•University applications must be more balanced, diversified and tailored to Nigeria’s manpower needs

As the Joint Matriculation and Admissions Board (JAMB) prepares to conduct the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for candidates seeking admission into Nigeria’s tertiary educational institutions, more must be done to ensure that candidates apply for courses in a more balanced manner. This has become important, given the fact that 435,897 of the over 1.8 million candidates (almost one in every four) sitting this year’s UTME are seeking admission into just two faculties – Medicine and Pharmacy. This figure represents nearly 25 per cent of overall candidates, and is a problematic reflection of parental aspirations, social pressures, and considerations of prestige, as much as individual preference.

Social Science received 376,388 applications, followed by Sciences (280,780); Engineering/Technology/Environmental Sciences (208,932); Administration (166,348); Arts and Humanities (108,809). There is no doubt that courses in Medicine and Pharmacy are worthy of any qualified candidate’s consideration. Nigeria is in dire need of medical and pharmaceutical professionals. An estimated 2,000 doctors leave the country annually for greener climes. The physician-patient ratio is 1:4000, far below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended ratio of 1:600. The ratio of one pharmacist to 12,000 citizens also fails to meet the WHO recommendation of one to 2000.

The attractions of Medicine and Pharmacy courses are many and varied. They are relatively well-paid professional courses whose graduates are held in great esteem by the public. Consequently, there is often a great deal of parental pressure aimed at ensuring that candidates apply for courses in these faculties, regardless of what their personal wishes might be. In spite of this, the grim reality is that the country’s universities are clearly not equipped to handle the number of candidates that have applied for courses in Medicine and Pharmacy. The inevitable result is that many of those who have applied to these faculties will eventually be compelled to wait another year or seek admission into courses they should have considered in the first place.

The country clearly needs medical and pharmaceutical professionals. But it also needs engineers, scientists, teachers, designers, agricultural experts and lawyers as well. It is particularly distressing that the applications to Engineering, Technology and Sciences for the 2019 UTME were relatively low. The three faculties are the basis of several important professions in manufacturing and industry. Without the critical mass of engineers, technologists and scientists leading Nigeria’s technological development, it is difficult to see how the country can achieve its dreams of industrial growth.

Nigeria must begin to tailor its university admissions process to meet strategic national needs. To achieve this, the country must first obtain accurate statistics on the exact shortfalls in skills required in industry, manufacturing, agriculture, business, Information and Communications Technology, education and other professions. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the National Manpower Board should collaborate to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the country’s skills gap in the higher-level cadres of employment. The results should then be forwarded to the ministries of Education, Budget and National Planning, the National Universities Commission (NUC), and JAMB, as well as the country’s universities, which must work out policies designed to ensure that the identified shortfalls are filled within a prescribed deadline.

Universities must be encouraged to focus on courses for which they have comparative advantage. The January 2017 directive ordering the closure of unapproved programmes by specialized universities must be pursued to a logical conclusion. While no course can be deemed to be absolutely useless, greater priority should be given to courses that align with the country’s development goals. An entrepreneurship component must be integrated into all courses, so that students are better able to discern opportunities for self-employment. More effective guidance and counselling services should be provided in secondary schools to enable students to make informed choices.