We must change the way we teach if there will be a change in our nation — VC, BOWEN

…As he reels out achievements

Abimbola Abatta, Osogbo

The Vice-Chancellor, BOWEN University, Iwo, Osun State, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, has opined that Nigerian institutions must change the way students are taught if there will be a change in the nation.

Ogunwole disclosed that University is a business of cultivating ideas, noting that Bowen University became the first university in Nigeria to change from a conventional teaching mode to an online mode.

This is even as the Vice-Chancellor reeled out various achievements recorded by the institution.

Professor Ogunwole spoke while fielding questions from journalists.

He said, “COVID-19 has brought a new normal, and we are the ones that must adjust to the new normal.

“We never missed a single day of lecture during COVID-19. We remain the only university to invigilate students online during the exam. One invigilator to forty students.

“Everything we do in BOWEN involves students. We came with the intention that we must change the world culture.”

He explained the rationale behind the claim, which he refuted, that students of the present generation are lazy.

According to him, there is a major shift in the upbringing of the present-day youths in comparison to the previous generations who were trained to expand their imagination.

He emphasised the need to interact with the modern generation students on the basis of technology to achieve desired results.

In his words, “The generation of students we have is the Z generation. The generation before them were trained on imagination, and we fail to train these ones through this means. We can achieve a lot through the use of technology. We can’t teach these students the way we were taught.”

The VC also advocated for collaboration among public and private universities in Nigeria to achieve success in research, adding that adequate structure must be available before embarking on research to get good result.

He maintained that “for research to serve Nigeria well, there must be a structure. There needs to be collaboration among universities in Nigeria. No one single person can do all. You must acknowledge that some people are good in one area and others in another area and then you come together. In so doing and having a structure on ground while you also celebrate Nigeria scientists, of course, you are going to get result.”

While reeling out the achievements recorded in the school, Ogunwole said that Bowen University is partnering with USAID, New Zealand and other international organisations for the development of tomatoes, root crops, and other herbs.

“We are about signing an MoU with the maker of peak milk and three crown milk. They have built a centre at the university. Bowen will be a centre for milk collection. We have about 60 cows on ground and we are planning to make it 100,” he added.

Reacting to the purported high school fees, the VC explained that Bowen has allowed part-payment to make it easy for parents and guardians, noting that no amount is too much to be spent on education.