Deepening Citizens' Right and Access to Competitive Higher Education in Nigeria: Research-Informed Teaching in Perspective

Overview & Synopsis

International law obligates States to recognize the right of citizens to education and that they should make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity. This obligation reinforces the significant place of education in shaping and transforming the community. Education can redefine economic, cultural and social connections. However, the right to higher education in a globalised world goes beyond merely creating access to education; it entails providing a competitive one that meets the challenges of the 21st century. This is, therefore, a necessary ingredient to fulfilling this obligation of States. That is, a State's failure to meet this obligation is a deprivation of their citizens' right to higher education. Forwardminded countries have progressively adopted measures to deepen the access of their citizens to cutting-edge higher education. At the heart of this is a strategic shift from traditional educational delivery approaches to research-informed teaching -- the practice of integrating research with teaching in higher education. But Nigeria, just like other developing countries, have not entrenched research-informed teaching within their higher education system and this has impeded the attainment of competitive higher education in the country. The paper examines the issue of research-informed teaching and its impact on Nigerian citizen's right and access to competitive higher education. The work employs qualitative research method to sample the views of participants on the chosen topic. The paper suggests that Nigeria should strategically incorporate research-informed teaching to deepen her citizens' right and access to competitive higher education. [For the complete Volume 17 proceedings, see ED596826.]