…to equip graduates for competition in knowledge age

…professor Peter Okebukola praised as chief architect

…as private universities scale up from 111 to 148

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has presented a new curriculum for Nigerian universities, saying it will add value to graduates from the nation’s universities.

Adamu presented the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) Book 1 series for Nigerian universities and a book in his honour, in Abuja on Tuesday.

The document was put together by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC).

The new Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) Book 1, upgrades the content of 17 academic disciplines in Nigerian universities.

The purpose of the upgrades is to equip Nigerian graduates with the skills and frame of mind to compete in a rapidly changing global employment and entrepreneurship environment.

To facilitate these upgrades, Adamu called for the establishment of a Federal Teachers Service Commission, which he is confident would ensure that reforms put in place in the teaching profession yield desired results.

He said the proposed commission had been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In the past two decades, the quality of Nigerian graduates has been broadly questioned, with captains of industry asserting that the nation’s graduates often needed to be retrained to be able to fit into industry.

Subsequently, many employers insist on engaging graduates with first class or second class upper degrees, in the hopes of sieving quality personnel from the morass of deficient ones.

As a result, a big and costly market for quality education abroad has since evolved.

Some of the causes of falling standards in Nigerian universities are listed as including a massive influx of unprepared students into tertiary institutions, inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and outdated curriculum, a brain drain of teachers seeking greener pastures, long closures due to strike actions by academic staff, as well as student unrest, exam malpractices and cultism.

Adamu further commended the National Universities Commission for ensuring the springing up of more private universities in the country, which he said was particularly relieving northern Nigeria from educational backwardness.

He called for the full implementation of the curriculum, asserting that it is one of the greatest steps taken by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure Nigerian universities meet current global demands.

“We must continue to ensure graduates from Nigeria universities are equipped with needed skills, knowledge and expertise in order to succeed in the 21st Century, he said.

” We must consistently strive to improve our educational programmes and learning with the reality of global best practices. The CCMAS book series is aimed at achieving this goal,” he added.

“The implementation of CCMAS requires dedication, hard work and willingness to embrace change by everyone, therefore it is important we embrace training and equipping our academics with the necessary skills and knowledge to implement CMAS,”he enthused.

” I want to leave one legacy in your hands (heads of education agencies and others). We wrote a letter and the President approved everything, but there is one yet to come into fruition, that will make education totally different.

” It was recently I realised that we need a Federal Teachers Service Commission, so I want to leave this in your hands, so that all those things approved by Mr. President, the teachers will be able to get it, and education will begin to attract the best brains,” Adamu said.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Rasheed Abubakar, commended the minister for the several achievements recorded under his watch, especially in the area of universities development.

Abubakar said:” As at yesterday (Monday) morning, there were 111 private universities in the country, as of yesterday evening, the number had risen to 148 private universities in the country.

”That is, of the 148 private universities in Nigeria, 87 or 60 per cent came during Adamu Adamu as Minister of Education, ” the NUC boss said.

Rasheed, who also described CCMAS as a game changer in Nigerian universities, commended former NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Peter Okebukola, for his role in its development, describing him as chief architect of the curriculum.

Also speaking, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, said the CCMAS was a step in the right direction.

“This is very important contribution to the repositioning of the Nigerian education system.

”The new curriculum is no doubt a tremendous value addition to repositioning our education system and it is wonderful that this has happened under the current minister of education, Adamu Adamu,” he said.

Also, a former Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayattu Rufa’i, charged the trainees of the new curriculum to take prompt action in taking the training to various universities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event also witnessed tributes to late Prof. Idris Abdulkadir and Prof. Nimi Briggs, as well as the unveiling of a book in honour of the the minister titled: ‘Repositioning Nigerian Educational System; the Ministerial Footprints of Adamu Adamu.”

Nigeria currently has 246 accredited universities and churns out an estimated 500,00 graduates a year.