The National Universities Commission, NUC, has said the development of entrepreneurship education programme in universities would prepare Nigerian students to be fit- for- purpose in the labour market.
Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, stated this on Wednesday, in Abuja, while kick-starting a two-day brainstorming session with Directors of Entrepreneurship Centres of Nigerian universities in collaboration with the British Council.
Rasheed stated that entrepreneurship education has the capacity to deliver the required momentum, adding that the session was aimed at achieving a more productive university education system.
The NUC boss said entrepreneurship must be embedded in the curriculum of all programmes taught in the Nigerian universities.
He said the course has the potentials to unlock the hidden potentials in students, helping them identify skills that could prepare them for the labour market.
He noted that the meeting was a fall out of an earlier one with the Centre Directors organised by the Directorate of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, DSDE, of the NUC in November, 2021.
He described the decision of stakeholders to put in place an operational guideline for effective running of the entrepreneurship development centres, EDCs, in universities as novel and imperative in the nation’s quest to produce employable graduates.
Rasheed expressed the commission’s commitment to continue to encourage ideas, innovations and suggestions that not only make the universities truly entrepreneurial, but also jump-start the national economy towards global competitiveness.
According to him, NUC has also embarked on series of reforms aimed at revitalizing University Education, including curriculum re-engineering, review of instruments of Quality Assurance, strengthening of the EDCs, guidelines for Open and Distance Learning, ODL, Transnational Education, TNE, and re-invention of Internationalization portfolios in order to realign the NUS with global best practices.
Rasheed noted that the commission has continued to ensure the entrenchment of quality teaching and learning in the university system through its developed roadmap for quality assurance activities.
He added that the roadmap include: Verification of new Programmes to ensure adequate human and material resources availability; Programme-Based Accreditation for both undergraduate and post graduate programmes, to ensure they meet the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards, BMAS, as well as inspection and monitoring of activities in the universities for sustainability of standards.
Others include the Evaluation of Students Support Facilities and Services in Nigerian universities; approval of the establishment of Open and Distance Learning Centres to further widen access to university education; ensuring Nigerian University System continue to concentrate on their mandate and the re-constitution of a Committee on Degree mills.
He tasked the participants to actively engage in robust discussions during the workshop technical sessions and to ensure that the knowledge gained is put to good use for the benefit of their respective institutions, and the NUS at large.
