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President of UNESCO General Conference and Nigeria's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Ambassador (Prof.) Micheal Omolewa has disclosed that UNESCO will do everything possible to assist the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in meeting its mandate of providing quality assurance education to its teeming students.
President of UNESCO General Conference and Nigeria's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Ambassador (Prof.) Micheal Omolewa has disclosed that UNESCO will do everything possible to assist the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in meeting its mandate of providing quality assurance education to its teeming students.
Omolewa stated this on Monday after been conducted round some of the facilities already in place by the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede.
According to him, the history of open and distance learning in Nigeria was dated back to early nineties; hence the assistance would allow those who want to leran to do so in order to boost the economic and development of the country.
Like the conventional universities, Omolewa remarked that the Open University would further lift the country's image and confirm its status not only in Africa but the world over.
While commending the management and staff of the institutions for the feats achieved so far, the professor of Adult Education canvassed support for the university by the government and other corporate organisations to fulfill its mandate.
He said the United Nations Education Science Culture (UNESCO) has already confirmed the status of the university.
Earlier in his address, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, said NOUN is government bid to establish a university of excellence which is focused on providing every Nigerian with an access to higher education that is affordable, quality assured as well as achieved the goal of providing education for all.
Having established Regional Training and research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL), Jegede however appealed for the sub-region office of RETRIDAL to be raised to regional office of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) to realise the millennium development goals and education for all.
On behalf of the university, Jegede requested that the regional UNESCO office assist the institution extensively in the area of finance for proper take off.
"The financial assistance we are receiving from UNESCO in this regard is still scanty and in trickles," he said.
He further asked UNESCO to assist in capacity building strategies in the area of training, saying we would be delighted if our staff could be helped to acquire experience and skills through work place training and induction in open and distance learning (ODL).