How effective are Online degrees?

Emeka Ibemere

If you like, an online education means: stay with your family, stay with your job, and obtain your degrees. In the other words, it’s called an open university. The system seeks to eliminate barriers to entry for example, it allows doesn’t harp more on academic admission requirements.

Whether distance education, distance learning, or online, is a mode of delivering education and instruction often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom. Such universities are here today in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Open University and other online universities, sprouting out in Nigeria, are part of the online education system. Many Nigerian Universities are offering distance learning programs like e-learning, too.

Before now, reports said even before the computer was developed, researchers at public universities were working at educating citizens through informal education programs.

As far back as the early 1900s, a reported 4-H clubs, were formed which taught youth the latest in technological advances in agriculture and home economics. The success that the youth had in utilizing 'new' methods of farming and home economics caused their parents to adopt the same practices. Today, it’s what is being referred to as an online education system. The online education also refers to the elimination of barriers that could preclude both opportunities and recognition for participation in institution-based learning. However, online education system or ‘Open education’ is a collective term to describe institutional practices and programmatic initiatives, which broaden access to the learning and training, traditionally offered through formal education systems.

Distance learning provides "access to learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both”, a report said.

  “Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason (including taking examinations) have been referred to as hybrid or blended courses of study”.

The report said Massive open online courses (MOOCs), aimed at large-scale interactive participation and open access via the web or other network technologies are a recent development in distance education.

Meanwhile the report stated that the earliest distance education courses date back to the early 18th century in Europe and one of the earliest examples was from a 1728 advertisement in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb Phillips, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand, who seemingly sought students that wanted to learn through weekly mailed lessons. Sir Isaac Pitman, pioneer of distance education in the 1840s. The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s, who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction - the element of student feedback was a crucial innovation of Pitman's system. This scheme was made possible by the introduction of uniform postage rates across England from 1840.

This early beginning proved extremely successful, and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The Society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country. However, it was later followed by the University correspondence courses

A report said the University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Programme in 1858. According to the report, the background to this innovation, lay in the fact that the institution later known as University College London and was non-denominational and, was given the intense religious rivalries at the time.  Then there was an outcry against the "godless" university. The issue soon boiled down to which institutions had degree-granting powers and which institutions did not.

There are a number of concerns regarding the implementation of open education systems, and online education system, specifically for use in developing countries. These include: a potential lack of administrative oversight and quality assurance systems for educators/materials in some programs; infrastructure limitations in developing countries; a lack of equal access to technologies required for students' full participation in online education initiatives; and questions regarding the use of copyrighted materials. However, recent reports in Nigeria media have looked down on graduates with an online degrees asking for about its genuineness and effectiveness. The reports also tagged such degrees as not measuring up to pure academic degrees adding that such degrees are obtained cheaply.

 According to those rejecting the online degrees, some of the holders of such degrees are bought. But an expert in the system, Professor Nwajei Chuks Nwajei, the African Regional President of the Green Hills University, Denmark, and a traditional ruler of Ogwashi Uku, Kingdom Delta State, and South-South Nigeria said the reports are false and misleading.

Explaining the issue in an interview, Nwajei stated that the system is an age long system which has benefitted a lot of Nigerian professionals and politicians in the colonial and pre-colonial Nigeria.

“In 1896, University of London started their online degree awarding university, which is education without borders and a lot of people, a well known people in Africa, I take Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as an example, I take Dr, Obafemi Awolowo, and I take our first nationalists class, all went through online universities before they went to London, for campus education. As a person, I have been in this system, for a very long time”, Professor Nwajei stated.

“When you said online education system effectiveness, it means a lot of things. Is it unemployable, if it is unemployable there are certain Nigerian universities that are on now, that are not even qualified to be universities and we are not talking of their accreditation now, but their graduates are not worthy to be called graduates”.

Nwajei who was irked by such report that holders of online-degrees aren’t fit for employment and not effective said majority of Nigerian University students who graduated from their universities and who will graduate tomorrow cannot even write a memo.

“They cannot even write a sentence. Those of them who can speak English can do so, because they went to good nursery and primary school where they can learn how to speak but cannot write that is effectiveness of education”. He said the ineffectiveness of education is that most of the universities in Nigeria are poor.

“How many Nigerian university graduates can hold forth with a standard six of the 1960? How many graduating Nigerian universities, I mean core universities who graduated can hold forth in anything in Nigeria? How many of them have been able to find job in Nigeria? None”!

Nwajei revealed that a lot of students here who are graduates of Nigerian universities, repeat years when they go to the United States of America or London. “They go to start from two hundred levels in overseas universities. Even those who go there to do their Masters are placed under tests and examinations to qualify for the Masters Degree programme there. It is only mature adults that they allow to do that may be, Ministers, Commissioners and Governors because they know that they are going to pay them a lot of money”.

“I want to say that Nigerian universities cannot be equated with a foreign university that is running an online programme. We don’t have libraries in the Nigerian universities”.

According to Nwajei, Nigerian students are not intellectually strong enough to embark on online studies because it’s for the mature minds and serious students.

“Here, you have mediocre who gathered in one small hall in large numbers like 4000, students taking one course and the lecturer will just come and say one thing. You will see students hanging on the window, pinging, chatting on phones, kissing their boyfriends and girl friends and at the end of the session; they buy their results and graduate”, he added.

“You cannot equate any Nigerian university with foreign universities, whether online or campus system. Foreign universities have standard, the issue is that you start asking yourself, these people that aren’t employable, did they go Green Hills University, and did they buy theirs with money? Like the university I run, we go for mature students, Green Hills University and Alkami University, now we represent Buckingham University, we are widely known for producing quality students. Most of our degree holders are in the state House of Assemblies, National Assembly, some are professionals in their career, businessmen, International diplomats and others who were able to write their thesis and pass their examination and the university found them worthy to be awarded those degrees”.

According to him, Green Hills University as an international university is operating in good standing in Greenland Denmark. “We are non-governmental and a chartered degree granting institution with International degree accreditation and we have affiliate and exchange campuses in over 40 countries of the world”, Professor Nwajei stated.

 “We have one of the biggest schools amongst the private education organization in the world, with an annual student intake of more than 8,000 students in 2012/2013, inclusive of our on-line and Distance Learning programme”. He further stated that the university is strategic in the development of able leaders and organizations adding that the school’s ingenuity has ensured a place in the top 100 executive development provider with the other affiliate schools and organizations worldwide. The school offers more than 40 programms ranging from Bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. The degrees have been launched in the areas of specializations in entrepreneurship, international Business, banking and finance to meet the needs of the working professionals who yearn to learn in order to stay relevant with the changes in their career development strategies. “Green Hill University has helped many to climb the corporate ladder and aims to groom leaders who will make a difference in the world. We help scholars to understand the dynamism of corporate organization, evolutionary changes and constant necessity to remain competitive will often sustain fulfilled corporate goals and objectives”, the African Regional President, stated.

“So, it depends on the university you are talking. If somebody was able to go to university and the university didn’t go through them, may be they went for a job and they gave them examination and they failed, then they now said online degrees are not effective or employable. Online university degrees are best. First, you have tutorial with your mentor, it is one -on- one, and there is no favouritism. You cannot give your mentor money to pass you”.

The African Regional President stated that online libraries exist for serious students and that with a click; one reads all types of books he wants to read patterning to his course out line. “And not here lecturers give handouts out of what they bring from online books. You go to world library on internet and every book you are looking for are there. Your tutorial mentor will now tell you the books relevant to your courses and you have the ideas of what you are doing and it’s not done in traditional system here in this country. So what I’m telling you are those online universities depending on what you are talking is the best”.

“If a student goes through an online university and the course didn’t go through him, and he has a way of getting his own degree, it’s not what we are saying. I want to say one thing, like the GCE, O’level, you have today were been London GCE, it’s online. Advance level, is an online programme”. He stated.

“How could somebody say what has been obtained 50/60 years ago are not valuable this time? Is because the students and the online degree holders are not worthy and not the degree they obtained”.

According to Professor Nwajei, anybody or employer of labour laying emphasis more on the campus-degree system curriculum more than online degree is not really an employer of labour.

“Don’t forget that the world is now a global village and somebody is presenting a degree to you, you evaluate the degree online and check whether that person attended that university or not. Nothing is hidden under the sun again. If an employer doesn’t want to employ somebody based on the degree, he presented to the person, may be the employer felt the degree is bogus or that the person is doubting the authenticity of the university, he should go online to verify the university and the degree”, he stated. You don’t need to write a letter to London, USA, France or Germany to authenticate it, you just spend five to six minutes and you get the result on line. There is one thing, if someone has to go for an online, the person has to go through online to know the university you are applying for and anything you see on the site is verifiable”.   

On accreditation of such online degree awarding universities in Nigeria, Nwajei said that accreditation of universities is like marriage, adding that accreditation is not compulsory. “If you want a traditional marriage, you could go for it, if you want Christian marriage, if you want court marriage, you could go, pay dowry and take your wife. I’m trying to say the difference in accreditation; most of the Nigerian universities accredit courses. The mentality of Englishman is applied here. University that is chartered is bigger than accreditation”.  He said. “We have over one million universities all over the world, it depends on the one. Who accredited Buckingham University where I went? It is a chartered University. Accreditation is just like a club, university want to be known of what they have done or what they are doing. It’s because Nigerians are saying we need accreditation, schools are now getting accreditation”.

Speaking further, he claimed that Green Hills University has been in existence for a very long time and that when they came to Nigeria, they were mandated to get accredited and that the university have done their accreditation and by June, the school would get her accreditation.

“Accreditation doesn’t mean chartered. You can be accredited, you are not chartered and you can be chartered, you are not accredited. Who accredited Harvard University, it is chartered. Accreditation is just like a club to be moderated”.

I have a question, the online degrees they are querying about, I asked, is it online abroad or online universities in Nigeria. If it is online abroad, they are very good universities. When the students are doing the right things, when the students are going through his mentor and passing his courses, any employer of labour who doesn’t want to employ such a candidate is doing so; not because of the online degree but because he doesn’t want to employ”, Nwajei quipped. “We are now seeing Nigerian Universities going online, they aren’t working. A lot of people registered five years ago, they have not even graduated one class. There is other one or two some people opening in Nigeria, they are awarding ineffective degrees but any degree awarded with accredited or chartered universities abroad, the student must have gone through the process”.

Nwajei counselled online students to continue their programmes and remain focused to what they want.

“They should continue but should be sure of the university they are registering. They should be sure that such universities are ready. They should make sure that they are following their mentors tutorial and instructions and answering their questionnaires and sending it back. They should be able to know that Nigerian universities cannot be able to accommodate all the millions trying for JAMB”, he added. “They go for JAMB, they go for post-JAMB, yet they are not admitted into the Universities. My advice for them is to go for online education which is even more expensive though, but you get what you want and the advantage is to go abroad to do your masters with that university if you so wish”

“When Buckingham University opened for it’s online, I know that a lot of Nigerians registered. The problem of our students is that they are not reading and they are not following the course contents. The course contents are what you can do and you cannot go and read law when you don’t have that call to be a lawyer and this is common in Africa. That your father is a lawyer doesn’t give you a nag to be a lawyer”.

Nwajei further said that online universities aren’t only for professionals for every serious student who knows what he wants. “I want to say one thing, anybody that is going online, must be a mature student in age and intelligence because there, you are been guided and the teachers are not there with you. You study by instructions. You take your laptop and get communicated with your mentor on what to do. So online is the beast but you had to be mature student. In America, people don’t go to campus; they stay in their houses after work and study. They don’t want to lose their jobs, they don’t want to leave their families, it’s what is in vogue and it is the rave of the moment in education”.

“Online education means, stay with your family, stay with your job and obtain your degrees. Our school in Africa has graduated thousands upon thousands and none of them have returned back to say he wasn’t employed with the degree we gave them. None has said his degree was not converted to proper university degrees”.

“There is one thing with us, if your employers are in doubt, let them write to us, we will write to your employers about our degrees and ask them to confirm. You cannot bring in 17/18 years old children and said they go for online degree courses, they won’t do it but if they are intelligent ones, why not”?

Collaborating with Professor Nwajei is a retired Civil Servant, Andrew Jideonwe, from Delta State. Jideonwe retired from the Nigerian institute for Medical Research Services in 2005, said it was such online system of education that helped him. According to the 73 years old Health Researcher, the problem is that the government and the private sectors are not offering any job and not because of the online degrees of the job seekers.

“Yes, because there is no employment in Nigeria right now. The federal ministries are not employing, the state ministries, the local government, private sectors are not employing. Where a private sector has to rely on generator for whole year and use the vote for employment to service generator, how can he employ”? He queried. According to him, the online education is the best. “Many Nigerian educated men and women went through the same system before they started working. People who obtained London GCE, Pitman shorthand courses weren’t in their classes and such things are what we have now as online degrees, because of the advent of internet and computer”, Jideonwe stated.

“It is because of maladministration in Nigeria and not because of the degrees obtained online is the cause. Nigerians are working abroad and they are studying online there, working for other countries. I went through London GCE and pass my modern secondary school certificate and I used it to get job. About 73 years. My advice is that government should create jobs”