National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has introduced an e-ticketing platform to track challenges facing students. The platform is being unveiled ahead of its 20th anniversary, Saturday, March 25, and will help resolve challenges encountered by students in real time.
Speaking on the new initiative, NOUN Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, said the institution had achieved so much in ensuring that Nigerians irrespective of their busy schedules, access quality education.
Peters said that as part of the institution’s 20th anniversary, 28,740 students would be graduating on Saturday. He also said the institute will use the opportunity to showcase its exploits during the COVID-19 era.
“We have 21,339 undergraduates and 7,101 postgraduate students graduating. Among this number are 58 inmates out of which seven are postgraduate graduands,” said Peters. “We have 14 centres in our prisons and we have been mandated to expand it.”
The VC said: “In all, we have 28,740 students graduating during our 12th convocation.” He disclosed that the graduating inmates were under scholarship.
Peters said the gesture was NOUN’s own way of discharging its corporate social responsibility to help the inmates lead a normal life after leaving the correctional centres.
He added that the first female Vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa, Prof. Puleng LenkaBula, would be attending the convocation as the guest lecturer.
“Students of the five study centres in Abuja, first class and Masters students will come to the headquarters for the convocation, while others outside Abuja will join from the study centres in their various states.
“We have 141,000 active students and about 250,000 when you combine active and inactive students with 118 study centres nationwide.”
(NAN)
