Are some university disciplines becoming extinct?

Tick-tock. The clock cannot move fast enough for 200 level students of a Nigerian University which Saturday School Life, SSL, visited recently. It is a compulsory General Studies class and this semester’s focus is on Philosophy. As the students’ wander blindly through a lecture on Plato’s allegory of the cave, some scratch their heads wondering: ‘how on earth is this relevant to my life and career?’

Beyond the general class however, there are students who study Philosophy full time. One of such students is Bimbo Odulami a 300 level student at the Lagos State University    , LASU, who confirmed to SSL that it was not originally the course of her choice. She said: ‘‘I wanted to study Mass Communication, but I did not have enough good result during my qualifying examinations, and had to opt for Philosophy as a last resort.’’ Despite the fact that Forbes list put Philosophy and Religious studies at the 4th worst college major in the world because of its fewer prospects, Odulami believes that her discipline could help in the job market. She said, “Since it’s a wide course, I can work anywhere. I can work wherever I choose to.’’

However, with a 54% unemployment rate, very few Nigerian graduates have the luxury of choice. If graduates of disciplines in supposedly high demand are scarcely employed, how much more others?

Blazing the trail on Forbes list of worst university disciplines is the study of Anthropology and Archeology, followed closely by Film, Video and Photographic Arts, with Fine Arts in third place. Liberal Arts is fifth, Music sixth, Commercial Arts and Graphic Design is eighth on the list. History and English Language are ninth and tenth place respectively. On the other hand, in its list of best disciplines, Forbes puts Biomedical Engineering at the top, followed by Biochemistry, then Computer Science and Software Engineering.

In fifth place is Environmental Engineering, followed by Civil engineering, Geology, Management Information Systems, Applied Mathematics and Mathematics. While some argue that in line with the information above, Nigerian Universities most focus on disciplines that are in-line with the demands of the global market, others argue that all courses of study at Nigerian universities are still relevant as the demands of the Nigerian market have not yet caught up with the rest of the world.

Dr. Andrews Jegede, the National President of the Association of Innovation and Vocational Institutions argues in favour of the former. He told SSL: ‘‘Universities are becoming less and less relevant because they are still adopting the style of teaching and learning what was handed over to us by the British. There is too much focus on the theoretical aspect instead of practical aspect. And that is not good news because we are in the age of technology; the labour market is concerned about what graduates can do beyond what they learnt in school.

As for the disciplines being outdated, it is not that they are totally irrelevant, but the number of graduates being churned out in some fields is high compared to the low demand for such graduates. Universities must employ what the innovative enterprise institutions do; which is constantly being in touch with professionals from the field so as to sharpen students and graduates to meet the existing market needs of this digital age.’’

Professor Victor Ariole, a French professor at the University of Lagos thinks differently. He said: Nigeria employment market is still at secondary level, hence all disciplines in the training of the hand and mind are relevant. For example, Journalism is no more print in Japan but people are still trained in other lesser countries.

American universities are employing lecturers for African languages for the mind and computer programming.’’

Forbes list aside, SSL’s survey of Nigerian students revealed that many regard courses such as Agricultural economics, native Nigerian languages, Physical and Health Education, to mention a few, as less marketable, but are quick to identify Computer Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Law and Accounting among others as careers with more prospects. Needless to say, the debate about what careers are better than others has been on for centuries.

Yet also more historic are ever evident testimonies of successful people in fields which they never had any formal training. Buttressing the point of the late Canadian Physician, William Osler, that “the higher education so much needed today is not given in the school, is not to be bought in the market place, but it has to be wrought out in each one of us for himself; it is the silent influence of character on character.’’

Tweet