Challenges Faced by Nigerian Postgraduate Students in Malaysia and Their Impact on Their Academic Performance PDF Download

Author: Abdullahi Mohammed Umar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
Many students from Africa go to Western countries to seek higher education, a tradition encouraged and promoted by the then colonial governments in most parts of the continent. The colonial governments did not promote the development of higher education in third world countries. Despite the various efforts of successive governments, they were unable to meet the demands of higher education of their people due to several internal and external factors. The contemporary wave of globalization and transformation of societies have made higher education critical to all aspects of national development, thus necessitating various governments, private organizations and individuals to send candidates to seek higher education predominantly in the Western countries. However, the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the US had caused many Western countries to introduce some stringent measures on emigrants and students going to those countries. Malaysia and other countries in Asia took the advantage and invested in international higher education by providing excellent facilities with moderate school fees charges to attract students from other developing countries. Nigerian students began to enroll in various institutions in Malaysia. One of the universities of choice is the famous and prestigious International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) with its main campus located in Gombak Kuala Lumpur. Asia is a region that is not familiar to Africans in general. Certainly leaving one's home country to stay in another with distinct people and cultures would likely pose some challenges in several aspects like education system, socio-cultural practices and adjustment to the new environment. This study was specifically conducted at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) to identify some of the challenges faced by Nigerian postgraduate students and their impact on their academic performance. The study was conducted using the case study method. A sample of 30 postgraduate students was selected through convenient sampling technique using in-depth interviews in collecting the data. The data obtained from the respondents were carefully analyzed and interpreted, applying the thematic analysis method. The idea of employing the thematic method is to enable us to have a clear understanding of various complex issues identified as challenges. The interpretations were done through paraphrasing their views in such a way that the responses of the respondents were clarified did not comprise the original meaning of their responses. The finding shows that the students faced many challenges from academic, socio-cultural, psychological and economic spheres. However, despite the numerous challenges they faced they were able to employ different coping strategies to manage the challenges. The challenge had no negative impact on their academic performance. Most of the students were so committed to their mission and are considered among students with outstanding performance. The study made some recommendations that would eventually address significant aspects of the challenge.