REBRANDING NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS: PROFESSIONAL VIEWS AND PERCEPTION OF ACADEMICS FROM A NIGERIA UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Nigeria educational system particularly higher education was perceived by many as not meeting up to expectation. High level of insecurity, poor political consciousness, poor economic growth and over dependency on crude oil and other social ills that have permeated the polity in Nigeria are arguably traceable to poor educational system in the country since no nation can grow beyond her level of education. It is also said that ignorance breeds poverty, diseases and crime. There are arguments that may account for urgent need for complete over hauling or rebranding of the educational system. The quest to investigate the perceptions of academics as well as the views of professionals on rebranding the educational systems necessitated this study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted all the lecturers at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Eighty-four lecturers selected through cluster sampling participated in the study. A selfdeveloped questionnaire (RNESQ) was used for data gathering. The content validity ratio = 1 and Cronbach alpha r =0.85 were obtained for the validity and reliability respectively. Analysis of data showed that the perception of the lecturers on rebranding the educational system is high (mean = 12.54; 86.17%). Also, that there is no interaction effect between sex and cadre on the lecturers' perception of rebranding Nigeria educational system (F(4,74)= 0.53; p = 0.72; partial 2 η = 0.03). The study concluded that the lecturers perceived that Nigeria educational system should be rebranded with sex and cadre having no significant influence on their perceptions