Comments on National University Commission Minimum Academic Standards for Social Sciences

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO


Comments on National University Commission Minimum Academic Standards for Social Sciences


The Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano received and reviewed the NUC proposed Minimum Academic Standards for Social Sciences. The Department, however, is not satisfied with the standardization of courses as it affects the teaching of political science, in Nigerian Universities.

With the NUC proposal, we envisage a potential danger which affects the development of intellectual excellence in the political science discipline, at least in our university. We believe that the implementation of teaching the proposed course requirements means that academics in this field will be straight-jacketed and therefore arrests the development of innovation, and creative thinking in training our students and in improving their understanding and critical judgment of our changing society. In the face of this, we are of the opinion that each Department should be allowed to design its courses as is the practice now.

We affirm that we already have all the courses proposed by the NUC (we hereby attach the courses we are offering for your information) and the minimum standard the NUC proposed is even lower than that of our present system. For example the total credit hours in the NUC proposal is far below our present system. Secondly we have thoroughly examined the proposed course outlines and concluded that they are narrowly designed and could not allow students to be exposed to various dimensions of the curses concerned. In our opinion the course contents the NUC proposed might have been rashed for they leave much to be desired.

Thirdly, it is not acceptable to us to make 30 percent a pass mark even for courses that are not compulsory for students to offer, because this will reduce the quality of students we shall produce. Fourthly, we noted with concern the NUC proposal to admit only person with pass mark in mathematics to read political science. If we go by this, we may end up not getting enough students each year to read political science. In our present course structure, we have already recognized the importance of this. And that s why one of our courses at Part II level (Research Method) is substantially mathematical, in order to introduce our students to methods of enquiry and investigations in political science. In any case we would prefer to introduce a whole course unit in statistics for social research than to carry on with the NUC proposal. Fifthly, it appears that the NUC proposal on General Studies is not based on understanding General Studies Programme in our university, where even in the present course structure we expose our students to many aspects of natural sciences. But, even if we are to accept the whole programme of NUC, some of the courses of General Studies duplicate courses at undergraduate level.

Furthermore, we believe that in order to promote high standards in our universities, each university and even Department in a university should enjoy academic freedom and be allowed to maintain environmental characteristics within the general framework of National values. In Bayero University, Kano for example, it is expected that the university is to: “be built on those beliefs, values and traditions that the society holds most sacred. The university should strive to be a symbol of the spirit of its community, the guardian of its morals, the formulation of its hopes, be they spiritual or material. It should monitor the inevitable changes that come with time and, in assimilating and disseminating universal truths, it should safeguard these essential values and nuances that give the society its identity. Amongst its objectives, the university recognizes the need to:
a) Deepen individuals awareness of the value of their cultural heritage;
b) Foster and reinforce the moral, ethical and spiritual values sacred to the culture;
c) Provide the knowledge, skill and technology required for the benefit of the wider community;
d) Contribute by research, to the university body of knowledge;
e) Further the objectives of a united, fair and just, community, society and nation. (Student’s Handbook, BUK, 1988/89).

In Our faculty and Department here at Bayero University, Kano, courses are designed to reflect the above objectives. In the Department of Political Science, for example, we even have optional courses on Islamic Political Thought and Islamic Political experience to reflect the values of the community in which we are sited. No one can deny that Islamic thinkers contribute to knowledge for centuries and since we are rooted in an Islamic society it will be ill advised to simply drop teaching that to meet NUC requirements.

The Department of Political Science, further observed that the NUC Guidelines on personnel is of course relevant for encouraging academic standards in universities. What we object to, however, is anything which will erode the power of university councils. The issues of appointment and promotion and staff rank mixes and ratios should be left exclusively to the university councils (our employers) to determine in accordance with their laws and needs. What the NUC can do is to ensure adequate financial allocations to the universities and devise ways of effective monitoring the finances of the universities to check abuse. This we think can be done by fully involving the staff of the university.

We subscribe to the improvement of physical facilities such as offices, classrooms and libraries as recommended by NUC because that will definitely improve the performance of lectures. What is at stake, however, considering the drastic cut in the funding of university education in this country of recent, one cannot but wonder how the NUC is going to do this.

In the light of all these, the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano has no other choice but to call on the National Universities Commission to seriously re-examine the proposal for standardization of courses, because it is not better than the existing practice at least in our university, and in order to also promote intellectual excellence in our universities.

M. M. Yusif
June, 1989