Replacing “Expired Courses” with “Due for Review”: NCHE Introduces New Categorization for Academic Courses in Universities and Tertiary Institutions
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) announced a change in the categorization of academic courses at universities and tertiary institutions. The term “Expired” will be replaced by “Due for Review,” as revealed by Prof. Mary Okwakol, the executive director of NCHE, during a press conference. The decision comes in response to concerns raised about expired academic programs and their authenticity.
The term “Expired” will be replaced by “Due for Review” in the categorization of academic courses at universities and all tertiary institutions, according to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). This information was made public on Tuesday 6th June 2023 during a press conference delivered by Prof. Mary Okwakol, executive director of NCHE.
Following news that some academic programmes at various universities and educational institutions have expired, the media recently flew into a frenzy.
As previously noted on the NCHE website, throughout the preceding five years, at least 1,470 programmes have come to an end. Graduate and undergraduate programmes were both affected, and the expiration dates varied depending on the academic institutions.
The authenticity of the authorised academic curricula provided by NCHE has come under scrutiny by the general public as a result of the media revelations.
On Tuesday 6th June 2023, Okwakol disclosed that they had met with the leaders of degree-granting organisations and tertiary institutions, during which suggestions for the classification of academic programmes were made.
According to Okwakol, the council decided to change the word “Expiry” to “Due For Review” for projects whose re-assessment period had passed but had not yet been re-submitted to NCHE for review after taking into account the suggestions made by the heads of institutions.
She added that the council decided to continue labelling schemes whose reassessment had expired but had been submitted to NCHE as “Under Review.”
The council has also increased the time between accreditation and re-assessment, according to Okwakol, to the equivalent of two equivalencies cycles plus one year.
“A programme is recognised as accredited during that time,” she said.
The NCHE mandates that by November 30, 2023, all programmes marked “Due for review” must be submitted to the council for re-evaluation.
