Beginning March 2020, Mass Communication will no longer pass for a single course of study in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, according to the National Universities Commission (NUC).
In a chat with journalists in Abuja, Executive Secretary, NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said the era of Mass Communication as a course in universities is over, as the commission has responded to meet present demands in the labour market.
This development follows the presentation of new curricula for communication studies in Nigerian universities by professors and communication practitioners in Nigeria.
The curricula, which sought the unbundling of mass communication and the creation of seven-degree awarding departments to be domiciled under a School/College of Communication, was formally presented to the Executive Secretary of the NUC in Abuja, on February 5, 2019.
Providing an update on the curricula, Rasheed said Mass Communication has now been unbundled into Journalism and Media Studies, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film and Multi-Media Studies, Development Communication Studies, and Information and Media Studies.
His words; “We have almost concluded the unbundling of Mass Communication. At the end of the 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.”
The NUC’s Executive Secretary, however, said that the commission will retain Mass Communication for the universities that are yet to develop the full competencies required in the newly-introduced areas.