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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
April 2011, Vol. 1, No. 1

HRMARS, Pakistan www.hrmars.com
26
HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND INTERNAL EFFICIENCY IN
STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA
Dr. A. Y. Abdulkareem
Department of Educational Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
E.mail: ayabdulkareem@yahoo.com
Dr. Y. A. Fasasi
E.mail: adefasas@yahoo.com
Dr. O. P. Akinnubi
E.mail: akinnubipaul@yahoo.com
Abstract
This paper examined the relationship between human resource utilization and internal efficiency
in Nigerian state universities. It was a descriptive survey research. Stratified random sampling technique
was adopted for selecting 6 out of 12 state-owned universities. Also, 572 lecturers were sampled from
Humanities and Science Faculties of the institutions. They responded to Human Resource Checklist
(HRC) and Internal Efficiency Checklist (IEC) designed by the researchers and validated by experts in the
field of educational management. StudentTeacher Ratio, Refined Cohort Wastage Rate and Graduation
Rate were used to answer three research questions raised in the study. Pearson product-moment
correlation statistic was used to test the formulated research hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The
study revealed over-utilization of teachers, low wastage rate with a mean of 23%, and high graduation
rate with a mean of 85%. Also, there was a significant relationship between human resource utilization
and internal efficiency in Nigerian state universities (calculated r-value= .347 > critical r-value =.06, p <
.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the universities should employ
more lecturers in humanities (Faculties of Arts, Business and Social Sciences/Management Sciences and
Education) and sciences (Faculty of Science) in order to reduce the workload of the existing lecturers in
these discipline.
Key words: Human resource utilization, internal efficiency, state- owned universities, Nigeria.
Introduction
In Nigeria, the society depends on educational institutions for production of individuals who can
fit properly and contribute meaningfully to the development of the environment. Universities, as the
highest educational institutions, are statutorily charged with the responsibility of producing high level
manpower. In addition, the institutions are to:
Develop and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and society;
Develop the intellectual capacity of individual to understand and appreciate their local
and external environments; and
27
Promote national and international understanding and interaction (Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 2004 p.36).
In pursuit of these goals, the Federal Government established universities and allowed state
governments, private organizations and individuals to establish theirs. Thus, universities in
Nigeria are owned by Federal Governments, State Governments, private organizations and
private individuals. In these institutions, human (academic and non-academic staff), material
and financial resources are made available, and students are admitted annually to undergo
various programmes.
In admission process candidates usually give preference to university education as a source
of high level manpower while other tertiary institutions such as polytechnics and colleges of
education are less patronized. This has lead to an increase in demand for and subsequently
enrolment into the universities. The expectation is that graduates from these institutions would
become productive workers and good citizens who would be able to contribute to the
development of their society and make the nation truly self reliant. However, according to
Babalola (2007), many of them wonder around without gainful engagements. This implies that
the nations aspiration which has led to investment in education is yet to be actualized and
resources are wasted. This situation calls for a re-examination of inputs into the institutions and
how the inputs are processed, so that necessary measures will be taking to prevent wastages.
All educational resources are vital to the achievement of national objectives. Human
resources, especially the academic staff are to control other resources and ensure that national
goals and objectives are achieved. As observed by Afolabi (2005), no matter how beautiful the
programmes and assets of an institution are, without the academic staff, attainment of the
institutional goals and objectives would prove abortive. In this paper, human resource utilization
and its influence on internal efficiency of state-owned universities in Nigeria, is examined.
Specifically, the purposes of this study are:
i. To examine student-teacher ratio in the state universities in Nigeria.
ii. To determine students wastage rate in the universities.
iii. To determine the graduation rate in the universities.
iv. To examine the relationship that exists between resource utilization and internal efficiency
in Nigerian universities.
Human Resource Utilization
Human resources are the people who constitute the workforce in an organization. According to
Olagboye (2004), people and knowledge, skills and attitudes in them constitute resources. Okwori
(2006) agreed with this assertion and added that expertise in technical, mechanical, managerial, social
and other areas potentially available for utilization in social and economic institutions constitute human
resources.
University as an educational institution has teaching staff, non-teaching personnel and students
including their knowledge, abilities and skills as the human resources. Essentially, the personnel within
the institutions and their capabilities in contributing to productivity and achievement of institutional
objectives are referred to as human resources. In the university system, the teaching staff is referred to
as lecturers and teachers. They are engaged in the processing of all educational inputs, students
inclusive, so that the educational institutions will be able to achieve their objectives. They disseminate
knowledge and skills through teaching, contribute to advancement in knowledge through research and
engage in community services. Their availability and utilization would determine the success or failure of
the educational system. A method of determining the extent of teachers utilization is through the
28
number of students assigned to them for teaching and supervision. The National Universities
Commission (NUC) has given the number of students a lecturer can conveniently handle on different
programmes offered in the universities. These are referred to as students-teacher ratio which varies
according to programmes: humanity 30 students to a teacher (30:1); Science 20 students to a
teacher (20:1); Medicine 10 students to a teacher (10:1); Agriculture 15 students to a teacher (15:1);
and Engineering, 15 students to a teacher (15:1).
Students-Teacher Ratio (STR) could be used to determine the number of students that are to be
allocated to a teacher in a given educational level. The students-teacher ratio shows a teachers
workload at a particular level of education. It also helps in determining the number of teaching
manpower needed for a projected students enrolment. Thus, it could be used to determine either
lecturers are over-utilized or underutilized (Ayo, 1995; Afolabi, 2005). Models for calculation of teachers
utilization rate is:
Internal Efficiency
Efficiency as a concept has its origin in economics. It is the optimal relation between inputs and
outputs. The internally efficient educational system is one which turns out graduates without wasting
any student-year or without dropouts or repeaters. The system may be externally quite inefficient if the
graduate turned out is not what the society, economy or higher level of education wants (Ayo, 1995).
According to Padmanabhan (2001), internal efficiency refers to the number of students who pass from
one grade to the other and complete that cycle within the stipulated period of time. It shows the
relationship between input and output at a given educational level. Gupta (2001) noted that the
question of internal efficiency is ultimately linked to the issue of resource allocation and utilization.
The indicators of internal efficiency used by Abdulkareem (1989); Fabunmi (1999); and Afolabi
(2005) are wastage rate and graduation rate. Wastage rate is caused by students who leave the school
system before the completion of their courses. Wastage may also occur between grade level, as a result
of students who repeat the grade and those who drop out of the system. Wastage rate could be crude-
cohort wastage rate or refined-cohort wastage rate.
Crude-cohort wastage rate is the percentage of repeaters and drop-outs from the first year to
the final year of academic sessions of a given cohort of students, while refined cohort wastage rate is
the percentage of those who passed out or the graduates to the enrolment of the cohort. This is based
on the fact that not all the students that reached the final year took the final year examination or
passed.
Graduation rate refers to the percentage of the students that finally leave the system on
completion of the course to the total number that enrolled in the final grade of the level. This is very
vital to the work of educational planners because it enables them to compute the input-output ratio in
determining the efficacy of the system.
Owolabi (2000), in his study, submitted that it was unrealistic to compare examination results
of schools in terms of successful completion of a particular cycle, without considering the students
inputs, drop-outs and repetition in the institution. These are likely to have a great influence on their
performance at their final year, he stated.
Student-Teachers Ratio =
Total number of students at a given educational level in a year
Total number of teachers at a given educational level in a year
29
Methodology
The research design used for this study was a descriptive survey. It yields information
concerning the degree of relationship between the variables being studied. Thus, it enables the
researchers to find out whether any relationship or associations exist between the variables, the
direction and the magnitude of the relationship.
The population for this study comprised the 12 state owned universities offering courses in
humanities (Faculties of Arts, Business and Social Sciences/Management Sciences and Education) and
sciences (Faculty of Science) established before year 2005 in Nigeria. Six out of the 12 universities, that
is, 50% were selected as sample for the study through stratified random sampling technique.
Furthermore, 572 out of the 1536 lecturers in the universities were selected as sample for the study
through stratified random sampling technique.
Two instruments titled: Human Resource Checklist (HRC) and Internal Efficiency Checklist (IEC)
were designed to obtain necessary data on lecturers and students in the sampled universities. The
instruments were validated by experts in the areas of educational management and educational
measurement and evaluation
Research Questions
1. What is the students-teacher ratio in the state-owned universities?
2. What is the wastage rate in the universities for 2003/2004 cohort?
3. What is the graduation rate in the universities for 2003/2004 cohort?
Research Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between human resource utilization and internal efficiency in
the state-owned universities in Nigeria.
Techniques of Data Analysis
Student-Teacher Ratio, wastage rate and graduation rate were used to analyse the three
research questions raised in the study. These are considered appropriate for determination of internal
efficiency (www.uis.unesco.org). Pearson product-moment correlation statistic was used to test the
research hypothesis formulated in the study at 0.05 level of significance.
Results and Discussion
Research Question 1: What is the Students-Teacher Ratio in the state-owned universities in Nigeria?
To answer this research question, total number of students and lecturers were obtained in the sampled
universities and analyzed as shown in Tables 1 & 2.
30
Table 1: Students-Teacher Ratio in Humanities
University Students Lecturers STR %
1. Ambrose Ali University 8030 142 57
2. Lagos State University 24222 435 56
3. Imo State University 13319 165 81
4. Nasarawa State University 1189 87 14
5. Adamawa State University 796 98 8
6. Ebonyi State University 4512 214 21
Total 52068 1141 237
Mean 8678 190 40
STR- Student-Teacher Ratio
Source: Fieldwork, 2010
Table 1 shows that 3 (50%) of the selected universities had less than 40%, the mean STR, while 3
(50%) of these institutions had STR above 40%. The STR was above the bench mark of 30:1 in the
selected universities, which implies that the lecturers are over utilized in humanities in the institutions.
Table 2: Students-Teacher Ratio in Sciences
Students Lecturers STR%
Total 6296 206 164
Mean 1049 34 27
STR- Student-Teacher Ratio
Table 2 shows that 3 (50%) of the selected universities had less than 27%, the mean STR, while 3
(50%) of these institutions had STR above 27%. The STR was above the bench mark of 20:1 in the
selected universities, which implies that the lecturers are over utilized in sciences in the institutions.
Research Question 2: What is the wastage rate in the state-owned universities for 2003/2004
cohort?
31
To answer this research questions, students enrolment were obtained in the sampled
universities and analyzed as shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Wastage Rate in the Sampled Universities
Universities 200Level
Students
(2003/2004)
Graduates
(2005/2006)
Wastage %
2. Lagos State University, Ojo 32673 29301 10
3. Imo State University, Oweri 17840 14756 17
4. Nasarawa State University, Keffi 1871 1007 46
5. Adamawa State University, Mubi 1370 1112 19
6. Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 6931 5644 19
Total 71964 59911 139
Mean 11994 9985 23
Table 3 shows that 4 (66.7%) of the selected universities had less than 23%, the mean wastage
rate, while 2 (33.3%) of these institutions had wastage rates above 23%. The wastage rate was minimal
in the selected universities, which implies that internal efficiency was high in the institutions.
Research Question 3: What is the graduation rate in the Nigerian state universities for
2003/2004 cohort?
To answer this research question, student enrolments were obtained and analyzed as shown
Table 4.
Table 4: Graduation Rate in the Sampled Universities
400Level Students
(2005/2006)
Graduates
(2006)
Graduation Rate
%
Total 67242 59911 507
Mean 11207 9985 85
32
As shown in Table 3, the mean graduation rate in the selected universities was 85%. Furthermore, two
(33.3%) universities had less than 85%, while 4 (66.7%) had above 85%.
Wastage in education happens as a result of low promotion rate, high repetition rate and high drop
out rate. It presupposes that if educational managers carefully and effectively handle educational
resources, better results would be achieved. Thus, educational planners and administrators must
explore means of reducing wastages. As stated by Fadipe (1992), quality of inputs would influence
outputs of the school system.
Research Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between human resource utilization and internal efficiency in
the state-owned universities.
Table 5: Human Resources Utilization and Internal Efficiency
Variable N _
X
SD DF Calculated
r-value
Critical
r-value
Decision
Human resource utilization 572 12.17 5.49
570 .347 .062 Ho: Rejected
Internal Efficiency 572 10.56 3.12
Table 5 indicates that the calculated r-value (.347) is greater than the critical r-value (.062) at
0.05 level of significance for 570 degrees of freedom. Hence, the null hypothesis which states that there
is no significant relationship between human resource utilization and internal efficiency is rejected.
Therefore, a significant relationship exists between human resources utilization and internal efficiency in
the state-owned universities. The role of the lecturers cannot be underscored in teaching-learning
process and in attainment of educational goals at the university level. In fact, the quality of lecturers is a
major determinant of the quality of the students and no educational system may rise above the quality
of its teachers (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). Lecturers, therefore, as educational engineers and
technicians are the souls of any educational system. There is no substitute for lecturers who are
dedicated to their institutions thereby resulting into high graduation rate and low wastage rate.
Conclusion
It could be asserted that the lecturers in the state-owned universities are over utilized. This
could reduce the quality of their job performance and consequently the quality of students turned out
from the universities. The roles of these lecturers cannot be underscored in the university system since
their inputs would influence the extent to which students would be of students prepared to meet future
challenges. In fact, quality teaching displayed by lecturers is likely to result to wastage rate and high
graduation rate in the university system.
33
Recommendations
Therefore, the following recommendations are advanced:
i. The universities should employ more lecturers in humanities (Faculties of Arts, Business and
Social Sciences/Management Sciences and Education) and sciences (Faculty of Science) in
order to reduce the workload of the existing lecturers in these disciplines.
ii. Wastage rate should be reduced to the barest minimum by ensuring that admission is based
more on merit. When admission is based on merit, those admitted are likely to be capable
of facing academic challenges and be able to achieve high graduation rate in their
institutions.
iii. Emphasis should be laid on conferences, seminars and workshops for university staff in
order to enhance their professional competency, especially in handling large class size.
iv. Students improvement programmes such as group discussions and tutorials should be
encouraged in universities. This could enhance knowledge and skill acquisition and review
the incidence of repeaters and drop out.
34
References
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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

April 2011, Vol. 1, No. 1

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