Higher Education and Poverty Reduction Among the Youth

HIGHER cultivation AND pauperization REDUCTION AMONG THE YOUTH BY OKUNOLA, PHILIP OLAYIDE (Ph. D), ONYENE. V. E(Ph. D. )(emailprotected com) SUBAR, S. TAYO. ASHIRU, AL-MAHROOF OLASEEWO (emailprotected ca) PAPER PRESENTED AT THE 8TH REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH POLICY NETWORK VENUE foreign(a) INSTITUTE FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (IITA), IBADAN AUGUST, 2008 ABSTRACT upbringing in Nigeria and high pedagogics in particular, argon fundamental to the twirl of a k outrightledge economy and worthdarn friendship in any nation hence, from a orbiculate perspective, sparing, political, technical and loving excogitatements atomic number 18 increasingly drive by the advancement and application of experience, skills and socialization acquired in the process of this direction. This paper presents an empirical instruct of high(prenominal) teaching and p everyplacety reduction among the young utilize the University of Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 330 younker t ribe comprised the judge drawn from the eight faculties on campus.Three hypotheses were formulated and well-tried using chi-squ be statistical whoreson at 0. 05 take of signifi behindce. The major reignings argon that high education is fundamental in exposing the jejuneness to talent discovery, fleshly and rational suppuration among the offspring and has high potency reduction for privation reduction among the spring chicken. Introduction The dawn of the twenty-first century has brought profound and fundamental changes to economics, technology, politics, culture, morals, social set and ethics. Globalization is the driving force in entirely these changes.While globalization has induced the explode of time and space, it has in any case expanded opportunities and contests for mortals and for nations and has sidelined the weak and unprep argond. Anya (2002). The task of the university education entrust then(prenominal) be to empower the jejunenesss to be able to cope with the dynamics of globalization. Consequently the university must wear an organic linkage with the industrial and economic surroundings to contribute to economic growth of the nation. nurture has for prospicient been recognized and accepted as a cure- all(prenominal) for Nigerias ills and woes. Particularly so is the case of high education.Stupendous amount of money and other re ascendents, even though understaffed are expended on the universities annually. Unarguably al stakeholders look up to the universities as the nations beacon of hope, light and civilianization. For this reason, besides over 50 public universities are springing up all over the nooks and crannies of the country (Ejiogu and Onyene, 2006). Nigeria s philosophy of education is aimed at education that foster the worth and ontogenesis of the individual, for for each one individuals sake, and for the general reading of the high society there is read for empowerment so as to break the arrange of pauperisation for necessary liberation.Are the Nigerian juvenilitys hopeful? Do they see the light? Are they civilized? The ask and agitation for the empowerment of the youth and t replacement liberation with higher(prenominal) education is fast becoming roughly hysterical addicted the often reported cases of invariable strike actions by lecturers, lack or in decent infrastructures in the universities, brain drain, and so on, inwardly the university system. example abound when university graduates are non employable in the roil market.The situation becomes worrisome and intriguing with the jet-speed arrange of opening up of new universities with its at angleant asseverate un usance of unqualified staff, and stragglers from older universities. The Concept of high fosterage and Poverty high education means contrastive things to many raft, but the purpose is perceived to be the same. It is the type of education that focuses on professionalization, by empowering the pa rtaker of this aim of education with skills that are not engages the function of formal educational process.This type of skills emanates from students fundamental interaction with their peers, teachers and other members of their academic community. Though these experiences that culminate into skills causes students pass in their academic environment a utter(a) one, which necessitates the saying transit finished with(predicate) the educate without the coach passing finished the student The proponents of this literary argument are of the opinion that students who passed through the civilise without the school passing through them prolong learnt only partially unheeding of their grades at the end of their academic pursuit in the university, thereby limiting their opportunities.This is corroborated by Gay 2005, who opined that s fecal mattertiness can only be eliminated if the students to whom implicit promises are being by urging them to attend school actually receive some tangible profit for their age spent in school. higher(prenominal) education includes teaching, research and social answer activities of universities, and within the dry land of teaching, it includes two the undergraduate direct (some propagation referred to as 3rd education and the graduate school). high education generally involves work towards a academic gunpoint level or foundation for degree qualification.In most legitimate countries a high proportion of the state (up to 50%) now enters higher education is therefore every epochal to national economy, both as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. Schofield, K. 1999. high education is based on theoretical expertise. It aptitude be contrasted with higher vocational education, which concentrates on both practice and theory. Deciding to further education and do a degree tends to improve many aspects of life. flock with college degrees tend to earn more(prenominal) money and salary increases over the years are more substantial than for those that do not have a college degree or university degree. Additionally, people that have a college degree are less likely to go through considerable bouts of unemployment. However attaining certifications and/or degrees related to to your field can yield snap off speculates and ongoing opportunities (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). University qualifications need to match employers and labour market requirements as close as possible.Mass unemployment of university graduates is the result where university platforms and the labour market are at section. The issue of relevance, utilitarian criteria based on prospects of income generation at completion of a curriculum should be uppermost in the programmes provided by universities. The persuasion of pursuing knowledge for its own sake or of the sake of engaging in a programme of study given a passion for accomplishment in a particular subject neighborhood wil l seem acquaint if it is remembered at all. (Roberts, 1999). young person (in the developed world) like all identities, is a culturally coition manifestation whose meanings and applications are specific to certain times and manifestation whose meaning and applications are specific to certain times and locales. For those living in present- mean solar day westbound cultures, the term youth refers to persons who are no protracted clawren and not yet adults. In a rigorously legal sense, the term is typically applied to a person from the time of their early teens until a imply amid 16 and 21, after which the person is de jure an adult. As an adult they are endowed priviledges such as the right to vote and consume alcoholic beverage e. c. used colloquially, however, the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference from physically boyish to those in their late 20s, the United Nations, for example, defines youth as people between the ages of 15 and 24 year s inclusive (United Nations Education and Scientific barbarianren Organisation, 2002b). Poverty refers to a situation and process of serious want or lack of resources and material necessary for living within a minimum hackneyed conducive to human being dignity and well being (NEST, 1991). Poverty connotes deprivation of the means of subsistence. The manifestation of need, i. inadequate dissemination of resources, access to raw material social services like education and wellness, food scarcity, low life expectancy, and lack of affair in decision making processes (Braun, 1999, Carrey 1999 gentlemans gentleman patois 1999 Web et al 1992Ravnborg, 1996). For the purpose of this paper destitution is viewed as deprivation of common necessities that determine the musical note of life, which include food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may too include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape pauperisation and/or to jazz the respect of fellow citizens.This can be mensurable in terms of absolute or sexual intercourse poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent in over time between countries. An example of an absolute measurement would be the component of the population eating less food than is inevitable to sustain the human body, which may lead to constitutional poverty. United Nations 2002 report defines extreme poverty as poverty that kills, depriving individuals of the means to stay alive in the lawsuit of hunger, disease and environmental hazards.This is further substantiated by Moore (2007) in his report for the humanity intrust, that extreme poverty implies living on less than 1 dollar bill per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day. The proportion of the developing worlds population living in extreme economic poverty fell from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001. Looking at the period 1981 2001, the destiny of the worlds population living on less than $1 per day has halved.Analysis of social aspects of poverty links conditions of scarcity to aspects of the distribution of resources and power in a society and recognizes that poverty may be a function of the purposeless capability of people to live the kinds of lives they rank. The social aspects of poverty may include lack of access to information, education, health care, or political power. Poverty may also be understood as an aspect of unsymmetrical social status and inequitable social relationships, experienced as exclusion, dependency, and diminished capacity to participate, or to develop meaningful connections with other people in society. report of the chore The growth and ontogenesis of this country will to a large extent be determined by quality, in character and in learning, of the products of our universities. UNESCO policy (1997) posited that sanctioned education for all should incorporate literacy, income generation, health care, squirt care, family pl anning, food management, union education, labour laws, civil and balloting rights, peace education, environmental management, HIV/ back up and dose awareness (UNESCO 2002). The questions are what is the hope of Nigerian youth in universities? Do they really discover their potentials having gone(a) through the university?What then can we say are the contributions of Nigeria universities to poverty reduction among the Nigerian youth? It becomes imperative, therefore, to tick off the potency of Nigerian higher education for poverty reduction among the youth and to proffer measures for enhancement and sustainability of youth empowerment. Methodology The study was carried out using the descriptive survey research design. The youths in University of Lagos constituted the study which comprises 500 respondents. They were lambskin and 100-300 level students, from the eight faculties of the University of Lagos, Akoka campus, Lagos, Nigeria.Higher Education Potency for Poverty Reduction Qu estionnaire (HEPPRQ) designed by the researchers was the data-gathering instrument. It measure sure such poverty reduction potencies as talent discovery, facilitation of mind development in the youth, good leadership skills, enabling intellectual development, development of social ethics through positive interaction, motion-picture show to entrepreneurial activities, provision of mindset for seminal ideas, expression for rendering payable service (income generation), inculcation of technical ideas for product development, egotism esteem mong peers, position of youth for global alignment with contemporaries in the western sandwich world and realization of the academic inclination ( watch). Colleagues confirm the face validity and reliability of the instrument The researchers in person distributed the questionnaire to 500 respondents across the 8 faculties on campus on different occasions some of the respondents returned the questionnaire immediately composition others returne d theirs the following day. Of the 500 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 330 (66%) usable copies were returned.However, the analysis was through using both descriptive and inferential statistics. To be precise, simple percentage and chi-square statistical tools were used. Findings Total rejoinder of the respondents was done by finding the percentages. The analysis is presented in table1. circuit card 1 Frequency count of responses and percentage ratings. S/N POTENCY INDICES ALWAYS frequently SOMETIMES NEVER TOTAL 1 University environment and talent 200(60. 60%) 20(6. 06%) one hundred ten(33. 3%) 330 discovery 2 Higher education development and e 160(48. 48%) 90(27. 27%) 30(9. 09%) 50(15. 15%) 330 youths minds 3 Higher education and good leadershipxcl(57. 57%) 50(15. 15%) 50(15. 15%) 40(12. 12%) 330 4 Higher education and intellectual 200(60. 60%) 50(15. 5%) 70(21. 21%) 10(3. 03%) 330 development 5 accessible ethics through the university170(51. 51%) 70(21. 21%) 80(24. 24%) 10(3. 03%) 330 6 Higher education, parliamentary and 120(36. 36%) 110(33. 33%) 90(27. 27%) 10(3. 03%) 330 governing body process 7 entrepreneurial activities at school110 120(36. 6%) 80(24. 24%) 20(6. 06%) 330 (33. 33%) 8 University environment and mindset 170 100(30. 30%) 50(15. 15%) 10(3. 03%) 330 for creative ideas (51. 51%) 9 Rendering payable service (income 170 80 40(12. 12%) 40(12. 2%) 330 generation) (51. 51%) (24. 24%) 10 University education and one hundred eighty 70 70 10 330 technological ideas (54. 54%) (21. 21%) (21. 21%) (3. 03%) 11 Employment with related industries 70 80 cl 30 330 (21. 1%) (24. 24%) (45. 45%) (9. 09%) 12 Sustenance in the face of channel 110 90 110 20 330 scarcity (33. 33%) (27. 27%) (33. 33%) (6. 06%) 13 Apart from certification, university 190 120 20 330 environment and self esteem (57. 57%) (36. 36%) (6. 6%) 14 Global alignment with my 190 100 30 10 330 contemporaries in the western world (57. 57%) (30. 30%) (9. 09%) (3. 03%) 15 Relevance of their academic 150 120 60 30 330 inclination (discipline) outside (45. 45%) (36. 36%) (18. 18%) (9. 9%) their myopic perception guess 1 There will be no strong persuade of higher education delineation on youth talent discovery. To test this hypothesis, the chi-square statistical tool was employed and tested at 0. 05 level of import. The results are presented in table 2 below. accede 2 higher education and talent discovery. S/N Items Always Often sometimes neer Total 1. 200(60. 60%) 20(6. 06%) 110(33. 33%) - 330 2. 160(48. 48%) 90(27. 27%) 30(9. 09%) 50(15. 15%) 330 3. 190(57. 57%) 50(15. 15%) 50(15. 15%) 40(12. 12%) 330 4. 200(60. 60%) 50(15. 15%) 70(21. 21%) 10(3. 03%) 330 5. 170(51. 51%) 70(21. 21%) 80(24. 24%) 10(3. 3%) 330 column Total 920 280 cxl 110 1650 Average Total 460(55. 75%) 140(16. 96%) 70(20. 60%) 55(6. 66%) 825 Chi-square observed appraise = 52. 63 score of freedom = 12 Level of significance = 0. 05 faultfinding Value = 21. 03 The result revealed that the observed value (52. 63) is greater than the critical table value (21. 03) given 12 degree of freedom at 0. 5 level of significance. The result is therefore remarkable, thus magnanimous a basis for rejection of the null hypothesis. It can then be inferred that higher education has significant invite on the exposure of youth to talent discovery. guess 2 Higher education will have no significant influence on the physical and intellectual development of the youth. To test this hypothesis, the chi-square statistical tool was employed and tested at 0. 05 level of significance. The results are presented in table 3 below. Table 3 Higher education, Physical and Intellectual Development S/N Items Always Often Sometimes neer Total 6 120(36. 36%) 110(33. 33%) 90(27. 27%) 10(3. 03%) 330 7 110(33. 33%) 120(36. 36%) 80(24. 24%) 20(6. 06%) 330 8 170(51. 51%) 100(30. 30%) 50(15. 15%) 10(3. 03%) 330 9 170(51. 1%) 80(24. 24%) 40(12. 12%) 40(12. 12%) 330 10 180(54. 54%) 70(21. 21%) 70(21. 21%) 10(3. 03%) 330 Column Total 750 480 330 90 1650 Average Total 375(45. 45%) 240(29. 09%) 165(20%) 45(5. 45%) 825 From the responses of the participants in the table, it is realized that the observed chi-square (49. 6) is greater than the critical value (21. 03) at 12 degree of freedom and at 0. 05 level of significance. The result is therefore significant, thus higher education will have significant influence on physical and intellectual development of the youth. assumption 3 Higher education will make significant provision of resources and materials for youths adequate living. To test this hypothesis, the chi-square statistical tool was employed and tested at 0. 05 level of significance. The results are presented in table 4 below. Table 4 Higher Education and Youth passable Living. S/N Items Always Often Sometimes Never Total 11 70(21. 21 %) 80(24. 24%) 150(45. 45%) 30(9. 09%) 330 12 110(33. 33%) 110(33. 33%) 110(33. 33%) 20(6. 06%) 330 13 190(57. 57%) 20(6. 06%) 20(6. 06%) - 330 14 190(57. 57%) 30(9. 09%) 30(9. 9%) 10(3. 03%) 330 15 150(45. 45%) 120(36. 36%) 60(18. 18%) 30(9. 09%) 330 Column Total 710 510 370 60 1650 Average Total 355(43. 03%) 255(30. 90%) 185(22. 42%) 30(3. 63%) 825 Chi-square observed = 195. 41 Degree of freedom = 12 Significance level = 0. 05 Critical value = 21. 03The table above reflects that the chi-square calculated (195. 41) pass by the critical value (21. 03) at 12 degree of freedom and 0. 05 level of significance. Thus higher education provides resources and materials for youths adequate living. Results and Discussion Analysis revealed that the study population consisted of 330 participants, 210(63. 63%) were males and 120 (36. 365) females whose age ranges from 15 to 30 years. 300(90. 90%) were single and 30 (9. 09%) were married. 40 (12. 12%) were in diploma 1, 10 (3. 03%) in diploma 2, 90 (27. 27%) in 100 level, 40 (12. 12%) in 200 level and 150 (45. 45%) in 300 level respectively.Table shows the single analysis of the perception of the youth towards the potency indices of higher education concerning poverty reduction. Majority of the youth (60. 60%) who participated in the study were of the opinion that university environment enables the youth to discover their talents and higher education poses challenges that enables intellectual development in the youth. 57. 57% of the respondents were in line of work with the particular that higher education inculcates good leadership skills in the youth, apart from certification, being in the university environment gives them self esteem among their contemporaries in the western world.Also 51. 51% of the respondents who are in the majority opined that they gain social ethics through positive interaction with their peers while in the university. University environment provides the youth with the mindset for c reative ideas and talents developed in the university prepare them to render payable service (income generation). 48. 48% of the participants who were in the majority believed that higher education facilitates the development of youths mind, 45. 45% were in tune with the detail that higher education make the youth realize the relevance of their academic inclination (discipline) outside their myopic perception.Majority of the respondents (54. 54%) admit that university education inculcates technological ideas that can facilitate product development. However, 45. 45% of the respondents felt up that youth only sometimes get employment with industries related to their discipline before graduation, but 21. 21% and 24. 24% of them believe that youth with university experience are always able to sustain themselves in the face of job scarcity, equal percentage the participants contends that it happens only sometimes. The findings in this study showed that Higher education is significant in exposing the youth to talent iscovery. Higher education has significant influence on physical and intellectual development of the youth. Higher education makes significant provision of resources and materials for youths adequate living. The significance of higher education in exposing the youth to talent discovery is corroborated by UNESCO policy 1997, which stipulates that basic education for all should incorporate literacy, income generation, health care, child care family planning, food management, union education, labour laws, civil and voting rights, peace education, environmental management, HIV/AIDS and drug awareness.Also the finding relating to higher education having significant influence on physical and intellectual development of youth, is justified by Subar and Ashiru 2007, they opined that the students (youth) are the core stimulant drug into our educational institutions and the quality of the output (students) depends largely on the provision of infrastructures capable of directly or indirectly supporting, facilitating, influencing and encouraging the development of their potentials.Therefore, the knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes students (youth) acquire for life can make them fit into the cultural, social, economic and political contexts of the society in which they live, and to work and employment.The finding that education makes significant provision of resources and materials for youths adequate living, emanates from the fact that youth get employment with industries related to their discipline even before graduation, youths with university experience are in general able to sustain themselves in the face of job scarcity, apart from certification, being in the university environment gives the youth self esteem among their peers, higher education positions youth for global alignment with their contemporaries in the western world and education makes the youth realize the relevance of the relevance of their academic inclinatio n (discipline) utside their myopic perception. inference ? From the foregoing, it is permissible to justify the above stated with the statement of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, there have been crocked increases in college job placement. This means that not only are college graduates more likely to find good jobs, but they progress after college.Ashiru and Owodiong 2008 stated that the absolute position of the university graduate is declining as more educated workers are displacing less educated workers in the same job, this shows that the Nigerian youth should advance academically, this challenge to the youth is evidenced by the continuous increases in entry point requirement for jobs, for instance a degree certificate is required to teach in a secondary school, while doctoral degree is required to lecture in the university. The dawn of the twenty-first century has brought profound and fundamental changes to economics, technology, politics, culture, morals, s ocial value and ethics through globalization. This globalization has induced the collapse of time and space it has also expanded opportunities and challenges for the individual and for the nations and has sidelined the weak and the unprepared. Recommendations Government and university authorities should ensure that university programmes and labour market are not at variance on the issue of relevance, utilitarian criteria based on prospects of income generation should be uppermost in the programmmes provided by the universities. ? Universities must have an organic linkage with the industrial and economic environment to contribute to economic growth. ? learning of higher education should be encouraged among the youth, through scholarship awards for those who lack the resources in continuing heir education. ? Government should encourage enrollment expansion in tertiary institutions, which will avail more people the opportunity to higher education, hence empowerment through skill acqui sition and enhanced intellectuality and human big(p) development that will necessitate innovative ideas for job creation, employment and economic advancement. ? University authorities should integrate entrepreneurial skills into academic programmes of students for rounded preparation for the world of work. Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP) should be provided in all faculties to enable undergraduates develop and market products and services applicable to their areas of study. REFERENCES Anya, A. O. (2002), Science, Oil and the Future of Nigeria Economy, The Guardian (Lagos), Wednesday, contact 13, p. 16. Ashiru, A. O. and Owodiong-Idemeko, N. L. (2008). Higher Education and the Millennium Development Goals. Lagos unpublished M. Ed. Thesis. Braun, J. V. ,Teklu, T. and Webb P. (1999). 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