National
NUC charges African universities for skills
By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has urged African universities to recognise the importance of forming partnerships with institutions around the world to provide students with job-ready skills.
Mr Chris Maiyaki, Acting Executive Secretary, NUC, advised on Friday at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Forum for Innovation in African Universities (FIAU) in Abuja.
The conference’s theme is “Strengthening Africa’s Higher Education in a Post-COVID-19 World.”
According to Maiyaki, embracing international collaborations would allow universities to tap into a wealth of expertise, resources, and opportunities for their students and faculty.
While acknowledging that universities across Africa face resource constraints, he stated that to address the situation, strategic partnerships are required.
He went on to say that the commission had championed the development of guidelines for the implementation of Transnational Education (TNE) in Nigeria to collaborate with other institutions around the world.
Maiyaki emphasised the importance of incorporating technology into the delivery of university education to ensure its resilience in a post-COVID-19 world.
He stated that this would aid in harnessing the power of innovation and encourage institutions to foster long-term university-industry partnerships that cross traditional boundaries.
He urged university academics to take collective responsibility for addressing the challenges ahead and charting a course for a stronger and more resilient future for higher education in Africa.
He stated that to ensure that African graduates are fully equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in the twenty-first century, there is a constant need to strive to improve and update educational programmes to the realities of global best practices.
He believes that higher education must evolve to provide every student with opportunities for continuous improvement of the skills required for employment in a competitive world.
