act to Amend the National Open
University Act Cap N6 LFN 1983 (Amendment) Bill 2017’ by the lawmakers at the
plenary on Thursday.
In the
report, the Senate panel stated that the amendment to the National Open
University of Nigeria Act was to bring the institution at par with the regular
universities in the country.
The report
said, “The objectives of the bill are as follows: firstly, to amend the
existing legislation with a view to removing the perception of the public about
the university in respect of the word ‘correspondence,’ which gives the
impression that the university is not a full-time university and, as such, seen
as part-time.
“These two
concepts – correspondence and part-time – significantly affect the way the
public views the programs run by the university. This has been the reason why
the Law graduates of the school are not admitted into the Nigerian Law School
as well as the reason for the non-inclusion of the graduates of the university
into the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
“Secondly,
to include lnformation and Communication Technology as another means of
providing tuition towards the advancement of learning throughout Nigeria. The
National Open University, as currently run, depends critically on virtual
learning and students’ individual research, hence, the need for improvement and
introduction of helpful learning tools as presented by lCT. This will further
deal with the challenge of limited access in the tertiary education sector.”
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