The Necessity For Reconfiguring Introductory Level Property Valuation Examinations In Nigeria: A View Fashioned By Experience

Abstract

Whether written or oral, practical or theoretical, examinations are designed to evaluate ability. In the core estate management subject of property valuation, which is introduced at 200 level in Nigeria’s tertiary education system, learners are tested by written examinations. Following the 2022 introduction of a revised curriculum by the accreditation body, the National Universities Commission (NUC), this paper examines the appropriateness of instituting corresponding changes in examination practice. This is a discourse highlighting an extant situation which may hinder learners being tested across all sections of the introductory valuation examination curriculum, thereby making difficult the acquisition of a balanced knowledge.  This would be avoided if they were deliberately required to demonstrate capacity in the three identified areas of the syllabus. Being a viewpoint, the approach of the paper is a review of secondary data assembled from published literature, the archives, online sources, and also, the practical teaching experience of the author in a Nigerian federal university. The review indicates that current practice does not usually offer a spread of questions fully reflective of the three broad sections of the curriculum, namely, valuation mathematics; land and property markets; and the money and capital markets.  In addition, there is an absence of compulsory sections and compulsory questions. These facts of current practice and the findings from related research are used to consider the necessity, modalities and potential benefits of a reconfiguration. The conclusion is that a reconfiguration is necessary and important because existing deficiencies may deny learners an adequate foundation, placing them at a disadvantage in meeting future challenges in learning and in practice. Therefore, a reconfiguration is recommended to overcome extant shortcomings. Also, to upgrade the examination to a better and more comprehensive test of knowledge and capacity, particularly with the introduction of the suggested complementary and supplementary instructional input.