ASUU Criticizes Allegedly Imposed New Curriculum Structure by NUC

The CCMAS was characterized by the ASUU president as a nightmare example of curriculum reengineering and an anomaly in the Nigerian University System.

The Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) of the National Universities Commission (NUC) have been criticized by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

In a statement on Friday, ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke stated that the new curriculum structure threatened the quality of higher education and would reduce the authority of the university senate in Nigerian universities.

The National Universities Commission’s (NUC) pre-packaged 70% CCMAS contents were “imposed” on the Nigerian University System (NUS), the union claims, which is incomprehensible.

This, it claimed, leaves only 30% for university senates to work on, despite the fact that they are legally in charge of developing academic programs.

“ASUU asserts that CCMAS heralds grave threats to the standard of higher education in Nigeria. The academic freedom and university autonomy that the union has long fought to protect are being undermined, according to Osodeke.

The university Senate, which is supposed to oversee curriculum review, exams, and the awarding of degrees and certificates in each university, is weakened by CCMAS, according to law and practice.

“ASUU suspects that the World Bank’s Nigerian University System Innovation Programme (NUSIP) would be implemented using a strategy that includes the implementation of CCMAS. In the 1990s, the Union rejected NUSIP. As of right present, we also oppose imposing CCMAS on Nigerian colleges.

The CCMAS was characterized by the ASUU president as a nightmare example of curriculum reengineering and an anomaly in the Nigerian University System.

The 70 percent “untouchable CCMAS” that, in his opinion, cannot withstand the test of critical scrutiny of university Senates, he continued, was defective both in terms of method and content.