The CEO and founder of Nexford University, Mr Fadl Al-Tarzi, in this interview with GRACE Applied learning should take priority over grades – Nexford University CEO, Al-TarziEDEMA, shares insights on why online learning offers more benefits than the traditional onsite campus system and the need to emphasise applied learning. Excerpts:
How is Nexford unique from other universities?
Nexford University is a United States-based, tech-enabled university that offers 100 per cent online programmes. It is probably the first university in the world to design a curriculum based on the needs of employers using Artificial Intelligence specifically. We use AI to analyse millions of data points to understand what skills employers are looking for, and then bring to market a very affordable offering, that is flexible and allows learners to build the skills they need based on the needs of those employers, regardless of where those learners are across the world.
Given the challenges of unstable and expensive power supply and poor internet service in Nigeria, how have you ensured consistent and uninterrupted learning for your students?
The power supply and internet issues are a concern, obviously in Nigeria and other markets. We’ve catered for that by designing a flexible experience, meaning that our learners can move at their own pace, and they can study at the time that they wish during the day. We don’t have fixed live classroom hours that people need to attend and, therefore, if there’s a power outage in the morning, they can study in the evening or as convenient.
At the same time, we have built a community space here in Lagos. This community space is a model we are building all across the world with partners in different markets to provide a platform that allows our community to use it and, therefore, bypass local infrastructure challenges. We provide electricity, internet, and reliable Wi-Fi, and learners and community members are free to use that space where it exists anywhere in the world.
So learners don’t need to be online?
They need to be online, but they can be online at the time that they can. They don’t need to be online at fixed hours specifically. The way our courses are developed, typically you have weekly deadlines that you have to meet, but whether you work on your project on a Monday or on a Tuesday, for example, doesn’t matter. There aren’t fixed hours and the deadlines are typically always within seven days, so you have a seven-day advance notice for every deadline that you have. And then, when there are live sessions, you can attend those optionally. If you’re unable to attend, you can view a recording. So, you need to be online, of course, but not at fixed specific times.
Do you think online learning is more effective than the traditional learning method where learners can see lecturers, ask questions, and interact?
Yes, I believe it’s effective, but more importantly, research shows that it’s extremely effective. It’s not just a matter of opinion anymore. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of learners who have studied online, and plenty of research proves that the outcomes of online programmes are on par with, if not superior to, those of traditional campus-based programmes.
There’s no doubt about the effectiveness. Online platforms offer numerous advantages that traditional, offline settings simply can’t match. When you think about things like talking to your lecturer, asking questions, or engaging in communication, the contrast becomes clear. In a physical classroom at a traditional university where you might have 50, 100, or even 200 students, it’s nearly impossible to achieve meaningful interaction.
It’s also almost impossible to have personalised learning. Online education offers this advantage over the physical. You can have technology that adapts to your needs and services you in a way that’s impossible offline, where you can view content in multiple different ways, where you can book time with faculty, teaching assistants, and advisors, depending on your schedule. How would that be possible on a physical campus if you need to study at 11 pm. versus someone else at 11 am? You need to study at a different pace. So online offers multiple advantages when it comes to personalisation, which is the essence of effective learning.
Given your experience, what do you think the Nigerian education system needs to advance and improve?
Personally, I’m not intimately familiar with the education system in Nigeria. However, we do interact with a lot of peers from various universities and hear from many learners who have attended Nigerian universities before joining Nexford. From what we’ve gathered, there are two major challenges, which likely aren’t unique to Nigeria, similar issues can be found in many markets.
The first challenge is relevance. There’s a significant gap between what universities are teaching and what employers are seeking. This results from a variety of factors, including government regulations, but there are other contributing elements as well. When governments intervene in policymaking or curriculum design and impose rigid standards, it makes it harder for universities to adapt quickly. Fields like data science, cybersecurity, and machine learning, for example, are evolving at a rapid pace. Universities need the flexibility to update their curricula swiftly to keep up with these changes.
You can’t afford a multi-year development process to address this issue. And to be clear, it’s not just a government problem. It’s also about bureaucracy, resistance to change, and the legacy systems in universities that are slow to adapt. As a result, universities often end up teaching content and producing outcomes that aren’t aligned with what employers are looking for. I’d say that’s the biggest challenge.
The second challenge is more philosophical, relating to the approach to learning itself. Many institutions focus more on assessment than actual learning. Students are taught how to pass a test, so the emphasis becomes on figuring out how to ace the exam, rather than on truly mastering the material. However, passing a test doesn’t necessarily demonstrate that a student has gained a valuable skill. Learning how to learn is often undervalued. Unfortunately, students end up memorising information just to pass the test, and once the test is over, they don’t retain much of what they’ve learned. I think this is a major issue, not just in Nigeria but in many educational systems worldwide.
How would you describe a typical Nigerian student?
The typical Nigerian student is incredibly resilient, resourceful, and ambitious. When we compare Nigerian students to those from about 100 different countries around the world, it’s clear that, relatively speaking, Nigerian students face more challenges than their peers in markets like the United States, the United Kingdom, or Western Europe. However, growing up in an environment that forces them to adapt to these challenges has made them exceptionally resilient, which is an incredibly valuable skill.
One aspect we see is the immense value placed on education in Nigerian society, which is fantastic. Not all societies share that same level of emphasis on education. However, this focus sometimes comes with a trade-off. We often see Nigerian learners being more focused on their grades and obtaining a degree, rather than truly learning valuable skills and applying them. This is something that I think needs to shift culturally in the coming years and it’s an issue that exists in many different markets.
Instead of focusing on passing exams to earn degrees or certificates, what would you have preferred students to focus on more?
We would want them to focus on applied learning, as we call it. What is the skill that I’m getting through this programme and what is the value of that skill? I think that’s what people need to prioritise a lot more than the actual degree. So, you know, this trade-off between skills and credentials is a problem across the world. People who want skills often don’t go to universities, and people who want degrees do go to universities.
Nexford tries to combine these two, where what we’re telling folks is that learning how to learn is the most valuable thing you can do. Secondly, while you’re earning your degree, you should be focused primarily on really learning as opposed to just the grade that you’re getting, because there are ways to get a grade but not learn as much. It is about thinking about how to apply what has been learnt in the workplace. And, as I like to say, not letting your education get in the way of your learning. Folks shouldn’t think about education as an end in itself. It’s a means to an end.
Recently, the Nigerian government asked basic schools and secondary schools to start offering hands-on programmes as part of their curriculum. What are your thoughts on this?
Hands-on learning is one of the most effective ways to learn. There are various terms for it, some call it competency-based education, others refer to it as skills-focused or hands-on learning. Whether it’s a trade like plumbing or carpentry, or fields like software engineering or data science, the approach remains the same.
Hands-on learning, which we sometimes refer to as competency-based or skills-focused education, is the most effective way to learn. If you think about your own life, the lessons you’ve learnt from reading a book or article versus actually going through the experience those materials talk about, you’ll realise that the most impactful lessons are the ones you’ve experienced firsthand, whether as a child or as an adult. Education is no different. It needs to be hands-on. If you were learning to become a carpenter, you can’t read or watch videos about carpentry only. If you’re learning to become a software engineer, you shouldn’t be writing software essays or just listening to lectures. You should be writing software to become a software engineer. We think of it as applied learning or authentic assessment.
For sure, the moves from the Nigerian government to apply a more hands-on approach are a step in the right direction. And we have been doing that at Nexford for years. We call it an authentic assessment. If you’re in a marketing course, for example, you’re never going to be writing an essay about marketing. You’re going to be building a marketing plan or building a marketing campaign. So you need to apply what you’re learning to retain that information.
What do education entrepreneurs need to do differently or significantly to improve the quality of graduates within the Nigerian system?
You know, I think it’s not probably unique to Nigeria only, but I would say you need to be solving a real problem. I think that’s the core. Essentially, any successful venture or startup needs to solve a real problem that consumers recognise as a real problem. In a market like Nigeria, unemployment is a real issue. So, if you’re building an education venture, you need to focus on how your approach is solving that problem directly. It’s not just about providing quality education for the sake of it, but about how that education addresses the core problem of unemployment. Let’s say they receive the education they need, but what’s the next step? How does that education lead to employability? I would argue that this is the most important consideration for any entrepreneur in the education space: What problem are you solving, and is the solution you’re offering truly addressing that problem? Or is it just solving part of the problem? Education is a tough sector to tackle because it comes with a lot of challenges.
Take Nigeria, for example, its population is growing rapidly, and I believe there are about three million high school graduates each year. However, the entire university capacity in Nigeria is only about 700,000 seats. So, if every high school graduate wanted to go to university, it would be impossible. Not everyone can afford or even wants to attend university, and people will naturally choose different paths. This creates a great opportunity for educational entrepreneurs to think about how they can serve these high school graduates— helping them transition into pathways that lead to stable, meaningful employment effectively.
How many students are currently enrolled at Nexford University?
Since we started, I would say we’re well over 20,000 students. They are all over the world, however. It’s not just in Nigeria. This year, I think we celebrated about 1,200 graduates here in Lagos.
What is the number of first-class?
We don’t have this notion of first class. Our model operates with just two possible outcomes. For example, a C Grade, which is typically around 70 per cent or 75 per cent, wouldn’t be considered passing in our system. Since we’re competency-based, we don’t allow students to graduate with subpar grades. From a philosophical standpoint, it’s simple: either you’ve mastered the material and proven your skills, or you haven’t.
We don’t feel comfortable graduating students with a C grade, because that doesn’t indicate mastery of the skill. At the graduate level, particularly in our master’s programmes, students can only earn A or B. Anything below that is considered a failing grade.
Those with failing grades, do they repeat or carry over?
Anything below A or B is not a passing grade. You can only remain in the programme if your grades are A’s or B’s because it’s a competency-based model. If you think about it from an applied perspective for a second, let’s say you’re studying finance, for example, within finance, you have to build, let’s say, income statements or balance sheets. If you’re not building them correctly, meaning the numbers aren’t balancing, so there’s a mistake within the numbers somehow, then we can’t defend you in front of an employer. So this person hasn’t mastered the skills of building balance sheets.
An employer wouldn’t be comfortable hiring someone who might make mistakes in financial statements. It’s that simple, you either know how to do it properly, or you don’t. Our job is to ensure you learn how to do it correctly and provide ongoing support as needed. However, if you consistently receive grades below a B, you won’t be able to graduate from the programme.
What’s your perspective on ‘first-class’ or ‘distinction’ as common in Nigeria?
A lot of people like to be first class, as it gives folks a sense of pride and is great. I have no issue with the concept of first class. Our issue is more with being able to prove that you’ve mastered the skills. We don’t feel comfortable graduating people with low grades. Those folks are just not ready to go into employment.
What are some of the key goals for Nexford this year?
This 2025, for us, is a big year, I would say. We have three sorts of big priorities. The first is a significant expansion in our programme offerings. We intend to bring to market several new programmes, both degree and non-degree programmes, in fields like computer science, software engineering, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. There’s a very big focus for us to bring to the market programmes that are AI-related. We’ve just completed an analysis of updated employer needs across the world.
Based on that, we’re going to launch a number of new programmes to meet those needs. As you can expect, areas like AI are going to be quite important for us this year. So we’re going to be launching a number of new programmes that are AI related.
We’re also going to be launching software engineering-related programmes and going into areas like cybersecurity as well.
We’re launching several new programmes, both degree and non-degree, this year. Additionally, we plan to significantly expand the career support we offer. This includes a major update to how we help learners prepare for and secure jobs, whether physical or remote, across the globe. And then the third area is really geographic expansion. We have several plans when it comes to new markets that we’re going into and expanding the learner community across the world.
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