ASUU SAYS NEW NUC ACADEMIC CURRICULUM ‘IMPOSED’ ON VARSITIES NOT ACCEPTABLE

The Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, rejected the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards, CCMAS prepared by the National Universities Commission, NUC.

The union said it was nightmarish, a threat to quality university education, and an erosion of powers of the university Senate in Nigerian universities.

A statement signed by the national president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, today said it was inexplicable that NUC pre-packaged 70 percent CCMAS contents were being imposed on the Nigerian University System, adding that university Senates, who are statutorily responsible for academic program development, were left to work on only 30 percent.

It stressed that there were growing concerns about the numerous shortcomings and gross inadequacies of the CCMAS documents.

The statement said the process of generating the standard is as important as what is produced as “minimum standards”.

It stressed that many university administrators, though dissatisfied, were shying away from making public comments on CCMAS.

The statement revealed that, however, some university Senates did not hide their displeasure with the ongoing efforts to impose CCMAS on Nigerian universities by the NUC.

However, it suggested that the “NUC should encourage universities, as currently being done by the University of Ibadan, to propose innovations for the review of their programs.

It also said proposals from across universities should then be sieved and synthesized by more competent expert teams to review the existing BMAS documents and/or create new ones as appropriate.