The National Universities Commission (NUC) has directed the nation’s 264 varsities’ to commence the implementation of the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) curriculum from September 2023,

Excited stakeholders say new curriculum is a marked departure from the Benchmarks Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS).

The Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) had been in use since 2007.

The new curriculum, CCMAS, was unveiled by the National Universities Commission in 2022, aimed at making university education in Nigeria more responsive to the needs of the society.

Existing and new disciplines and programmes in the university system have been redesigned to mirror 21^st Century realities.

The CCMAS has 17 disciplines, an expansion from the 12 disciplines contained in BMAS.

The disciplines are Arts, Administration and Management, Social Sciences, Law, Communication and Media Studies, Education, Agriculture, Architecture, and Computing.

Others are Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Allied Health Sciences, Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine.

The CCMAS has the objective of improving the standard of Nigerian universities, making graduates from Nigerian universities more employable and equipped with local, national and international knowledge.

The CCMAS Is a product of sustained stakeholder interactions over two years – involving a blend of academic experts, academies, government (represented by NUC), professional bodies and, of course, the private sector, represented by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

Peter Okebukola, a Professor of Science Education and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, lauded the success story of NUC in the development of the 2022 Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).

The Director of the UNESCO Institute for African Culture and International Understanding said it was worth narrating and celebrating, this being a classic case of strengthening education for the future.

He said: “The major highlights of the 2022 CCMAS include: Comparable in content to similar curricula in the best university systems in the world and relevant to Nigeria’s socio-cultural context.

“Addresses the knowledge and skills gaps in the curriculum it is replacing and provides 70% of the core curriculum as a minimum for all Nigerian universities.

“It allows universities to customise and bespoke the curriculum by adding 30% of courses to reflect their uniqueness of mission and contextual peculiarities.

“It places the accent on entrepreneurship, practical rather than theoretical knowledge and skills and the development of 21^st-century skills in line with contemporary global practice, change of nomenclature from Benchmarks Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) to Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).

He added that in consonance with emerging development globally, the curriculum is to stimulate blended learning in its delivery.

The Vice-chancellor of Fountain University, Osogbo, Prof Olayinka Ramota Karim, described the new curriculum as apt and a complete departure from BMAS, saying the university is ready to commence the implementation.

“We are ready to provide the 30% and prepared to implement as directed by NUC,” he said.

Also reacting to the discourse, Prof Oyesoji Aremu, Head of the Department of Counselling and Human Development Studies at the University of Ibadan (UI), said the introduction of Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) by NUC would impact positively the academic contents if well thought-out.

“The new curriculum is intended significantly improve on Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) launched in 2004.

“It should be known that BMAS is also a review made from Minimum Academic Standards.

“In sum, curriculum review is not stagnant and must be made in response to global, national and local demands by making contents of the curriculum in Nigerian universities reflect same.

“In effect, the new review being made is to guarantee quality assured academic content in the universities to make them match immediate local needs peculiar to such universities.

“Hence the threshold of 30% which each university is required to make as an add-on to the developed 70% curriculum contents which the NUC is expected to provide.”

According to him, the noticeable feature is the change in nomenclature from BMAS to CCMAS, which is in tandem with global trends.

“There are some obvious advantages in the new CCMAS that include local and relevant contents, self-ownership of same to reflect entrepreneurial needs of the environment in which each university is domiciled, and much more – global needs are expected to be infused in it.

On a cautious note, Prof. Aremu added: “As good as the above are, it is imperative that all hands be on deck and driven from each local university to reflect autonomy and unique brands.

“The allotted 30% course contents each university is expected to contribute are not a reflection of academic autonomy of universities’ senates. It would have been much higher.”

However, he emphasised the need for the infusion of professional bodies’ inputs, saying: “It cannot be ignored in curriculum development, given the fact they connect more with industries and labour markets.”

“This has to be addressed to ensure a fool-proof curriculum in which the handshake between the university system and labour markets (glocal) will be seamless.”

In his contributions, Professor Samuel Oye Bandele, the Vice-Chancellor of the Anchor University, Lagos, said CCMAS is an innovative curriculum arrangement that will impact positively, not just the university, but also on the individual region and environment where the universities are located.

“We are fully prepared to fully conform to the NUC directive.

“Curriculum in an educational setting should not be static; it should be amenable as situations demand because the world is dynamic.

“In this digital age, everything is changing drastically and creatively and the curriculum must not be static to achieve the desired growth and development.

“The CCMAS is creative in such a way that Ahmadu Bello University, Nnamzi Azikiwe University, or Covenant University should not be using the same curriculum without taking cognizance of their peculiarities.

“The contribution of UNILAG, aside the general curriculum, is the research into the worrisome traffic and social changes facing Lagos.

“UNN should be concerned with the provision of solutions to oil spillage while ABU should research into how to remove the groundnut pyramid.”

He said the CCMAS was designed strategically to make deliberate contributions to the environment and community where the university is located.

Prof Rotimi Ajayi, Vice-Chancellor of the Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, described the CCMAS as adequate to deliver on the mandate of NUC and the universities to impact the students and their immediate communities better than the provisions of the BMAS.

He commended the NUC for tapping into vast local resources to develop the 70% for CCMAS and 30% to the universities to complete the 100% provisions.

“What NUC has done is in line and response to complaints from employers of labour that graduates are not employable.

“We are ready to commence the implementation of the CCMAS as the 2023/2024 academic session is about to commence.

“In areas where there are observable deficiencies, affected institutions should be proactive to ensure the success of the new curriculum,” he said.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has encouraged universities to make optimal use of the percentage of the 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. (Sunday Independent)

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