The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities(CVCNU) has revealed that Nigerian universities’ curriculum was without been reviewed for 25 years.
The secretary-general of the group, Prof Yakubu Ochefu, gave the revelation on a sideline at a recent maiden higher education conference organised by the United States Consulate Office in Lagos.
According to him, it is until recently after about 25 years that Nigeria reviewed its university curriculum to start reflecting the real current and future economic needs of the global market.
He said using the old curriculum for such a long period really had adverse consequences on Nigerian university education and the national development.
Prof Ochefu, who is a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Benue State University, admitted that Nigerian university system is not as flexible like that of developed countries where universities can response quickly to societal needs as evolving.
Giving a reference, he noted that no Nigerian university can on its own develop or introduce a new course or programme even if in high demand in the market without first getting approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC) otherwise such course will not be accommodated by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB) for students admission.
He said such process usually takes up to two to three years duration to complete and that such would not be augured well for courses to meet immediate needs.
Also admitting that Nigerian public universities are no longer attractive to foreign students due to unstable calender, among others, Ochefu said the government and other stakeholders would need to look into this development and reverse the trend to the old order.
He said apart from universities that have African centres of excellence in them and with students from the West African Countries, most public universities have no foreigners as regular students.