• Says NUC decision erodes varsity autonomy, academic freedom
By Gabriel Dike
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has 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 per cent quntouchable 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.
“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.”