The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the extent to which the university students have reported that the University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay branch, effectively meets both their educational and occupational needs in Sierra Leone. Questionnaires administered to two groups of student participants consisting of preliminary and final year students attending the university and a sampled group of graduates of the early 1980's. The two student groups provided information regarding whether they felt the university was providing educational and professional training necessary for them to lead productive and satisfying lives in Sierra Leone. The graduates provided information on the extent to which their university training had been effective and rewarding to them while in the outside world. The supplementary interviews were conducted among a sampled group of lecturers and administrators whose information was specifically utilized to complement student responses to the questionnaire. The study focused on eight themes: the university, admissions, majors, jobs, curriculum, lecturers, orientation, and counseling.
Findings indicated that differences existed not only between the current student and graduate groups on certain issues, but also within each respective group with regards to sex and year of study. Preliminary year students were generally more positive about the various themes except for the entrance exam and orientation themes which they had directly experienced as unfair and monotonous, respectively, prior to their admissions at the university. The final year students, on the other hand, were generally less positive about virtually all themes except the major and counseling themes.
Graduates, regardless of sex, area of major, and year of graduation, responded more uniformly to themes than current students. They were generally concerned about the same issues, particularly those that directly affected their personal and professional well-beings.
Lecturers, particularly young ones, tended to be generally pessimistic about the overall university system with regards to student educational and occupational concerns, and their views were closely related to ratings of final year students. Conversely, administrators were predominantly optimistic about both the university system and prospective student employment. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
