Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan has stated that the number of youths seeking admission to acquire University education outstretches the current available opportunities, hence, as the country grow in population, infrastructure should also expands.
He spoke in Abuja at a one day public hearing on three educational advancement bills which was sponsored by him.
He said, there was need for the training of technology-based students to solve technological problems in the 21st century.
The bills which earlier scaled first reading, but which were considered for public hearing on Thursday are: “A bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Technology Yaba and for other matters connected therewith, 2021; a bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Technology, Ilaro, Ogun State and a bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Nigerian French Language Village.”
Olamilekan expressed shock at the recent study by the “Population Institute Canada”, which revealed that only 26% of 10 million applicants to Nigeria’s tertiary institutions secure admissions.
The lawmaker who represented Lagos West Senatorial District said when Yaba College of Technology is upgraded to a University, it would further serve the interest of Nigerians, having being existing with the present status since 1952.
Speaking on hurdles of getting admission, he said: “The trend continues unabated till date. From Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) records in 2017, only 30% out of the 1.7 million candidates who wrote the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) got admission.
“With about 170 public and private Universities in Nigeria with a capacity for about 700,000 students at any point in time, it is clear that in Nigeria we are yet to get to the point where we have enough admission spaces in Universities for our youths in Nigeria.
The public hearing was attended by stakeholders from the educational community including Rectors of the affected Polytechnics as well as traditional rulers.
