AI-generated essays put university exams to the test – Ghana VC

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Nana Amfo, has urged universities to rethink their assessment methods as artificial intelligence makes it increasingly easy for students to generate essays and answers without necessarily demonstrating genuine understanding.

Amfo said universities needed to place greater emphasis on assessing students’ reasoning, practical skills and ability to apply knowledge, rather than relying heavily on conventional examinations and written assignments.

“If a student can generate an apparently competent essay in seconds, what exactly are we assessing when we ask for that essay?” she asked.

The Ghanaian academic spoke while delivering the keynote address at the formal opening of the University of Lagos International Week 2026, held at the J.F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium on Tuesday.

The event, which ran from October 12 to 17, had the theme, “Re-imagining Pedagogy and Teaching for Higher Education in the 21st Century.”

Personalities at the event included Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Lagos State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Sule; the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, represented by a director in the Ministry of Education, Elizabeth Ogundipe; and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, represented by Dr Ayoteju Ogun.

Also present were the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Nigeria, Elsie Attafuah, and the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof Folasade Ogunsola.

Delivering the keynote address, Amfo said the growing use of AI in education presented universities with an opportunity to reconsider how they taught students and measured learning outcomes.

She recommended greater use of oral examinations, project-based assessments, portfolios, presentations and practical demonstrations to establish whether students understood the concepts they were expected to learn.

“We must distinguish between a student who can produce an answer and one who understands how to arrive at, evaluate and defend that answer,” she said.

She, however, cautioned against treating AI solely as a threat to academic integrity or celebrating it uncritically as a solution to educational challenges.

“The real challenge is to ask how AI can strengthen learning without weakening the intellectual capabilities that education is supposed to develop,” she said.

Amfo also urged universities to incorporate digital literacy and applied AI into their curricula across disciplines, saying graduates needed to understand the technologies reshaping contemporary life.

She said technological competence must be accompanied by an understanding of the social inequalities, ethical considerations and responsibilities associated with developing and using such technologies.

According to her, universities should produce graduates who could think critically about technology rather than merely use it, adding that African institutions should contribute to shaping AI systems instead of remaining passive consumers of technological innovation.

Amfo, a linguist, raised concerns about the limited representation of African languages in the databases and technologies underpinning AI systems.

She said some AI tools struggled with local names, accents, expressions and culturally specific meanings, warning that the growing reliance on such systems could reinforce existing linguistic and knowledge inequalities.

“If these systems become increasingly central to education, we must ask whether they will expand access to knowledge or reinforce existing linguistic and epistemic inequalities,” she said.

She urged African universities to contribute their languages, knowledge systems, research and ethical perspectives to the development of AI technologies.

Amfo also called for a shift from teaching methods that treat students largely as recipients of information to approaches that encourage them to construct, test and apply knowledge.

She said problem-based learning, case studies, simulations, collaborative projects, fieldwork and community-engaged learning could help students connect classroom knowledge with real-world challenges.

Using public health as an example, she said students needed more than technical knowledge to address situations in which communities resisted health advice because of local beliefs, economic realities or experiences with public institutions.

Such situations, she said, required communication skills, cultural sensitivity, ethical judgment and the ability to work with communities.

Amfo said the University of Ghana’s student venture support programme was designed to help students develop entrepreneurial ideas and translate them into viable initiatives.

Beyond establishing businesses, she said such initiatives helped students learn to identify problems, test assumptions, communicate ideas, respond to criticism, collaborate and manage uncertainty.

She also cited the Tetremapa Initiative, which explores how artificial intelligence and speech-recognition technologies can reduce communication barriers for people with speech impairments while taking Ghanaian languages into account.

According to her, the initiative requires collaboration among linguists, technology experts and other stakeholders, demonstrating the importance of interdisciplinary learning.

The vice-chancellor further advocated inclusive teaching practices that accommodate students with disabilities, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and students whose first language differs from the language of instruction.

She said universities needed to provide accessible learning materials, appropriate assessment arrangements, supportive technologies and institutional systems that enabled all students to participate fully in academic life.

“Inclusion is not achieved simply by opening the university’s gates. Access gets students into the university, and inclusion determines whether they can participate, belong and succeed once they arrive,” she said.

Amfo also called on university leaders to support innovation in teaching through faculty development, appropriate incentives and institutional policies that recognise teaching excellence alongside research productivity.

She said universities should learn from global best practices while adapting them to local realities, including large classes, limited resources and students’ varying access to internet connectivity and digital devices.

Giving his remarks, Sanwo-Olu stressed that AI should complement, not replace, human judgment, urging students to use the technology responsibly.

He also said academics must address societal challenges through their research, while universities should produce graduates who not only seek opportunities but are also capable of creating them.

“We must produce graduates who can contribute meaningfully to society. We must learn from global developments, and universities must develop the capacity to create homegrown solutions,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Representing the Minister of Education, Alausa, Ogundipe said the Federal Government recognised the need to reform universities to meet contemporary realities.

She added that the government promoted transnational education to help retain talent in the country.

• SGF, Danjuma, others pledge to revive dilapidated Katsina-Ala college
• Rotary Club donates 50 chairs to Bayelsa school, unveils literacy project
• LSETF, Canva to train 5,000 Lagos businesses in AI

Alausa said, “We must foster intercultural dialogue and partnerships; we must strengthen international collaboration and expand access to quality higher education. No university can achieve its full potential in isolation. Transnational education helps retain talent in the country.

“We must build universities that meet international standards. We must have students who can innovate.”

Speaking, Attafuah said strengthening the reward system would improve teaching and learning.

“We have a system that is old and unrewarding. If we want teaching and learning to evolve, we must strengthen the reward system. Researchers should have increased access to grants. This could help them do better research,” she said.

Ogunsola said the event was organised to assess existing teaching methods and examine whether universities were preparing students to think innovatively.

She noted that lecturers needed to evolve their teaching methods as employers increasingly sought problem-solving, digital and critical-thinking skills beyond academic qualifications.

“We need to ask what teaching and learning should look like in a university in the 21st century. Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries must synergise to find solutions to African challenges. Universities that fail to reimagine pedagogy and teaching will fail to exist,” Ogunsola said.

The event also featured a panel session examining the relationship between universities and industry. Moderated by Prof Ismail Ibraheem of UNILAG, the session featured industry experts including Moulin Marriott, Funke Amobi, Funmi Olonisakin, Toyin Gbagi, Charles Wales and Prof Matthew Ilori.

Another session, moderated by Dr Olayinka Adewunmi of UNILAG, featured Shamin Nassar, Disaapele Mogashana, Jones Moloisane, Esther Matemba and Adegboyega Ehinmowo.

Meanwhile, the UNILAG Annual Research Conference and Fair, held at the university on Wednesday, featured an energy expert, Abiodun Adesanya, who called for a balanced approach to Nigeria’s oil and gas development and transition to cleaner energy.

He warned against policies that could undermine energy security and economic growth.

Adesanya, the Managing Director of Degeconek Nigeria Limited, said the country needed to maximise the benefits of its hydrocarbon resources while gradually expanding renewable energy and reducing emissions.

According to him, the global shift towards renewable energy has yet to produce a sustained decline in the absolute amount of fossil fuels consumed, underscoring the need for a realistic approach to the energy transition.

Citing global energy data, Adesanya said fossil fuels accounted for 89.1 per cent of the world’s total energy supply in 2000, compared with 86.2 per cent in 2025.

However, he noted that the absolute quantity of energy supplied by fossil fuels increased by 52 per cent during the period, rising from 340 exajoules in 2000 to 518 exajoules in 2025.

He explained that although renewable energy was expanding, oil and gas remained essential to transportation, industrial production and the manufacture of products such as plastics and fertilisers.

Adesanya also noted that policy changes and investment decisions by major international energy companies indicated continued interest in oil and gas production, even as investments in lower-emission technologies continued selectively.

He said Nigeria should therefore pursue an energy strategy that prioritised reliable supply, industrial development and measurable environmental improvements rather than treating hydrocarbon development and cleaner energy as mutually exclusive.

On Nigeria’s electricity sector, the expert observed that grid power remained largely dependent on thermal generation, predominantly gas-fired plants, and hydropower.

He put average grid generation at 4.02 gigawatts for April to June 2026, adding that expanding renewable energy would require sustained investment in infrastructure and more reliable electricity networks.

Adesanya also highlighted the growth of distributed solar power, citing recorded solar photovoltaic capacity of 1.36 gigawatts in 2025. He cautioned, however, that the figure did not represent solar energy’s share of total electricity consumed in the country.

Turning to the potential of the Dahomey Basin, he said the Lagos offshore area offered opportunities for further oil and gas development, citing the Aje discovery in 1996 and the Ogo discovery in 2013.

He called for a clear assessment of the commercial prospects of Aje’s gas and condensate resources, including potential buyers, delivered prices and the infrastructure needed to transport the gas to power plants and industries.

He stressed that any development should also address methane emissions, gas flaring and possible marine environmental impacts.

According to him, gas projects should demonstrate clear benefits compared with available alternatives while supporting a gradual transition to cleaner energy.

The expert also challenged UNILAG to demonstrate how institutions could combine energy reliability with environmental sustainability, noting that the university already had initiatives involving solar streetlights and electric buses.

He said the institution could build on these efforts by conducting a comprehensive campus energy audit to establish its consumption patterns, identify areas of waste and determine where renewable energy investments would deliver the greatest benefits.

Adesanya proposed installing solar panels on suitable rooftops, exploring the feasibility of floating solar installations on the university lagoon and deploying battery storage to improve electricity supply to critical facilities.

He said a dedicated microgrid combining rooftop solar, battery storage, backup power and appropriate control systems could help protect laboratories, computing facilities and other essential research equipment against grid outages.

He added that the success of such a project should be measured by electricity availability, cost per kilowatt-hour, fuel savings and reductions in emissions.

Adesanya said the university could also undertake feasibility research into floating solar technology before committing to a lagoon-based project.

He argued that the initiative would enable the institution to test practical energy solutions and generate evidence that could inform wider adoption across Nigeria.

On the country’s climate commitments, he cited Nigeria’s targets of reducing emissions by 29.3 per cent by 2030 and 32.2 per cent by 2035, relative to 2018 levels, as well as achieving net-zero emissions by 2060.

He said the targets required a pragmatic strategy that would strengthen domestic energy supply while progressively increasing the contribution of renewable sources.

Adesanya added that UNILAG could play a leading role by combining research, energy efficiency and practical clean-energy projects.

He said a campus-wide energy audit, a pilot project for critical facilities and research into floating solar could help turn the debate over Nigeria’s energy future into practical, measurable results.