biina:

There is really no such thing as 'grade inflation', else there would be a standard grading.

biina:

I think the difficulty in getting a first class in faulties like law, humanities, Arts etc migfht be dues to
- the subjective nature of evaluation, as unlike in enginerring and science where the solution is often exact
- a bias in the quality of intake, as the more brilliant students are often guided into science classes at the secondary school level
- historical references i.e. there has never been a first class in this department

H2O2:

Lol are you serious?  I beg to disagree.  But I will save the argument for some other time.

micktosin:

1 of the main reason why 1st and 2:1 is higher in western world, is simply down to home work/ Lab practical which makes up 30% of the total mark, but 1st isn't inflated as people think it is, you need to work your backside off to get it.

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php

SEFAGO:

There is grade inflation most especially at top schools in the US. They usually give the excuse that they have super-smart students but still a school where 30-45% of the graduating class leave with equivalents of second class upper and higher is disturbing. UK too has a bit of grade inflation, but the one in America is way of the charts.

biina:

So the question is the class of your degree (which is in turn a measure of your grades) should reflect what
- your ability relative to your peers (i.e. on a national scale)?
- your ability relative to your classmates in the school?
- or your ability relative to a standard (set by the school)?

None of these can be said to be inherently superior to the others, but the tuning of a system to accurately measure one, makes it incapable of measuring the others. Most school try to achieve a composite metric.

To talk of grade inflation, implicitly assumes that there is a standard grade allocation scheme (but there is none). Until we have the latter, you cannot claim existence of the former.

While any schools might have a bias in students graduating with a particular class of degree, it is up to employers to interpret those degrees in context e.g. are those students with equivalent of 2.1 honors from top schools more deserving than those of lesser schools?

- your ability relative to your classmates in the school?

SEFAGO:

This should be the grading scale for any school. Class of a degree should be based on a preset curve. First class for the top 10%, second class division for top 70% and 20% would be third class. I think this should be uniform across board. Then the reputation of a school would further the weight and it would be left to the intuition of an employer to decide which grade from which school is better.

micktosin:

@ SELFAGO

QS RANKING, TIMES RANKING, GUARDIAN RANKING, can't all be lying. What rankings have you got man, is it ajegunle times or mushin times. Oh i get it Nigerian University is the best in the world.

manie:

is there a spiritual angle to this,l learnt 8 of thr first class graduant are members of mountain of fire while at unilag. The General overseer DR.D.K. Olukoya equally made a first class in micro biology from Unilag in 1981

manie:

is there a spiritual angle to this,l learnt 8 of thr first class graduant are members of mountain of fire while at unilag. The General overseer DR.D.K. Olukoya equally made a first class in micro biology from Unilag in 1981

Jarus:

84 students made First in OAU 2005/2006 section. 2 of them were my room mates, 10 from my clique, 2 same set, same secondary school with me, 5 same tutorial class with me in year one.

These are just few of the interesting relationships I know.

Another one, as a final year student, I mentally and academically tutored some fresh Economics students. Three years later, 5 of them graduated with First Class. I can as well go around and say that 'I made a First Class, and mentored 5 other First Class Students, in a single set'. But the truth is they all had the potential before.


I don't think there is any spiritual angle to anything.

SEFAGO:

First class is CGPA: >4.5

Magna Cumlaude is equal to a first class

samir101ng:

I am sorry to say this but a 1st class in Nigeria is not worth the paper its written upon. Everybody knows that its your background and family connections that get you places. However, there are a few people blessed enough to forge ahead in life without this handicapp. Therefore, whether you have a 1st class from Unilag, ABU, UNN, UI or anywhere, if you dont have the brains to back it up or know the right people to open the doors for you, you are out of luck. Let me give you a typical scenario, you are a brilliant , hardworking person from a humble family. You bust your backside off reading through school while a lazy, rich man's son bribes his way through the school (the lecturers are already hungry with ASUU strike). At the end of the day, you both graduate with a 1st class. Who deserves it more Again, you graduate and start looking for jobs, holding your credentials and posting several CV's on the internet while rich man pikin already has a job waiting for him. I knew a guy who studied Hausa Language at ABU Zaria and graduated with a 3rd class degree. Trust connections now, he;s now working with BBC Hausa in London. I heard he just started doing his M.sc there. His mates who had 1st class and 2:1 are still marching on the road looking for how to survive. The Nigerian University system has decayed in such a way that i really dont trust people who have 1st class or even some people with 2:1. I take it with a big pinch of salt. Its when the chips are down and you have to defend your degree, thats when you know whether a person is 1st class material or not. God Help Us.

Jarus:

While you are free to say anything you like, I think your opening statement is contemptuous, even as the whole post is defeatist. Granted that our educational system has been bastardized, I think the few that struggle through the system to get the best of it deserve some respect.

I make bold to say that you can bribe your way to getting any grade, but not First Class. Having First class requires you to have A in more than 70% of your courses, from year 1 to year 4/5. Are you saying you can bribe all your lecturers, in every course, from year 1 to 4? I'm sure Nigerian system is not bad to the extent that 70% of the lecturers take bribe. Even with bribe, only few lecturers will give you A. People bribe not to fail, maybe to have a C, rather than failing and repeating a class or overstaying in school.

As regards First Class struggling outside, that is arrant balderdash. A First Class graduate that is worth his certificate will not struggle(baring any spiritual angle, like trial from God) and I'm sure more than 90% of them are worth their certificates.

I know tens of First Class graduates and have them as friends, and I'm not aware of anyone of them that couldn't find job. One of them has contributed to this thread and he is a big boy in one of the leading oil MNCs in US.

Jarus:

While you are free to say anything you like, I think your opening statement is contemptuous, even as the whole post is defeatist. Granted that our educational system has been bastardized, I think the few that struggle through the system to get the best of it deserve some respect.

I make bold to say that you can bribe your way to getting any grade, but not First Class. Having First class requires you to have A in more than 70% of your courses, from year 1 to year 4/5. Are you saying you can bribe all your lecturers, in every course, from year 1 to 4? I'm sure Nigerian system is not bad to the extent that 70% of the lecturers take bribe. Even with bribe, only few lecturers will give you A. People bribe not to fail, maybe to have a C, rather than failing and repeating a class or overstaying in school.

As regards First Class struggling outside, that is arrant balderdash. A First Class graduate that is worth his certificate will not struggle(baring any spiritual angle, like trial from God) and I'm sure more than 90% of them are worth their certificates.

I know tens of First Class graduates and have them as friends, and I'm not aware of anyone of them that couldn't find job. One of them has contributed to this thread and he is a big boy in one of the leading oil MNCs in US.

Hey guy, I refer to samir101ng comments on Yesterday at 12:16:31 AM

The guy is saying the truth ok!  I support him 110% and he can say it all over again.  It's disgraceful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have never in my life seen a University produce this number of 'First Class' graduates. To start with, Nigerian Universities haven't got the resources (finance, libraries, current and quality books, state of Art technology and enough/available computers in each School/Depts of these Universities to support this level of academic intelligence/wizardry among these graduates they claimed to have merited First Class.  Also, with their ASUU Trade mark, when did they get the time to teach these First Class  Hmmmm!!!  THERE'S A LOT TO QUERY and A LOT TO ANSWER TO, here! Shame!

In fact, to the blind and deaf person in the street, this act is overtly suspicious!  As we all know, no University in the World had ever done so but I ask, where else would this happen if not in Trashy Nigerian Educational system. 

It can only happen in Nigeria, were else

You can't sit down there telling me, there are Universities that had ever done so.  And if you do, I challenge you to point at them, let's check out their backgrounds? BRING THEM ON!!! Let's check them out! If any, it would only be  3rd World Universities - where else! 

Goes to show what POVERTY AND LACK OF RESOURCES IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM can cause - manipulation of Degree results and it's only Shady people that would support this evil.  Shame!

So stop attacking the brother and own up to the truth that is right under your nose that way, we can change our Country for the best!

eminemkayc:

MAKING A FIRST CLASS IN UNILAG DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. . . AT LEAST IV WORKED WITH SOME OF THEIR ENGINEERS AND THEY ARE LIKE BLAAA. . .I THINK UNILAG IS JUST A FUN SPOT WERE WE PICK UP CHICKS AFTER WORK AND MAKE LOVE TO THEM THATS ALL. . . HOW MANY OF THEIR GRADUATES ARE MAKING IMPACTS IN TODAY'S SOCIETY? APART FORM THE ENTERTAINMENT SCENE, I HARDLY SEE THEM IN OTHER FIELDS. BUT THEN, THE SCHOOLS I RESPECT THEIR FIRST CLASS GRADUATES ARE. . .
1) NSUKKA (UNN)

2) IFE (OAU)

3) IBADAN (UI)

4) ABU
MY OPINION THOUGH 

Guy, I agree with you to a degree!  Reason being, the backgrounds and history of these Universities - a British established Educational system you have to respect as it operates on the basis of, "If you work it, you earn it". Hard work, that's the British way!!! You can not get it if you don't work it and if you do, someone reports you  sorry, your a-rse will be up! You can not get it through the back door, period! Tell me, how could you get it cheap? By the time you finish writing one bloody Essay, and attend lectures/sign the attendance register each time you attend lectures (Argh!! 90% attendance o o remember plus your continuous assessment and end of year examinations before you could pass your course, chei!), you'd have known how difficult it is to SPELL Education ;

Yes to a degree, the above Universities I think still maintains their original culture but I doubt, there are still pockets of corruption in all their Depts/Schools. So, they can not escape the damages caused to our Educational System as a result of corruption and lack of leadership!

As of the so called Unilag and their kind, I sorry for that College because, it's an American product, isn't it??  Like father like son!  Everyone knows, American Educational system is so Shady! One can buy their degrees or pay someone to attend classes or examination for them, if they can't do it themselves. That's why, to whom it may concern, there's always a query regarding their Qualifications and Certificates. Too dodgy!!!!!