About 14 programmes of the University of Abuja, including Law, have been accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the management of the university has said.
The management also said out of the 14, 10 academic programmes were given full accreditation while four had interim accreditation.
Accreditation, according to the laws creating the NUC, is a process whereby academic programmes are evaluated every five years.
The assessment criteria include the number of academics with PhDs and the infrastructure to accommodate undergraduate and postgraduates courses.
The NUC’s accreditation team also establishes the number of students that may be admitted per programme.
Each programme that complies is entitled to full five-year accreditation, with those that fall just short of compliance being awarded partial accreditation of three years only.
Statement
In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday evening, the spokesperson of the University of Abuja, Habib Yakoob, said the programmes with full accreditation include Public Administration, Education Arabic Studies, Education Christian Rel. Studies, Education English, Education Geography, Education Islamic Rel. Studies, Guidance and Counselling, Law, Chemistry and Microbiology.
He said those with Interim accreditation are Banking and Finance, Education Physics, Educational Administration and Planning, and Primary Education Studies.
Mr Yakoob also said Computer Science was not yet accredited.
“Just a few days ago, your University received the results of the November 2019 National Universities Commission (NUC) accreditation visit to the UofA of Nigeria; and out of 15 (fifteen academic programs visited), it is only one of them, Computer Science, that we have difficulty in, which Academic Planning Office, working with the academic department concerned, would prepare an appeal for a revisit and a re-evaluation,” Mr Yakoob quoted the Vice-Chancellor, Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, as saying.
According to Mr Yakoob, “the vice-chancellor said we are in the middle of laying a solid Internet infrastructure (fibrotic) in all our campuses. Your University is establishing computer laboratories across faculties and departments where students and staff would easily walk in when they need to use computers. Several of our classrooms are in the program of now being converted into smart classrooms where learners and instructors can use cyber technology.”
“Your University has already built and is perfecting its UniAbuja Virtual classroom system and many students are currently taking some courses online in a Pilot study of our Virtual Classroom system, and the Centre for Sponsored Projects, the Centre for Undergraduate Research, the University of Abuja International Centre, the Entrepreneurship Centre, the General Studies unit, and more, are all mobilizing staff and students to explore world-class academic, research and global citizenship opportunities provided in the great UofA of Nigeria,” the vice-chancellor reportedly said.