It is clear now that there are a few conveniently omitted pieces of important on the National Open University website. Some of these information might be considered minor while others might be considered a bit more important as they WILL affect your decision to attend the National Open University or otherwise. Here are a few common misconceptions about NOUN:
1. Everything Is Online, Quick & Easy
Wrong! initially while you are reading up about NOUN trying to decide if it is a good fit for your schedule because you have a day job and what not, you are led to believe that you can absolutely do everything online quick and easy and face your work full time. It is sad, but it is not. There are endless forms and files you will have to submit. An erroneous list of documents to sign and stamp from one counselors office to another admin officers table. It can get frustrating if you are not prepared to do the heavy lifting.
2. It Is Affordable
This has to be by far the most common misconception, most people think because it is owned by the Federal Government the prices will be dicey. Wrong! A new student’s first semester fees, registrations and exam fees will rake up to about ninety thousand naira. The payments do not have to be made at once of course but they must be made.
3. You Always Get Lecturers And Facilitators
Wrong again! In fact, if for any reason students of a department in a particular study center are below 50, you can be denied access to facilitators. Courses need to be registered a high number of times in your study center for facilitators to be provided.
4. You Do Not Have To Go To Study Centers Regularly
This one is the most dangerous on this list. The way/rate at which information is passed across in most study centers in abysmal. A small white piece of paper will be posted on a notice board with hundred other white pieces of paper saying “If you offered ENT 403 and your result is missing, come to the admin office on or before 2 pm on Friday or forget about your result.” No jokes, if you are lucky and you have a friend who is around daily, you might be honored with a phone call and if not, sorry. Hence, you have to be very present very often in order to not miss important information.
Just treat it like any other higher institution, with the seriousness and mindset of a full time student and you will have no problems at all. This are a few problems most people might encounter. Hopefully we have helped you scale these problems. If you have questions please use the comments section.