Federal government has asked foreign universities operating in Nigeria to adhere strictly to the country’s guidelines on transnational education as developed by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Minister of state for education, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, gave the directive yesterday in his office in Abuja when he received in audience, the chancellor of one of the oldest universities in the United State of America, Rutgers University-Camden, established in 1776.
Sununu, who presented a copy of the National Guidelines on Transnational Education to the visiting chancellor of Rutgers University expressed Nigeria’s readiness to work with universities around the world in improving access to quality higher education in Nigeria.
He also told the visitors that access to quality education is a priority of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the Federal Ministry of Education has taken the charge of the president very seriously and will stop at nothing in delivering quality education to the vast majority of Nigerians.
According to a statement by Ben Goong, the director press and public relation, the minister tasked institutions of higher learning in the country to collaborate with their foreign counterparts to train more professionals to replace those exiting the system instead of lamenting over the issue of brain drain, adding that Nigeria has capacity to provide significant chuck of manpower needs around the globe, given the country’s population.
Sununu lauded the collaborative efforts of Rutgers University with the University of Lagos and Ibadan, maintaining that the Federal Ministry of Education will do everything within the ambit of the law to encourage collaboration between Rutgers University and Nigerian Universities especially in the areas of science and technology.
Speaking earlier, chancellor of Rutgers University, Antonio Tillis told the minister that his university is seeking to renew the Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos as well as expanding collaboration with other Nigerian Universities in areas of research and exchange of academic programmes.
