FG mandates national tertiary ranking expansion to polytechnics, makes participation compulsory
FG announces plans to strengthen Nigeria's national tertiary institution ranking system, expanding coverage beyond universities to include polytechnics and colleges of education. Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa disclosed the reform Tuesday via X, stating the Nigerian University Ranking Advisory Committee (NURAC) will be renamed the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee (NTERAC) to reflect the broader mandate. Participation in the national ranking exercise will become compulsory for all public and private tertiary institutions, with vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts urged to fully cooperate.
The initiative aims to create a system reflecting Nigeria's unique educational environment and development priorities, while improving global competitiveness. Alausa noted that enhanced data collection and reporting will position more Nigerian institutions for recognition in international rankings like Times Higher Education. The framework will integrate with the Nigeria Education Data Initiative (NEDI) platform for centralized institutional performance insights.
This builds on over N1 trillion invested in higher education over the past two years: N250 billion for new student hostels, over N150 billion for hostel/classroom/engineering workshop rehabilitation, over N130 billion for medical school upgrades, N52 billion for modern equipment in 18 medical schools, nearly N30 billion for 11 medical simulation laboratories, and about N110 billion for engineering workshops and equipment in universities and polytechnics. The ranking announcement follows the 'Hire from Nigeria' initiative targeting one million export-linked jobs in five years.
Will this locally-focused ranking system finally give Nigerian institutions the global recognition they deserve, or will implementation challenges hinder its effectiveness?