FG Moves to End ‘Borrowed Staff, Equipment’ in Tertiary Accreditation

The Federal Government has announced plans to overhaul the accreditation and quality assurance system for tertiary institutions in Nigeria, with a focus on ending the practice of institutions temporarily borrowing academic staff, equipment and facilities to meet accreditation requirements.

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, CON, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday while inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Strengthening the Accreditation and Quality Assurance System for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.

Alausa said accreditation must reflect the genuine and sustainable capacity of institutions, stressing that required standards should be maintained throughout the academic year and not only during accreditation exercises.

According to him, the government will develop a digital, data-driven and continuously verifiable accreditation system to improve transparency and ensure that institutions maintain the resources required to deliver quality education.

He directed the committee to explore technologies such as geospatial mapping, geotagging and secure digital records to verify the identity and institutional affiliation of academic staff, as well as the ownership, functionality and sustained availability of facilities and equipment.

The verification process will cover laboratories, workshops, libraries and other major institutional facilities to ensure that resources presented during accreditation exercises are genuinely available to students.

The minister also called for stronger regulatory measures to tackle illegal admissions and other weaknesses within the tertiary education system.

The committee, chaired by the former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, is expected to review existing accreditation policies and recommend measures to strengthen monitoring, verification, technology adoption and continuous quality assurance.

Alausa said the Federal Ministry of Education would work with the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that accreditation standards are authentic, functional and sustainably available to students.

The initiative is expected to strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s tertiary education system and ensure that institutions are assessed based on their actual capacity rather than temporary arrangements made for accreditation visits.