RSITIE VE S C NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES COMMISSION NI O U M L M A I S N S O I I O T N A N T E HO IC UG ERV HT AND S MONDAA PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Y www.nuc.edu.ng th 0795-3089 6 January, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 1 Buhari Tasks Varsities to Tackle Menace of Unemployable Graduates resident Muhammadu He expressed concerns over Buhari, GCFR, has that could also be job creators the observations by employers Pchallenged Nigerian and enhance the economy. universities to tackle the menace of poor standard of graduates produced annually, declaring that the situation portends disaster for the development and future of the country. He gave the charge in his speech as Visitor to the 31st Convocation ceremony of F e d e r a l U n i v e r s i t y o f Technology, Akure (FUTA), held recently. The President, who was represented by the Deputy E x e c u t i v e S e c r e t a r y , A c a d e m i c s , N a t i o n a l Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Suleiman Ramon- Yusuf, urged the universities to play more proactive roles to Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces produce competent graduates in this edition PMB Lauds NUC, TETFund, Industry Develop Quality Assurance Units, FG Approves Six New Federal on Research Partnership NUC Tells Varsities Pg. 3 Colleges of Education Pg. 4 Pg. 5 EDITORIAL BOARD: Ibrahim Usman Yakasai (Chairman), Mal. Haruna Lawal Ajo (Editor), Ogbonnaya Okoronkwo, Mrs. Franca Chukwuonwo, Miss Bunshak T.S, Francis Azu, Udey Felix, Aja-Nwachukwu Samuel, Sadiq Abubakar Enquiries: [email protected] 6th January, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 1 He stated that "Definitely. of labour who assessed universities need to engage existing Triple Helix concept of Nigerian graduates as being more meaningfully and academia, industry and deficient in critical-thinking, intensely With employers of government partnership creativity and innovation labour and the organised modeled by NUC and the amongst other skills. private sector in order to organised private sector. address the much talked about He called for the pressing need 'lack of job readiness of Commending the Triple Helix to raise the fallen standard in g r a d u a t e s o f N i g e r i a n initiative. under the auspices of university education in order to universities".’ Nigerian Economic Summit secure the future of the nation. Group (NESG) he said that it He added that the assessment by portended great potential in employers of labour and the bridging the gap between g r a d u a t e s ' l a c k l u s t r e theory and practice, through the performances had saddled the anticipated intense interactions university system with a lot of between the academia and the responsibilities to improve the Industry, education sector. While assuring that federal "I expect universities to pay government was committed serious attention to the less than towards giving maximum complimentary assessment of financial support to university the graduates of our universities e d u c a t i o n , h e u r g e d by employers of labour. He universities to focus on more declared. collaborative researches with the private sector well as Decrying the situation. Further, obtaining more patent rights in Dr. Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf the President said that the Representative of the Visitor science and technology. nation could not be comfortable when products of its citadel of He further urged universities to higher learning were being He assured that government use the instrumentality of their described as unemployable and would continue to consider tripartite mandates of teaching, exhibiting lack of job-readiness education as the cornerstone of research and community among others. development with universities service to launch Nigeria into as pinnacle being the engine of an enviable position among He noted that issues of graduate knowledge generation and comity of nations. employability and skills were disemination. gaining traction both nationally and internationally and were President Buhari also identified prominent on the front burners a strong collaboration and of discourse on higher multifrontal approach to solve education and the future. the problems, leveraging on the Page 2 A Publication of The Office of The Executive Secretary 6th January, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 1 Develop Quality Assurance Units, NUC Tells Varsities T h e D e p u t y E x e c u t i v e Commisdion in 1962, apart from o p e r a t e a s p a r t n e r t o S e c r e t a r y ( A c a d e m i c s ) , e n s u r i n g t h e o r d e r l y universities, adding that the N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t i e s development of Nigerian Commission had also facilitated Commission, Dr. Suleiman universities, it had been working capacity building workshops on Ramon-Yusuf has reiterated the to prescribe minimum academic how to develop internal quality Commission's directive for standard for all the 14 assurance for officers in Nigerian universities to develop disciplines in the NUS. He universities He said that to robust internal quality explained that the no NUC ensure quality, the commission assurance mechanism, as it prescribed the minimum would continue to encourage remains the only sustainable a c a d e m i c s t a n d a r d f o r universities to develop the means to enhance the quality of p r o g r a m m e s t h r o u g h capacity of all categories of accreditation. their staff. Harping on the need for internal Speaking earlier, former Deputy quality assurance mechanism, he Vice-Chancellor, Redeemer's emphasised that it was globally University and President, West known that internal quality Africa Anglophone Quality assurance was more robust and Assurance Network, Professor reliable as external quality Kayode Adekeye, pointed out assurance was not the most that universities needed constant reliable. checks by using the quality of “But all over the world, it is a known fact that external quality assurance is not the most reliable. It is the internal quality assurance Dr. Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf of the universities that is more NUC, DES Administration graduates from Nigerian robust and reliable and that is University System (NUS). what we want the universities to develop," Dr. Ramon-Yusuf made this known at the opening session of He restated that accreditation a t h r e e - d a y n a t i o n a l was a peer review process multiplication training on involving professors from 'Internal Quality Assurance and different universities in the NUS, Prof. Kayode Adekeye, Curriculum Development for pointing out that it was those experts that evaluate teaching President, West Africa Anglophone Anglophone West Africa Higher Quality Assurance Network Education Institutions' held at and learning in the university a Redeemer's University, Ede. system. graduates, research work and services rendered to identify H e s a i d t h a t s i n c e t h e Dr. Ramon-Yusuf emphasised areas that required further e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e that did not operate as a law improvement. enforcement agency, but did Page 3 A Publication of The Office of The Executive Secretary 6th January, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 1 FG Approves Six New Federal Colleges of Education n a bid towards increasing stated that the newly approved but also improve standard of the number of quality institutions would be situated education and increase the Iteachers in the country, in Bauchi, Benue, Eboyi, number of quality teachers in Osun, Sokoto, and Edo states, the country. which had no Federal Colleges of Education. He also appealed to the host communities, where the Mr Ameh also informed that institutions would be sited to details on the take-off of the give maximum support and institutions would be made cooperation that would aid known through the committee the smooth take-off of the set up by the Federal Ministry institutions. of Education to be chaired by the Permanent Secretary, F e d e r a l M i n i s t r y o f Education. Mal. Adamu Adamu In his words of appreciation, Minister of Education the Executive Secretary, the federal government has N C C E , B a p p a - A l i y u approved the establishment Muhammadu, commended and immediate take-off of six the federal government for new Federal Colleges of establishing additional Education in each of the geo- Federal Colleges of Education political zones in the country. in all the six geo-political zones in the by country. This was disclosed by the Public Relations Officer of He said that the newly approved Colleges would not National Commission for Prof. Bappa-Aliyu Mohammed Colleges of Education o n l y c r e a t e m o r e j o b Executive Secretary, NCCE (NCCE), Mr Ameh Isaac, who opportunities for Nigerians, Page 4 A Publication of The Office of The Executive Secretary 6th January, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 1 PMB Lauds NUC, TETFund, Industry on Research Partnership P r e s i d e n t M u h a m m a d u Ceremony of University of industry.