Re-Engineering Nigerian Higher Education for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness

Abstract

The study investigated re-engineering Nigerian higher education for sustainable development and global competitiveness. the study which adopted descriptive survey design was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The population of the study consisted of the three thousand, six hundred and twenty (3, 620) lecturers in the three public universities in Rivers State. A sample of seven hundred and twenty-four (724) lecturers comprising of 408 male and 316 female lecturers. The sample size drawn through stratified random sampling technique represented 20% of the population. Data for the study was collected with a questionnaire entitled “Re-engineering Nigerian higher education for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness Questionnaire (RENHESDGCQ)”. The instrument which contained 18 items was properly validated and the test of reliability yielded 0.80 through Cronbach Alpha Method. Mean, percentages, standard deviation and mean set were used to answer the research questions while z-test was used to analyse the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the justifications for re-engineering Nigerian higher education for sustainable development and global competitiveness include among others the need to review higher education curriculum, address funding, infrastructural, and management issues. While the strategies that could be adopted for re-engineering higher education in Nigeria include among others reviewing of programmes and curriculum; internationalization of higher education; and addressing funding and other issues facing higher education in Nigeria. Based on the findings conclusion was drawn and the following recommendation was made among others: government should review academic programmes and curriculum of higher institutions in Nigeria in line with global demands for knowledge, skills and technology.