New Varsity Curriculum Takes Off September

The National Universities Commission (NUC) recently launched a newly restructured curriculum for Nigerian universities, called the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).

NUC had directed the nation’s 264 to commence the implementation of the Core Cur­riculum from September 2023.

The new curriculum replaces the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) and is aimed at making university education in Nigeria more responsive to the needs of the society.

It is designed to reflect the 21st Century realities, in the existing and new disciplines and programmes in the Nigerian University System.

The CCMAS documents are structured to provide for 70 percent of core courses for each programme, while allowing universities to utilise the remaining 30 percent for other innovative courses in their peculiar areas of focus.

However, the curriculum has received criticisms from some stakeholders over the 70 percent input by NUC.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) described it as a threat to university autonomy, saying that universities are statutorily responsible for academic programme development making them mere spectators in their own affairs.

ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodike, in a statement, described NUC’s action as an “aberration to the Nigerian University System”, noting that NUC should accept proposed innovations from the universities, “instead of the top-to-bottom model used for the CCMAS.”

But the Federal Government has insisted that the effective date for the commencement of the implementation of CCMAS for the Nigerian University System (NUS) remains September, 2023.

The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, in his address at the Stakeholders Colloquium on the CCMAS organised by NUC in Abuja, commended the efforts of the Commission for coming thus far in the system-wide curriculum review spanning over four years.

He emphasised that 70% of the total content of the CCMAS provided by the experts under the watch of NUC and the 30% of the other contents ceded to the individual University Senates to depict the uniqueness of their various universities was a welcomed novel idea which would impact positively on Nigerian Universities.