…as UNILAG’s DLI holds fifth international colloquium
Nigeria’s growing demand for university education amid limited capacity in conventional institutions has renewed calls for the country to scale up Open and Distance Learning (ODL) as a viable pathway to expanding access to higher education.
The call was made by academics and education stakeholders at the fifth International Colloquium organised by the Distance Learning Institute (DLI), University of Lagos (UNILAG), where speakers stressed the need for Nigeria to harness technology and flexible learning models to bridge the widening gap in university enrolment.
Folasade Ogunsola, the vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, speaking at the institute’s fifth international colloquium, held on Tuesday, said, in Nigeria where there are about 89 million youth between age 15-30years and the average age is 19years with a growing demand for higher education, significant geographical inequalities in access, and a labour market that increasingly demands continuous learning and reskilling, it is clear that the old university model will not educate the teeming youth population.
“Today, technology has made it possible to learn from anywhere. Open and Distance Learning provides an important pathway for expanding access to higher education for workers, people with disabilities, those living far from university campuses and those who simply need a more flexible mode of learning,” she said.
