Establishing new universities in Nigeria and China’s converting colleges and universities to vocational schools: lessons for the former

Abstract

The purpose of this study is not to compare Nigerian and China Higher Education system but to explore the two contexts and the areas of lesson for the former considering their similar peculiarities in terms of the need for vocational education for skilled work force for a sustainable economic society. Through collecting secondary sources, the evidence highlighted both countries pursuing „ massification‟ of their higher education system, where growth and development of higher education was driven by the increased number of enrolment and number of universities. While China has made and currently implementing plans of expanding its vocational education and training system to better address such problems, Nigeria maintained its course of expanding the number of universities. This is despite the evident structural problems in the country‟s higher education system. The current reforms in China could provide some takeaways and lessons for Nigeria, with opportunities for shifting from a quantity-focused to a more quality-focused and high relevance higher education system.