CONTEST ENTRY: 24 HOURS AS THE VICE CHANCELLOR OF YOUR UNIVERSITY || 10% payout to campusconnect
8:00 am. Monday. 25th Nov. 2018
Jimbazz roars into life. The faint,squeaky horn of the 504 UNN shuttle pierces the silence across the road. Time to drop off for lectures. Seven students squeeze out of the crampy interiors of the vehicle. A pretty lady alights, clumsily pulling her skirt down, applying another cake of powder and fidgeting with her disheveled hair. Drip is eternal.
The vehicle groans and coughs up a thick cloud of black fumes before zooming off.
A small crowd of 200 students wait outside a tiny lecture room Jimbazz301. 2nd floor upstairs. Lecturer is late as usual.
An old woman slowly walks to the door. A bunch of keys rattling in her hands. Students slowly swarm in behind her. A struggle for a seat is about to begin.
Door is opened. A stampede ensues. The old woman is flung into a far corner of the class by rushing students. A young lady is pushing her way into the class through the crowd and falls. Her screams of agony are muffled as students shout, swear, drag and pull at each other. A young man angrily pulls his way into class. His fingers are stained with blood and hooked around the large earrings of a sobbing, young lady.
The rusty rails of Jimbazz 301, groan and sway under the weight of several careless students leaning into it. A 10 foot drop could be fatal. A sensitive young man, realizes the danger and pulls off the stampede, hastily adjusting his stained and rumpled white shirt. Better to be late than be late.
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8:49 am. Same day.
Dust settles. Half of the students are seated inside. Another half are standing behind and outside the class.
Everyone is sweaty and sticky. 20 leaves exercise books frantically used as fans to no avail.
The lecturer arrives.
In 20minutes she hastily reads 5 pages off a textbook, drops and assignment and leaves the classroom.
Another stampede is cooking. Students gradually begin rushing off to another tiny lecture hall for the second class. GS building.
(Lights out)
INTRODUCTION
This fictional short story above attempts to describe a typical Monday morning in an overcrowded faculty in my university. A major challenge we face as campus students in Nigerian Institutions.
This premise would be my focus and priority if given an opportunity to serve as Vice Chancellor for 24hrs in my institution.
Below is a detailed explanation on how I would approach and handle this task to ensure development of the institution.
Read on!!
OVERPOPULATION IN RESPECT TO INFRASTRUCTURE
Overpopulation of institution in this context simply refers to the number of students being grossly above the capacity of the hostel and classroom facilities in institutions.
ANALYSIS: What are the CAUSES of OVERPOPULATION in my campus, the EFFECT on students and the SOLUTION to the problems?
CAUSES OF OVERPOPULATION:
A.Increase in Number of Jamb Applications and Post UME Entries:
Nigerian population is growing in number,hence the number of secondary school graduates continue to increase over the years.The average Nigerian youth has also understood the importance of education, hence more interest and efforts are channeled into getting a good degree in a university.
B. Poor and Stagnant Infrastructural Development:
This is a despicable situation in Nigeria as no significant changes are made to improve the standard and capacity of the university infrastructure and buildings.
Siting an example: Apart from a few extra buildings sprinkled here and there, there has been no major change in the infrastructure in UNN. Almost the same size and number of classrooms and student hostels in 2021 were present in 1996.
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C. Reckless Admission Process:
The admission process is not organized and the university prioritizes making money off students than giving genuine admission to individuals who merit it. This is reflected in the number of students who are listed for in post UME and then quickly cramped into departments which they did not apply for. The large number of students exceeds the recommended admission capacity for the department.
EFFECTS:
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A. Overcrowded lecture Halls and Classes:
This creates a poor learning environment for the students and negatively influence the quality of education they recieve. This is a big problem in the Educational Sector.
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B. Insufficient and Dirty Hostel Accommodation for Students:
The hostel facilities and structures are not capable of lodging the amount of students given admission into the school. A case where you see only 2 boys hostel accommodating over 2000 Students. The dirty environment that results are a health hazard to the education of the students.
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SOLUTIONS OBTAINABLE WITHIN 24HRS IN OFFICE:
A. Approve funds for Infrastructure Development:
As the VC of my institution, I would aptly approve and release fund for expansion and erection of classrooms and hostels to accomodate comfortably the present population of students in the institution.
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B. Enact Strict Rules To ensure Admission based on Merit:
This action would ensure that the number of students admitted each session does not exceed the capacity of the hostels and department. This would improve the students learning experience and the quality of education.
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C. Approve A Feasible Project on New Campus Branches and Affiliated Polytechnic and College of Educations:
This project Aim would be to offload the overpopulation stress on one campus and redistribute it to other campus branches in a state. This will ensure that students are evenly distributed over a number of campuses with different speciality on Post graduate and Undergraduate fields of study.
SUMMARY
This short article is my entry for the #week12 contest by @ campusconnectng with the topic: "24 Hours as the Vice Chancellor of your institution."
My article attempts to solve the major issue we face in my institution.
Hope you enjoyed reading!!!
I've exhausted my little knowledge.
Please be kind to leave a comment and/or suggestion.
A big shout-out to each unique member of the @campusconnectng community.
Special thanks to @whitestallion for hosting this contest and the campus captains UNN @swaylee and UNEC @alphafx.
I also appreciate the efforts of the plagiarism moderators. They do a good job.
Wow, I never knew you were a UNN student and you are right, the over population there is second to none, I just wish something could be done about it
Yea. I was in UNN for my first year. I crossed over to UNEC and the same problem persist in the system.
I stopped attending classes the day I nearly fell off that last floor due to the stampede. And the class later didn't hold, just imagine!
Your analysis of this situation is acute. You hit the nail on the head because that is the real problem UNN has.
Thank you. I appreciate your feedback
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Thank you so much
Our universities indeed need serious change.
A big change Indeed. Thank you for your contribution.
This is a good plan @kachimax. Overcrowding seems to be a major issue in all Nigerian Institutions, just wish something tangible would be done.
I hope so too
Nice one
I really love how you composed your article.
VC in the making 😁
Thank you. I'm flattered.
You really took me on a journey of what UNN students pass through just to attend classes. You would make a good VC.
Thanks. I'm now shy. You flatter me.
You're welcome dearie