Nigerian Universities Get New Curriculum, FG Says It’s Part Of Move To Make Sector More Responsive

The university education sector in the country has gotten a new curriculum to reflect the 21st-century realities.

Naija News reports that the Federal Government announced the development on Monday at the unveiling of the new curriculum in Abuja.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who made the disclosure said the move was part of efforts geared towards making university education in the country more responsive to the pressing needs of society.

Osibanjo said the introduction of the Core Curriculum and Minimum Standard to university education will address local issues, meet international standards and uplift scholarship in Nigerian universities.

The vice president, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha appreciated the National Universities Commission (NUC) for unbundling the three new courses in Nigerian Universities and in the disciplines of Agriculture and the emergence of three courses, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture and Communication, and media studies.

He advanced that “This document has indeed taken cognizance of the need to provide greater academic autonomy to universities with regards to the development of some percentage of course content.

“I commend the commission of this decision to share the minimum credit unit required for graduation in the Nigerian university in the ratio of 70 to 30 per cent. This will further create institutional peculiarity.”

Giving his remark at the unveiling of the new curriculum, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, revealed that the commission commenced the journey to restructure the Benchmark for Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) in 2018.

He observed that the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS), which is now introduced is a product of sustained stakeholder interactions over two years.