Ex-NUC Secretary Encourages Effective Teaching, Good Practices Among Teachers

Former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Emeritus Prof. Peter Okebukola has urged teachers to adopt effective teaching, partnership, and good practices to promote academic excellence among Nigerian students.

Okebukola made the call at the workshop organised for senior lecturers of Lagos State University (LASU), on revamping academic culture toward achieving academic excellence in the institution.

“Lecturers in LASU should collaborate internally and externally among themselves in order to boost research in the institution because LASU has about the best teachers in Nigeria’s university system.

“University teaching is different from secondary school teaching.

"According to the survey, good practices in university teaching are reviewing previous lectures, presenting current, and summarising the lesson.

“Others include: relating topic to sociocultural context, promptness to class, self-evaluating his/her lesson, dressing well, using technology to support teaching and good communication skills,” Okebukola advised.

He added that some factors work against quality teaching including poor welfare and an inconducive learning environment.

“Others are; poor welfare schemes and fairly long distances to travel from home to the university.

“Some bad practices in university teaching are spending more than half of the time on non-lesson related discussion, intimidating students, and lateness to class or not at all.

“Failure to cover the course syllabus, poor dressing to class, poor use of technology and variety of teaching approaches and poor feedback to students,” he said.

Also present at the workshop, former VC, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Prof. Michael Faborode also encouraged universities to leverage technology in regenerating their institutions.

“ICT is the fulcrum on which the various elements of the blueprint for revitalisation rest, hence universities must be ready to deploy for effective teaching.

“By 2023, scholars in Nigerian universities should be among the top three in productivity as measured by national and global productivity standards to solve socio-economic challenges.

“Every nation needs their university sectors to apply and produce knowledgeable well-skilled workers across the skills spectrum in order to be competitive in the global economy.

“Universities must therefore be well funded and accorded needed recognition and in return respond to the crucial need that determines their local relevance and social value,” Faborode urged.