The National Universities Commission (NUC) has challenged universities in Africa to come up with programmes and partnerships with institutions that will provide students with skills needed for employment.
The Acting Executive Secretary, NUC, Mr Chris Maiyaki, gave the charge at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Forum for Innovation in African Universities (FIAU) in Abuja on Friday.
The conference has the theme: “Strengthening Africa’s Higher Education in a Post COVID-19 world.”
Maiyaki said that embracing international collaborations would enable universities to tap into a wealth of expertise, resources, and opportunities for their students and faculties.
While noting that there is a challenge of resource constraint faced by universities across Africa, he said that to address the situation, the institutions require strategic partnerships.
“Collaboration with governments, private sector entities, philanthropic organisations, and international development agencies is crucial in pooling resources, sharing expertise, and creating sustainable funding models,” he said.
He added that the commission had championed the development of guidelines for the implementation of Transnational Education (TNE) in Nigeria for the purpose of partnering with other institutions abroad.
“TNE presents a wide range of opportunities such as increasing access to higher education for our youth and promoting strategic alliances between countries and regions.
“These partnerships must, however, be built on mutual respect, shared objectives, and a commitment to nurturing talent and promoting global citizenship,” he said.
Maiyaki stressed the need to integrate technology into the delivery of university education to ensure its resilience in a Post-COVID-19 world.
He said this would help in harnessing the power of innovation and also make the institutions to foster sustainable university-industry partnerships that transcend traditional boundaries.
Meanwhile, the FIAU co-Founder, Prof. Pascal Anosike, in a remark, said that African universities had made remarkable progress in the areas of curriculum review and private sector investment, but more still needed to be done in widening access and improving employability rate.
Anosike called for the use of modern technology to support students’ learning, adding that his organisation would strengthen the capacity of African universities to tackle these challenges.
