The management of the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology Ikere-Ekiti (BOUESTI) has presented thirty-three new programmes for accreditation in the institution.
While presenting the programmes to the National Universities Commission (NUC) resource verification team, the vice chancellor of BOUESTI, Professor Victor Adeoluwa, stated that since its upgrade three years ago to a university, the institution has been making waves.
Adeoluwa, therefore, expressed optimism that the new courses being presented for accreditation would be approved by the regulatory body.
The VC maintained that new courses would add to the existing forty-five programs approved by the commission, saying the institution had the needed resources, infrastructure and manpower to run the programmes.
He said, “We are very well prepared for this exercise. Let me say that we are presenting 33 programmes for accreditation and around this time two years ago, we presented 45 and they were all approved. So I believe these new ones will be approved too.
“In terms of facilities, we are doing well and don’t forget this is a university that came from the College of Education established in 1977, so the facilities and lecturers are there. We focus our pedagogy on entrepreneurship programmes.”
He added, “Whatever students are studying here, we let them focus on what it is in that programme that can make them stand on their own and be employers of labour.
“Apart from that, any student from 200 level, regardless of your course, there is practical agriculture for the students because that is what the state government asked us to focus on before we were approved and that is what we are doing.”
Responding, the NUC team lead and Director of Academic Planning, Clara Abu, explained that the commission was committed to raising the bar of education standards in the country, assuring the university community that the team would be objective in its verification.
“As you are aware, the NUC has been mandated to lay down minimum academic requirements and to accredit programmes being run in Nigerian universities, that is why we are here to assess the physical and other resources available for the 33 programmes of this university,” she said.