The number of Nigerian students going for higher education abroad has hit a record high despite the scarcity of foreign exchange, which has made foreign tuition fees more expensive.
Data from the new Open Doors Report, published by the Washington-based Institute of International Education (IIE), show that enrolment from Nigeria increased by 12.3 percent to 14,438 in the 2021/22 academic year, highest on record from 12,860 in the previous year.
“People will go for value no matter the cost because they can afford it. And if we are not offering valuable education at home, people will go for it outside,” Akin Benjamin, a Lagos-based education consultant, said.
He said if people continue to go abroad, it will cause many others to lose faith in the country’s educational system.
“Our education system is faulty, right from funding to quality and salaries of teachers. The curriculum may not be fit for society because the market and industry will not need what the students are coming out with,” Benjamin. “So, people would want their children to study what is relevant in the world today.”
Education in Africa’s biggest economy, most especially in the tertiary sector, has multiple problems such as access, quality, funding, the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, cultism and instability of the academic calendar. The opportunities that the US offers also explain why Nigerian students are seeking post-secondary education abroad.
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According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the amount of foreign exchange utilised for educational services surged by 58.9 percent to $609.5 million in eight months (January-August 2022) from $383.6 million in the same period last year.
“The quality of education offered there is better than the one we have here, and the system is a bit faster than the Nigerian one,” said Ernest Odior, a Lagos-based economist and lecturer.
He said many Nigerians flock to the US to study because there are job opportunities there. ‘‘Once they finish their studies, they have the opportunity to get good jobs.”
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa’s most populous nation, which depends on oil proceeds, has been hammered by weak foreign inflows, resulting in a liquidity challenge in the country’s FX market.
At the official market, the naira-dollar exchange rate closed at N381/$1 as at April 2021, compared to N327/$1 in March 2020.
While at the parallel market, it closed at N482/$1, compared to N368/$1 in March 2020. And in recent months, the naira has depreciated against the dollar, dropping to as low as 440/$1 and 800/$1 in the official and parallel markets respectively.
The surge in FX is also a major contributing factor to the country’s headline inflation, which hit 20.7 percent in September – a 17-year high, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
International students in US universities spend on average $25,000-$55,000 per year on tuition fees, depending on the course, type of university and location.
By estimating the amount in naira, using the official market rate, the amount ranges from N11.1 million and N24.2 million. This is many times costlier than many private universities in Nigeria whose average tuition fees are around N500,000-N3 million per session.
Federal and state government-owned universities pay less than N50,000 per session, which partly accounts for the poor quality of education in these universities.
Johnson Chukwu, chief executive officer at Cowry Asset Management Limited, said the preference for foreign schools will not be in Nigeria’s interest, given the cost implications.
“There will be a capital outflow from the local economy. And when there is an outflow of students to any country, you will notice the burden on foreign exchange because we have to pay for those services with our foreign reserves,’’ he said.
The IIE report also revealed that Nigeria ranked among the top 10 countries with the highest number of students in America, while China (290,086), India (199,182), South Korea (40,755), Canada (27,013) and Vietnam (20,713) are the top five countries.
Studies show that international student mobility data is crucial to the world’s largest economy’s higher education professionals looking to make informed decisions as they work to internationalise their campuses.
They enrich the American universities and communities with unique perspectives and experiences that expand the horizons of American students and make the institutions more competitive in the global economy.
And with over 100,000 travellers to the US each year, Nigerians boost American businesses, colleges, and universities, according to the US Department of State.
“There are over 8,800 education and exchange program alumni from Nigeria and the US. Nigeria sends more students to American colleges and universities than any other country in Africa,” it said on its website.
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