‘Focus on programmes relevant to local communities’ – Education Minister Mamman tells varsities

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, has asked the management of Al-Muhibbah Open University, Abuja, to offer programmes that are relevant to the local communities.

Mamman spoke in Abuja on Friday at the unveiling and maiden matriculation ceremony of the university.

At the event, 105 students across three faculties and 14 programmes were matriculated.

The minister said that owing to the large pool of students searching for university education, there was a need to open up the system for private education to meet the educational yearnings of the youth.

“Open distance learning education is a relatively new frontier for us and that is the direction our tertiary education is moving,” he said.

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He continued: “I know for a fact that the government’s ownership of the open university has risen to over 700,000 students, the largest in Africa and the pool of young men and women who are interested in education is unsearchable and very large, so certainly the government cannot meet these demands.

“So it is appropriate that we open the system to the private sector [to people] who are committed to the provision of this level of education.”

He charged the National Universities Commission, NUC, and other regulatory agencies to come up with quality assurance mechanisms to strengthen open universities.

“What we have at the moment is largely focused on conventional institutions. As we strengthen this level of university education, the public must have the assurance that they deliver quality programmes.

“Secondly, one of the focus areas of this government is qualifications that are relevant to our local community; they must be relevant while having the same quality that will make you competitive in the international arena.

“How do you become relevant within the local frontier? It is by ensuring that you have programmes that embed in them skills that will make them readily employable or better yet, employers of Nigerians,” he added.

While congratulating the newly admitted students, Mamman charged them to adhere to the university’s regulations and contribute responsibly to the institution.