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^stCentury 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)