The Federal Government has announced a new policy mandating graduates to submit their theses or final-year projects into the Nigeria Education Repository and Databank (NERD) before they can be mobilised for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The directive, which takes effect from October 6, was contained in a circular issued by George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), conveying President Bola Tinubu’s approval.
According to the circular, no graduate, whether trained in Nigeria or abroad, will be mobilised for or exempted from NYSC without proof of compliance.
“NYSC mobilisation criteria [have been adjusted] in accordance with the President’s regulation requiring proof of NERD Policy compliance for all prospective corps members, regardless of where they were educated,” it stated
Under the NERD policy, all students are required to upload their academic work to the national database. Section 6.1.23 of the guidelines describes the measure as a “quality assurance check and a yearly independent proof of continuous academic enrolment and affiliation,”
Read also: FG mandates enforcement of NERD for NYSC mobilisation, exemption
Haula Galadima, NERD spokesperson, explained that the initiative is designed to improve the standard of academic output across Nigerian institutions. “Apart from the mandate to verify authenticity as a national flagship, the NERD digitisation programme has a clear objective: to raise the bar in the quality of academic content, output, and presentation nationwide,” she said.
She added that the repository will include full details of deposited works. “Each item shall feature the full name of the student, those of his supervisor, co-supervisor if any, and that of the Head of Department, as well as the sponsoring institution and department,” she noted.
Galadima also highlighted the policy’s potential impact on supervision standards: “If our eminent scholars are aware that their names will appear next to those of the students they supervise on a globally available digital platform, there is the likelihood that each lecturer would up his or her standard. Very few lecturers would want their names associated with poorly produced academic works.”
The SGF clarified that the new rules apply to graduates of Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and foreign institutions, but do not affect serving corps members or those mobilised before the October 6 enforcement date.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
