National Open University of Nigeria NOUN is to award degrees to 25 inmates after completing their studies at the various Correctional study Centers at no cost to them.
The graduating inmates are part of the 22,250 students set to participate in the University’s 11th Convocation on Saturday.
The Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Professor Olufemi Peters, at a Pre-Convocation media briefing in Abuja said 24 of the inmates are undergraduates, while one had concluded his Master’s degree programme.
Professor Peters said the convocation will take place simultaneously at 107 study centres, across the country to enable students and parents to participate from the centres close to them.
He said there were 69 graduates with First Class, 4,357 Second Class Upper, 9,489 2nd Class Lower, and 2700 third class, while 16,679 are undergraduates and 5,571 postgraduates.
“We are going to graduate 22, 250 students. This is wonderful. I don’t think there is any university that has this large turnout of people who are judged to be worthy in both learning and character. We have 25 inmates, one graduating in MSc and the remaining twenty four as undergraduate. All these are sponsored free by the university as our own contribution to social equality.”
“The University is providing equity that we so desire in any egalitarian society. Equality is there because you have access to everybody.
“By taking education to the Correctional centres, what we are doing is providing a future for those people who perhaps thought they were not going to have that opportunity,” he explained.
Professor Peters, who also said over 1, 500 graduates of NOUN have enrolled into the Nigerian Law School, added that products of the university were doing well at the Law School.
Açcording to him, all the institution’s programmes, including the law programme have been fully accredited by National Universities Commission, NUC.
RN
