FUOYE students lament shortage of classrooms

The students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), have lamented the shortage of classrooms in their university.

Aderiye Oyindamola, a 400-level student of Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies described the issue as one of the major problems students of the university grapple with daily.

“This is one of the major problems we face in FUOYE every day,” she said. “My faculty is in Phase 3. However, the unavailability of lecture halls makes us go to Phase 1, most times. Sadly, we get to share one lecture hall with over three classes when we use the Main Auditorium. Hence, the inability to hear well in classes,” she said.

A 100-level student from the department of English and Literary Studies, Ofem Wofai, also expressed sadness at the situation.

“It is very disappointing and tiring. I went to a class some time ago. We were told it would be held in the Main Auditorium. When we got there, a church was having a programme, and we were directed to use the Faculty of Arts’ Pavilion. On getting there again, the class was filled up and most of us had to squat throughout the class. Me, particularly, squatted for over an hour until a friend offered me a seat at the front,” she said.

Abiodun Oluwafemi, a 300-level student of Demography and Statistics, said:

“The funniest part of this challenge is that even lecturers fight over classes. It’s now based on ‘first come, first serve’. It is very disheartening to come to class from a far distance only to go home because of the unavailability of lecture rooms. Let the management do something, please.”

On Thursday, June 3, these reporters saw a lecture hall overfilled with students. While the lecture was ongoing, some of the students were standing outside the hall while others were sitting on the windows.

Speaking with UCJ FUOYE reporters, Adeyemi Temitope from the department of Criminology and Security studies expressed his lack of surprise at the occurrence.

“This is no longer a new thing in FUOYE as we have even had a class by the dumpsite, here. This is POL 102 class in which three departments do the course. The class was slated for 8 a.m., I got here some minutes late only to find out there’s no space inside the hall. We are used to it already,” he said.

Harry Olufunwa, a PhD holder and a lecturer in the Faculty of Arts, said there has been a shortage of classrooms since he got to the university in April 2016.

“It has affected the quality of teaching. Once upon a time, we had like 32 students in a classroom, and 32 students could fit into any class. But we now have an excess of 200 students in the same class.

“As an English lecturer, my English classes 212 and 102 can only be held at the Faculty of Arts’ Pavilion and the Main Auditorium. There are no other venues that can accommodate the students. If I attempt to do so, it will become difficult for the lecturer and the class,” Mr Olufunwa said.

In the Faculty of Arts, classes are restricted to two venues: the University Main Hall at Phase 1 area of the university and the Faculty of Arts’ Pavilion for large classes.

Students are usually the ones who suffer most due to the shortage of classrooms, Mr Olufunwa said.

“When students are not able to hear the lecturer in a big hall or an overfilled classroom, they spend that time doing something else. That usually has consequences in the examination for them,” he said.

FUOYE is one of the universities established by the federal government in 201. It, like most other public universities, faces the challenge of inadequate funding and facilities. But the university’s management says it is concerned about the situation and is trying to find a solution.

“I can assure you the Vice-Chancellor has been proactive in attending to it (inadequate classrooms),” the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dosu Malomo, who also lectures in the Faculty of Sciences, said.

He, however, did not disclose the specific actions being taken by the university management on the matter.