Dr. Olaniyi Opanuga the Provost and Dean of studies, College of Production & Operations Management (COPOM) have said the institution admits University and Polytechnic graduates, company executives, and mature students to build professional capability for improved career prospects.
According to Dr. Opanuga, “learning is expected to be continuous and lifelong.
I do not believe in the popular narrative of the low standard of education in Nigeria Professional education is different. Yes, we do have issues with lack of facilities such as laboratories and libraries, poor learning process, inadequate funding, inadequate R&D, low level of quality assurance, unqualified teachers, indiscipline, inadequate infrastructure, and so on in many academic institutions. But we can’t simply generalize. We have some of our universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and technical colleges maintaining good standards. However, we need to retool the nation’s educational policies and programmes and re-engineer the implementation processes”.
He said education is an expensive system to run and the government is expected to play a better role in funding government institutions and providing enabling environment for private educators and educational administrators to operate effectively.
“Rather than wailing over what is done or yet to be done we at COPOM decided to add value to Nigeria’s educational system by training and developing University/Polytechnic and other graduates using the practice-based methodology to make them job-fit in the industry”, Dr. Opanuga stated.
“COPOM is a higher education providing institution focused on industry-centric learning in the specialized field of Production and Operations Management with remarkably glaring impact in the Nigeria Industrial sector”, he added.
Dr. Opanuga however lamented that the COPOM operates more like a humanitarian service to the society because the College was yet to “break even” since its inception in 2003. He said he had to subsidize the fees charged to the students most of whom needed help to get jobs or greater employment prospects. According to Dr. Opanuga “, the joy I feel seeing our graduates becoming successful in top positions and making a meaningful impact on national development is unspeakable”.
