GOVERNMENT POLICY OF CARRYING CAPACITY AND ENROLMENT TO UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: BASIC REALITIES

Agbonlahor, Adenike Adetola

Federal College of Education,

Osiele Abeokuta Ogun State

Email:agbonlahoradenike@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Education is considered by many people as the panacea for national development. This explains the reasons many nations emphasize the need for educational policy in designing their plan for accelerated development. Thus, various programmes have been launched in Nigeria aimed at universalizing access and promoting equity in educational opportunity for the citizenry. Access to education is equally given a place in the National Policy in education. Furthermore, also enshrined in the Nigeria constitution is equity, as contained in section 18 of 1999. However, the demand for education especially at the university level has grown higher than supply, making the university system to outgrow the resources available to it to continue offering high quality education. In an effort to maintain quality and standard, the National Universities Commission (NUC) adopted the policy of carrying capacity. Unfortunately, this policy poses an impediment to access. Therefore, this paper examined the meaning of carrying capacity and having university education. The work under consideration also highlight the quest and availability of education at the tertiary level in Nigeria, matters carried in the policy that directs carrying capacity and its impediments vis-à-vis having university education in our country. Finally, the paper provides the way forward to enhance university carrying capacity and make having university education expensive. Suggestions include improved funding, facilities/infrastructure, dual mode universities, amongst others.

Keywords: Policy of carrying capacity, enrolment, demand and supply of university education, .