Senator, don seek better curriculum for tertiary education

A former lawmaker representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, and a professor of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, Prof. Mojeed Alabi, have called for holistic upgrade of the curriculum used in the nation’s tertiary education.

Saraki spoke in Ilorin on Monday while offering scholarship to some students for the 2014-2015 academic session.

Eight students from the Kwara State, who are studying Law, benefited from the N2.8m scholarship scheme. They received N350, 000 to cover their tuition and upkeep.

This came as Alabi, an adjunct Professor of Public Law, spoke at the UNILORIN inaugural lecture entitled, “Politics and Law: Anatomy of the Siamese twins.”

Saraki, who called for stakeholders’ cooperation to improve the quality of education, linked the perceived dwindling standard of Law education in the country to the poor preparations at the primary and secondary school levels.

She said, “I do not think that we can adequately assess the standards of legal education without taking a critical look at the general education system of the country. There has been a general decline in the standards of education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary throughout Nigeria. So, the Nigerian Law School cannot be an exception because whatever is produced there is a reflection of the malaise that inflicts the overall education system.”

Alabi advocated that students of law should take courses from the social sciences, particularly Political Science for exposure.

He added that initiative would help law students to gain extra knowledge from other departments in order to produce the ‘total man’.