PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AND ACADEMIC STAFF PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES.

Abstract

University Education plays a significant role in the socio-economic growth and development of any nation. Inversely, the inability of the government to provide basic academic infrastructures, will lead to the breeding of uneducated men and women who may be destructive both to themselves and the society. The collaboration between the public and private organization in higher education provisioning have stimulated the productivity of university’s academic staff to the realization of the development goals of the nation. Universities however, cannot be viable, virile and productive without the support of its entire workforce. In other words, human resources are crucial to higher productivity and quality products of any university. Hence, the need for public private partnership in bridging the gap where the government has failed. This paper therefore examines public private partnership in academic staff productivity in Nigerian Universities. The population for the study was 6 Deans and 69 Head of Departments (HOD) making a total of 75 was purposively selected mainly from the departments that have benefited from private partnership. The data for the study were collected through primary and secondary sources. The data collected were analyzed by the use of simple descriptive statistics with the aid of tables, graphs, charts and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the government budget for the institution (university of Ibadan) is far more less than the budget required to enhance academic staff productivity. The summary of the regression analysis shows that provision of academic infrastructural facilities through public-private partnership has significant contribution to academic staff productivity. It concluded by stating that academic staff productivity are crucial to higher productivity and quality products of any university, hence, there must be increased funding, provision of academic infrastructure, increase in research grant and increased public-private partnership. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the study.