dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
The establishment of many new Public and Private Universities has brought
with it stiff competition for students in programmes similar to those
offered by the Department of Educational Studies. The programme
facing the stiffest competition in the Department is Bachelor of
Education (Arts) which has been mounted by most of the new
universities. Such competition would normally cause a reduction in
student enrollment unless mitigating measures are taken. In the case
of the Bachelor of Education (Arts) programme in the Department,
student enrollments appear to have dropped slightly. It is therefore
important to consider strategies that can be used to maintain our
competitive edge. The strategies that should be considered include
review of the stage at which application fee is charged on prospective
students, distribution of brochures in Primary Schools, use of JAB
lists of unsuccessful applicants, decentralization of residential
tuition sessions and assessment to selected regional Centres, hiring
of academic and administrative staff and attaching them to Regional
Centres where decentralized Residential Sessions are housed, printing
of Study Units and issuing to students in time, equipping of Regional
Centres with computers and Internet connectivity, uploading of all
study materials on e-learning platform and training students on how
to access, use of electronic library resources, electronic instruction by
use of e-learning multimedia platform, facilitation of examination
marking process and timely release of results, aggressive marketing at
UoN - ISO 9001:2008 Certified
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Regional Centres and Sub-Centres during study field visits, branding
of Regional Centres to reflect image of the University, engaging
paid agents to carry out recruitment of students in various regions,
charging competitive fees. When these strategies are implemented in
a well coordinated and structured way, the B.Ed (Arts) programme
will continue to be vibrant. It will also attract more and more students
from within and outside the country and become one of the biggest
programmes in the University since demand for teachers will continue
to rise in sub-Saharan Africa for many years to come. | en |