The National Universities Commission NUC says it has concluded plans to Unveil a new academic programme for Nigerian Universities. Accordingly, the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards will provide 70 per cent of what will be taught with the expected outcomes , while the universities will provide 30 per cent based on their individual contextual peculiarities and characteristics.
Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, disclosed this at the presentation of licenses to 12 new private universities in Abuja.
He said the gesture was informed by the need to meet global standards and international best practices towards preparing Nigerian graduates with skills required for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu while presenting the 12 new licenses to their proprietors said the federal government recognizes the place of Education in bolstering the economic fortunes of the country, hence the decision to support private sector investment in the university subsector On his part, former NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie, stressed the need to encourage the establishment and operation of private universities to ensure quality university education.
Some of the new institutions includes Pen Resource University, Gombe, Gombe State; Al-Ansar University Maiduguri, Borno State; Proposed Margaret Lawrence University, Galilee, Delta State, and Khalifa Isiyaku Rabiu University, Kano, Kano State. The development now brings to a total 215 universities in Nigeria out of which 111 are privately owned.
