Why Post Graduate Students Take Longer Time To Graduate In Public Varsities

Chidimma C. Okeke

“I will advise that if you have money and want to do your masters, it’s either you go abroad or to a private university. Nigerian public universities, yes they have the lecturers, the experience but trust me they will frustrate you and with the level of frustration, I don’t think people really learn on what they are supposed to anymore, they just want to get the certificate and get out,” said Adenike who took five years to get a master degree in a Nigerian public university.Why post graduate students take longer time to graduate in public varsities.

Adenike who does not want her surname mentioned said: “I got my admission for my masters in 2016 but lectures started in 2017 and between 2017 and 2019, I had three carryovers and I rewrote them but kept failing one particular course and I was wondering what the issue was.”

Narrating her experience, she said: “I was advised to see the lecturer to know what the problem was and he categorically told me that I am a working class lady and I just think I would come to do my masters without forming some kind of rapport in the sense that I needed to be buying my lecturers some stuff and I said okay.

“The first time I saved N20,000 and gave the link between me and the lecturer, the money never came back to me and I thought it was okay, I rewrote the course and I failed again.

“I went back to the lecturer and he told me if undergraduates lecturers are giving N20, 000 why should I, a post graduate student and working class still give N20,000. I was shocked and asked where he expected me to get more money, he said if undergraduates are getting such money, what excuse do I have as a working class,” she said.

According to her, she had to look for another N50,000 and also gave N10, 000 at one point and along the line she passed but not with high grades but it was good enough for her to be done and focus on her project.

She however, noted that for an extra year spent, she had to pay another school fee.

“I rounded off my project and went for my defence in 2020, before COVID -19, I actually got my certificate in 2022 and that means it took me roughly five years to complete my masters, which was meant to be for about two years.

Adenike stressed that due to the lecturer’s actions, the quality of students being graduated these days is nothing to write about.

Adenike is not the only one who felt frustrated while pursuing post graduate studies in public varsities but so are many other students, leading to many spending extra years before they will be done and many others who had to drop or put a halt to their studies to pursue other things.

The masters course, which was supposed to last at a maximum of two years and PhD for three years now takes more years to be accomplished due to many factors ranging from frustration from lecturers, funding, tight schedule at work places, among other issues that students had to face while in pursuit of their academics.

Another master’s student, Mercy John said “I just had to abandon my project for a long time now after I was frustrated by my supervisor. You can imagine him changing my project topic for a very flimsy excuse after I had gone far.”

Mercy said her hopes were high when she got admission for a master’s degree to study one of the social sciences courses in a public university.

“It was a feat I didn’t imagine I would get considering how my pursuit for higher education started. When I was encouraged to go for masters, I thought it was beyond me but my belief changed when I was handed my admission letter,” she said.

After the registration and classes commenced, she was elated that she was going above her expectations in terms of pursuing higher education considering that none of her siblings went beyond first degree.

“Though, my attention was divided between my work and school, I must say it was not easy but somehow I managed to go through the class lecture, assignment, and examination. It wasn’t easy because of the cost implications. I was lucky to clear my papers without having to re-sit for any one, but I later discovered that the frustration I felt earlier was nothing, until the project issue started,” she said.

“My first challenge was getting a topic that my supervisor would accept, which took me a longer time until finally he decided to give me a topic.

SOURCE: DAILY TRUST