By Ngozi Nwankwo
National Universities Commission, NUC,has said the implementation of the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards, CCMAS, will begin in September 2023.
The Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, who disclosed this at the Stakeholders’ Colloquium on CCMAS in Abuja Wednesday, said since the start of the process of the CCMAS in 2018, the Commission has traversed a path marked by dedication, innovation and inclusivity in the pursuit of excellence.
Summit Post gathered that, the CCMAS document is expected to guide institutions in the design of curricula for their programmes while bringing necessary innovation into the content and delivery of their programmes towards achieving the overall goals of education and training in the country.
Maiyaki, said the document would reposition Nigerian universities to be among the best rated in Africa.
He said that CCMAS would make up 70 per cent of the curriculum, while the universities will decide what to include in the remaining 30 per cent.
According to him, the implementation will help sharpen the future of the education sector.
”The role and development of the CCMAS is to ensure commitment in advancing our education and our great nation.
”NUC is primarily dedicated in ensuring quality and global competitiveness of Nigerian universities, as well as the graduates we produce.
”The development of the CCMAS went through painstaking process by bringing experts from our universities comprising professors, regulatory bodies, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and all stakeholders.
“The CCMAS reflects global initiative that will equip graduates with knowledge and wherewithal that will advance the development of the nation,” he said.
Speaking also, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, urged universities to make optimal use of the 30 per cent university senate’s input.
Mamman advised universities to ensure that learning outcomes, skills, as well as soft skills were acquired irrespective of the core discipline.
He said that the skills must be readily applicable to the environment of the university, the country in particular and the global community in general.
”There is no better place and time than now to develop a strategy that will guide tertiary institutions particularly universities in their mandate to provide appropriate manpower for the country.
”This is through using a curriculum and applying minimum standards that would guarantee we teach our students in such a way and manner that they would be highly skilled and employable to contribute to national development efforts.
”70 per cent of the total curriculum is captured in the CCMAS, while 30 per cent of the curriculum has been ceded to university Senates to build in the uniqueness of their various universities.
”This principle allows for a good deal of adaptation that suits not only local peculiarities of the universities but provides universities opportunities to carve a niche for themselves in areas of comparative advantage,” he said.