ASSESSING THE RELEVANCE OF THE BMD SYSTEM IN ENSURING EXTERNAL EFFICIENCY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA, CAMEROON

Genevarius Nji, Asongwe Cyprian Foche

Abstract


This study sets out to assess the relevance of the Bachelor, Master and Doctorate (BMD) system in ensuring external efficiency in the University of Bamenda. The high level of unemployment among university graduates raises eyebrows about the quality of curriculum design and implementation in higher education in Cameroon over the past years. External inefficiency of higher institutions would only produce unskilled graduates who cannot contribute to societal development. Within the context of this work, the relevance of curriculum, the development of practical skills and the relationship with industry were examined, ascertaining a link to external efficiency. The quantitative approach was adopted in data collection and analysis. Using the purposeful sampling technique, we obtained a sample of 501 for the study. The questionnaire was the instrument for data collection, and Spearman's rank correlation was used for data analysis. The following results were obtained. The correlation coefficients for relevance of curriculum, development of practical skills and partnership with industries were 0.831, 0.472, and 0.620, respectively. This shows that the relevance of the curriculum, the development of practical skills, and partnerships with industry are significant predictors of external efficiency at the University of Bamenda. Based on the findings obtained, it was recommended that the University should ensure that practical skills development is embedded in the curriculum across various disciplines. Significant investments should be made as far as curriculum design and development is concerned. This could involve project-based learning and experiential learning opportunities, incorporating hands-on training.

 

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relevance of the BMD system, external efficiency, University of Bamenda

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejae.v11i1.6454

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