- Unbundles it into seven separate degree programmes
There will be no more Mass Communications as a degree programme in universities in Nigeria, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has disclosed.
The NUC says it has unbundled Mass Communication into seven separate degree programmes to meet present demand, and this will take effect from the 2020 admissions into Nigerian universities.
The seven independent degrees which the curricula seeks to establish in place of mass communication are, Journalism & Media Studies, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film & Multimedia Studies, Development Communication Studies, and Information & Media Studies.
The Executive Secretary, NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, who disclosed this in a chat with journalists in Abuja, said Mass Communication will not be existing as a stand-alone degree programme because of its broadness.
“At the end of first quarter of 2020, Mass Communication will not be existing as a stand-alone degree programme because it is too wide.
“We are unbundling the programme into seven different programmes: Bachelors Degrees in Public Relations, Marketing Communications, Media studies, Film studies, Cinematography or photography, Strategic Communication, and so many others.
“This is in line with trends all over the world. We will retain the Mass Communication for those universities that have not yet developed the full competencies in the areas,” he stated.
Persecondnews recalls that professors, professionals and practitioners of communication in Nigeria had presented new communication curricula to National Universities Commission (NUC), seeking the unbundling of mass communication into seven departments.
Proponents of the new curricula who have been working on it for the past two years, and who were present to advocate for its acceptance and adoption included professors and senior lecturers from the departments of mass communication/communication studies of numerous universities spread across the six geo-political zones of the country.
Also, regulatory agencies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Press Council (NPC); professional bodies such as the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Radio, Television and Theartre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU) were also involved.
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