BUSINESSDAY
From September 2023, Nigerian universities will begin to implement a new curriculum known as the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS).
The new curriculum replaces the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) which had been in use since 2007; it was unveiled by the National Universities Commission in 2022, aimed at making university education in Nigeria more responsive to the needs of the society.
It was designed to reflect the 21st Century realities, in the existing and new disciplines and programmes in the Nigerian University System.
The CCMAS has 17 disciplines, an expansion from the 12 disciplines contained in BMAS. The disciplines are Administration and Management, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture, Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Architecture, Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Computing, Communication and Media Studies.
Others are Education, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Science, Sciences, Social Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine.
In line with the dynamism in higher education provisioning, the Commission said it took cognizance of complaints by the universities on the high number of General Studies courses in the BMAS and was subsequently streamlined. GST courses are reduced from 36 credit units to 12 credit units of 6 courses
Entrepreneurship was also repackaged with the introduction of programme-specific entrepreneurship. Courses such as Venture Creation Entrepreneurship, and Innovation found generous space.
The new curriculum unbundled some disciplines to include; the Bachelor of Agriculture, Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication and Bachelor of Architecture Programmes, while establishing some emerging specializations in these fields as obtained globally. This is in furtherance of its goal of producing fit-for-purpose graduates.
The Allied Health Sciences was also carved out as a new discipline from the existing Basic Medical Sciences discipline.
While Mass Communication was unbundled into: Advertising, Broadcasting, Development Communication Studies, Film and Multimedia, Information and Media Studies, Journalism and Media Studies, Mass Communications, Public Relations and Strategic Communication.
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