Group Photograph at the end of accreditation team report
The accreditation team of the National Universities Commission (NUC), who carried out the exercise at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) ‘s Faculty of Education for Agric Science programme at the Kaduna Study Centre, has commended the university for its compliance with the commission’s requirements as well as readiness to achieve the set objectives.
The team, spearheaded by its leader, Prof. Anna Mohammed Malgwi gave this commendation on Wednesday, November 16 2022 while presenting the report of the accreditation exercise to the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters at the university’s headquarters, Jabi, Abuja.
While speaking, the Modibo Adama University-based professor said NOUN has all the necessary requirements to run Agric Education programme at its Kaduna Study Centre.
According her, the philosophies for Agric Education are adequate, accessible and well-defined, adding that the admission requirements into the Faculty of Agric are in order.
“Based on the evaluation assessment, both formative, summary, integrity and practical work, they were very good and of good quality; the topics for undergraduates were good and innovative, it followed the due process and it was well supervised.
“External examiner system exists, they are accessible and of good standard and well-articulated, too; pedagogy is attending with the standards of ODL and online resources are in place and accessible and are in compliance with Basic Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) too,” she said.
On staffing, Malgwi said the institution has well-trained and qualified staff adding that academic learner support is in conformity with ODL standards with clear evidence “but there is need to interface it with consultancy services.”
Moreover, while commenting on physical facilities, she said that they are available and that it meets the minimum standard adding that the fisheries are well established.
Malgwi also commended NOUN in the areas of logistics, institutional supports, efficiency and internal quality assurance mechanism, minutes of meetings and good monitoring and evaluation, research and collaboration, among others.
“Employers rating of graduates is very excellent; they are also ICT-compliant and great system is in place. But more students are needed in the Agric Education. Funding can never be enough, so take your Kaduna Study Centre very well,” Malgwi stated.
Responding, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Isaac Sammani Butswat, who hosted the team on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, thanked the team for their objective evaluation of NOUN’s Agric Education programme.
Butswat said “accreditation is a kind of third party assessment to judge if we are meeting up to the set standards.
“I’m happy with your reports because part of the essence of the accreditation is to help us to improve where we need to improve and then to get the certification when we have done the correction after the full or partial accreditation. We are praying for the best.”
While assuring the team, Butswat said their advices and observations have been noted and that urgent action would be taken to address all the challenges.
