The National Universities Commission (NUC) has announced that the implementation of the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) will commence in September 2023.
The CCMAS document is expected to help universities design their curricula and innovate their teaching methods to achieve the overall goals of education in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Stakeholders’ Colloquium on CCMAS in Abuja on Wednesday, the Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, said the document would help Nigerian universities become among the best in Africa.
Maiyaki said that 70% of the curriculum would be made up of the CCMAS, and the remaining 30% would be decided by the university. He also said that the role and development of the CCMAS is to ensure that Nigerian universities are committed to advancing education and the country.
”NUC is primarily dedicated to ensuring quality and global competitiveness of Nigerian universities as well as the graduates we produce.
”The development of the CCMAS went through a painstaking process by bringing experts from our universities comprising of 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.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, represented by the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, encouraged 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 and 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 universities 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 explained.
The minister applauded universities who had concluded their work on the 30 per cent component and submitted the same for review.
He pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to ensuring that Nigeria’s education system remains nationally relevant and globally competitive.
The CCMAS also expanded BMAS from 12 to 17 disciplines to reposition the system to reflect the realities of the 21st century.
The 17 disciplines are Administration and Management, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture, Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Communication and Media Studies, Computing and Education.
Others are Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sciences, Social Sciences and Veterinary Medicine.
Recalled that the CCMAS was developed in 2018 following the review of the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) –the curriculum guide for Nigerian universities, which had been in use since 2007.
