Education
Nigerian Open University, NOUN scraps Law Programme, over 1000 students’ career in danger
The National Open University (NOUN) Law students have called out for help over the scrapping of the law programme by the University management, leaving students who are nearing completion of their projects in dilemma.
It was gathered that the on 25th of January, 2023, the University’s Senate ratified the scrapping of the law degree programme of the University, at the end of the 2023 second semester .
Concerned by the development, students under the aegis of “concerned law students” wrote the House of Representatives seeking intervention.
In the letter dated on 27th of October, 2023, the House of Representatives acknowledged the call for intervention while promising to convene a meeting between student representatives and the management of the Open University.
Other correspondences received show that between November 2023 and January, 2024, the National Assembly held a meeting between the students and the university management however, this has not led to a meaningful development.
It was learnt that over 1500 final year students of the university are affected by the decision to make the law department “cease to exist”.
These students are at the risk of not graduating despite spending millions to study the law degree in the institution.
It was gathered that it cost about N3 million for a law student to graduate up to 500 level in the institution.
Students of the institution had earlier lamented their inability to be issued graduation certificates and failure of the university to convoke them, putting them in a dilemma of lacking evidence to show for their academic sojourn in the institution.
Although the University denied, NOUN, which operates a distance-learning and study Centre model, has been at the fore of controversies around issues of accreditation and management.
Students lament that the institution does not usually communicate developments to it and fails to attend to their queries on these developments that affect their academic wellbeing.
A student who does not want to be named noted that the decision on the law students for instance was first seen on social media with no official communication to them.
“We were not notified, we only saw a statement on social media suggesting that the law programme would be stopped after we spent how many years on it and no one has offered any form of apology or genuine concern”.
It was also gathered that the university intends not to take in new law students in order to seek fresh accreditation for the law programme; however the legal dreams of the current 500-level law students and their investments for five years is threatened by the decision on the institution’s law programme.
The Public Relations Officer of NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, refused to comment on the development when contacted, asking the reporter to instead visit him in the office. (SaharaReporters)
Newly admitted students of Enugu State College of Education (Technical), ESCET, have been urged to embrace academic discipline saying any student who indulges in anti-social vices would be rusticated.
The institution which is affiliated to the University of Nigeria Nsukka ( UNN) made this known at the weekend during the 19th matriculation ceremony for over 500 new students admitted into the various programmes of the college including National Certificate of Education, NCE, Degree, Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and Outreach.
Provost of the College, Dr. Stella Chinweudo Ekwueme, in her address at the occasion, congratulated the students and urged them to take their academic journey seriously.
ESCET Provost, Dr. Stella Chinweudo Ekwueme
She emphasized the importance of regular class attendance, timely completion of assignments and extensive use of the College Library.
“I urge you to embrace academic discipline, personal integrity, and responsible conduct. Cultism, drug abuse, and other vices have no place in our academic environment,” the provost said.
Dr Ekwueme told the students that the College maintains strict zero-tolerance policy on such matters, encouraging them to contribute meaningfully by upholding high moral standard while in the institution.
Vice Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Oguejiofo T. Ujam, represented by the Director of Academic Planning, Prof. Anthony Attama, also addressing the students, reemphasizes the need for strict adherence to institution’s laid down rules and regulations.
He assured them of the University’s commitment to creating a conducive academic environment for all and encouraged them to report any form of exploitation from any staff to the appropriate authority through the office of the Dean Students Affairs.
He also cautioned against involvement in cultism warning that “any student found to be involved in secret cult activities will be rusticated”.
The Vice Chancellor condemned cybercrime, stating that the university “frowns at all forms of ICT-assisted crimes.
In a show of government support, the Hon. Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah in a speech presented by His Special Adviser, Dr. Obinna Muouh, assured the College Community of the unwavering support of Governor Peter Mbah to the College.
He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment’s to enhancing the welfare and development of the institution.
The well-added ceremony was marked under a convivial atmosphere as newly admitted students took their matriculation oaths symbolizing the official commencement of their academic pursuit at the College.
Aderibigbe, a student of Starville International School, Jabi, Abuja, also scored 86 in Physics; 68 in English and 84 in Economics.
The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, while giving a breakdown of the 2025 UTME statistics, noted that 12,414 of the over 1.9M who sat the UTME scored 300 and above, with only 4,756 scoring 320 and above.
Last year, out of 1.9 million candidates who sat the 2024 UTME, only 8,000 candidates, or 0.5 per cent, scored above 300 points in the examination.
The 2025 UTME results were officially released to the public on Friday, with over 1.5 million candidates scoring below 200, which is considered the average benchmark.
The UTME, which is scored over a total of 400 marks, tests candidates across four core subjects.
While the Use of English is mandatory for all, candidates are allowed to choose three other subjects relevant to their intended course of study.
Reacting to the performance data, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said the results reflect the effectiveness of government efforts to curb exam malpractice.
Speaking with our correspondent on Saturday, Olamide’s father, Niran Aderibigbe, expressed gratitude to God over the result of his son.
“He hopes to study Architecture at Covenant University or the University of Ibadan.”
The PUNCH
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has released a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results.
The breakdown offers a full picture of the performances by Nigerian candidates in the examination conducted across the country.
According to JAMB, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, over 1.5 million of them scored less than 200 in the exam.
It, however, announced that 4756 candidates scored above 320, 7658 candidates scored between 300 and 319.
In the statement accompanying the data, the Board said that 40,247 underage candidates were permitted to demonstrate their exceptional abilities.
JAMB further stated that only 467 of these candidates (1.16%) achieved scores that meet the threshold for exceptional ability as defined for the UTME, with their performance in the subsequent three stages still pending.
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