Separation of Headship

During the 1968/69 session, Senate directed the Board of Delegates to re-examine the structures of the Institute with a view to determining whether the existing modes of governance and headship should continue.  A subcommittee chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor C.M. Eddington, was set up to examine the issues.  Subsequently, Senate in 1970 approved the following recommendations:

1. that the present system whereby the business of the Institute of Education is channeled through the Board of Delegates to Senate is desirable and should continue;
2. that the Institute and the Department of education should be separate bodies and members of staff of each body should be so listed in the calendar;
3. that, however, there should be cooperation between the staff of the Institute and the staff of the Department;
4. that the Professor and Head of department of Education should be the Director of the Institute;
5. that there should be a Deputy Director of the Institute of Education who should be responsible to the Director of the Institute;
6. that this arrangement should be reviewed after two years.

At the same time, the constitution of the Institute was modified to reflect the new post of Deputy Director.  I was appointed as the first Deputy Director while Professor J.A. Majasan was Head of Department and Director of the Institute.  The recommended review of the situation did not take place until 1975.  Eventually on the recommendation of the Development Committee Senate on January 26, 1976 approved the following recommendations:

(a)   that the Headship of the Department of education be separated from the Directorship of the Institute of Education;

(b)   that the post of Director of the Institute should be of professorial rank;

(c)   that the Director shall be the professional, academic and administrative head of the Institute;

(d)   that the Director should be identified by the normal university processes of appointment and promotion;

(e)   that any programmes of development of the Institute be first submitted to the Development Committee for consideration before embarking on their implementation.

These decisions were accompanied by a second revision of the constitution to reflect the changes. Through the process of rotation of headship of academic units in the University I had become the Head of Department of Education and Director of the Institute of Education.  I now had the task of deciding which of the two units (Department of Education or Institute of Education) I wished to head.  I opted for the post of Director Institute of Education.  Professor Okunrotifa of the Department of Education was appointed Head of Department of Education.

The Institute is a link between the Faculty of Education in particular, and the University in general on the one hand and the field of Education outside the walls of the University on the other, especially as related to formal education, teacher education, research and advisory services.  The Institute of Education therefore plays a professional role as well as a public relations role.

The style of functioning of the Institute has accordingly been to a very large extent the coordination and harnessing of academic manpower from the various faculties of the University in the services of education outside the University both at national and international levels.