FINALLY: STUDENTS LAMENT COMPULSORY HANDOUTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.

FINALLY!!
Students lament compulsory handouts in tertiary
institutions
ON November 3, 2016 10:36 PM / IN Education ,

INSTITUTIONS in Nigeria have long been citadels
where students must buy text books and
‘handouts’ (materials) recommended and written by
their lecturers before they can pass the courses being
taught by the lecturers.
As a result of the recession in the country, students
lament that; instead of being considerate and relax
their resolve of making text books compulsory,
lecturers still compel students to buy their text books,
otherwise, they will fail their courses.
Lecturers, however, revealed that they sell textbooks to
survive the economic hardship since their salaries are
quite discouraging and not being paid as at when due.
Meanwhile, some of the students who spoke to
Quadlife revealed that they are being punished,
intimidated and frustrated by lecturers as a result of
not being able to buy the books compelled to buy.
A female student of Faculty of Arts, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, who did not want her name in
print revealed that text books are actually made
compulsory in the school by some lecturers amidst this
economic recession. “It has gotten to a point where
one cannot make use of text books used by their elders
simply because the receipts of the text books must be
submitted to the lecturers while registering their
ourses.
Photocopy of the materials
“In my department one lecturer said his textbooks are
not compulsory but will tell the class representative to
get him the names of those that paid. What will he be
doing with the names if the books are not compulsory?
“A lecturer will release materials to students and
demand that they pay certain amount to him for
releasing the materials. What pains me is that we
make the photocopy of the materials with our money
and still pay him for releasing the materials to us. He
used to say, ‘A doctor (Ph.D) cannot release his
knowledge to students free of charge.”
Also lamenting the situation, Ifeanyi Eze (not real
name), a 300-level student of Education and Applied
Arts, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, said that
students face untold hardship in the hands of lecturers
in the form of  intimidation, punishment and sometimes,
out-right failing the students.
“For me, as a student, handouts are only necessary and
not compulsory. So, lecturers should not compel
students to buy handouts because, it is too obvious
that most of the textbooks do not correspond with the
course outline.”
Bankole Adure, a Higher National Diploma, HND,
student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, MAPOLY, Ogun
state, said textbooks and handouts are necessary
ingredients to get good grades as they afford students
the opportunity to get in depth knowledge of their
courses.
Adure frowned at the idea where lecturers compel their
students to buy textbooks and handouts that are  not in
line with the course outline. “I believe if textbooks and
handouts are optional, the results of students will be
poor compared to when it is made compulsory.
However, if the handouts do not tally with the subjects,
authorities should not engage students to buy them.”
Another student from Faculty of Education, UNN, who
identified herself as Agatha, noted that some general
courses textbooks in the institution are made
compulsory, adding that if students do not buy them,
they would register the courses and that would be an
automatic fail. “The textbooks of two courses offered
by Center for Entrepreneurship Development are made
compulsory, Statistics, Computer Science and the
General Studies units make textbooks compulsory.”
She noted that the prizes of the books range from
N1200 to N1700.
Explaining the reason lecturers  impose texbooks and
handouts on students, a lecturer in one of the federal
universities, Dr. Chukwuemeka (not real name), said;
“You cannot really blame lecturers. Take me for
instance, my salary, as I am speaking to you is N123,
000 based on my rank. If you tell me to relocate to
Lagos, I wouldn’t because the cost of living is so high
and I wouldn’t be able to take anything home.
“A senior lecturer earns about 220, 000, a professor’s
salary stops at 550,000. This is very poor and this is
because the reward for academia is very poor.
Lecturers and teachers are struggling to make ends
meet and their commitment level is therefore low.

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SOURCE: VANGUARD