The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at weekend decried the imposition of Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) on the universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC) without the inputs of the various senates.
ASUU in a statement signed by the President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, posited that CCMAS portends serious dangers for quality university education in Nigeria.
His words: “It is an erosion of University Autonomy and Academic Freedom which the union has advocated and struggled to defend over time. CCMAS is an emasculation of university Senate which, by law and practice, should superintend curriculum review, examinations and award of degrees and certificates in each university.
“ASUU suspects the imposition of CCMAS as part of strategy for implementing the Nigerian University System Innovation
Programme (NUSIP) of the World Bank. The union rejected NUSIP in the 1990s.
We also reject the imposition of CCMAS on Nigerian universities now.”
Osodeke described CCMAS as a nightmarish model of curriculum reengineering, stating, “it is an aberration to the NUS. The CCMAS documents are flawed both in process and in content. There is no basis for the 70% “untouchable CCMAS, which cannot stand the test of critical scrutiny of university Senates.”
He explained that NUC ought to encourage universities, as currently being done by the University of Ibadan, to propose innovations for the review of their programmes.
According to him, proposals from various universities should be sieved and synthesised by more competent expert teams to review the existing BMAS documents and/or create new ones as appropriate.
“The difference here is the bottom-up approach unlike the top-bottom or take-it-or-leave-it model of the CCMAS.”
Osodeke disclosed that the union received numerous complaints on the threats posed by the CCMAS to quality university education and the erosion of powers of university Senate in Nigerian universities.
Said he: “ASUU cannot turn deaf ears to widespread protests against CCMAS. It is inexplicable that the NUC pre-packaged 70% CCMAS contents are being imposed on the NUS; leaving university Senates, who are statutorily responsible for academic programme development, to work
on only 30%.
“ASUU is not unaware that setting academic standards and assuring quality in the NUS is within the remit of the NUC. Section 10(1) of the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, Cap E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 enjoins the NUC to lay down the minimum standards for all universities and other degree awarding institutions in the Federation and conduct the accreditation of their degrees and other academic awards.”
Osodeke observed that the process of generating the standard is as important, if not more important than what is produced as “minimum standards”.
He argued that in this instance, the NUC has
recently, through some hazy procedures, churned out CCMAS documents
containing 70% curricular contents in 17 academic fields with little or no inputs from the universities.
Osodeke said the academic disciplines covered include Administration and Management, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture, (v) Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Computing,
Communication and Media Studies, Education, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Sciences, Social Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine.
He revealed that there are growing concerns about the numerous shortcomings and
gross inadequacies of the CCMAS documents.
The ASUU president said many university administrators, though dissatisfied, are shying away from making public comments on CCMAS.
He said some university Senates did not hide their displeasure with the ongoing efforts to impose CCMAS on Nigerian universities by the NUC.
Osodeke revealed that at the special meeting of the University of Ibadan (UI) Senate held on June 16tg, 2023, it was observed that “the ratio of 70 to 30 recommended does not
permit the exhibition of the uniqueness of disciplines across institutions.
“Based on this and other observations, the UI Senate decided that submissions “made by various departments, reflecting the desirable contents be submitted to the NUC”.
Credit: SUN
