REAL ESTATE EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: THE NEED FOR NEW PARADIGMS

This paper reports on the detailed findings for the need for new paradigms into real estate education in Nigeria. The aim is to critically evaluate the gaps in the programme of study of Departments of Estate Management in Nigerian Universities taking note of employers' expectations of real estate graduates. To determine the extent to which the needs of the property industry are being met by the current curriculum, secondary data from the review of current literature were relied upon. This was to ascertain how far the hard and soft skills' requirements of the real estate industry have been met. Inferences were drawn from business experiences globally and used as the strength of support for the research propositions. The study found that there were significant differences in the views of researchers across the globe concerning practical experience, graduates' levels of commercial awareness, information technology tools, negotiation skills, information gathering and processing, management of people and processes, communication, problem solving and knowledge about market evaluation. The study recommends the immersion of young Nigerian undergraduates of estate management into a different culture and new concepts which cannot be substituted through lectures at the home university. The time to be spent in other university would serve, not only as means to broaden the academic scope of students but also enhances the participant's personality and adaptability through introduction into a different "school of thought". Furthermore, such early exposure and experience will be of substantial benefit in future responsibilities.