Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS) Adoption as an Enhancing Strategy for Skills Development Amongst Business Education Students in Rivers State Universities

Godpower; Yiraodi Joel Ph.D; Anita Eberechi Amadi PhD

doi:10.56201/ijebm.vol.12.no5.2026.pg393.409

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Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS) Adoption as an Enhancing Strategy for Skills Development Amongst Business Education Students in Rivers State Universities

Godpower, Yiraodi Joel Ph.D, Anita Eberechi Amadi PhD

Abstract

This study examined the adoption of the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards as an enhancing strategy for skills development among Business Education students in Rivers State universities. The study was motivated by the need to determine the extent to which the implementation of CCMAS contributes to the development of practical, entrepreneurial, technological, and employability skills among Business Education students, as well as the challenges affecting its implementation. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of fifty-seven (57) Business Education lecturers from Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. Since the population was manageable, census sampling technique was adopted. A self-structured questionnaire titled “Questionnaire on Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards as an Enhancing Strategy for Skills Development among Business Education Students (QCCMASESSDBES)” was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts, including two Business Education lecturers and one expert in Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient , which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.87. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while t-test statistics were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that the level of implementation of CCMAS guidelines in Business Education programmes in Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education was high. The findings further revealed that the implementation of CCMAS has contributed to the introduction of new course contents, development of self-employment skills, preparation of students for contemporary workplace demands, and promotion of hands-on P-ISSN 2695-186X practical learning. The study also identified several challenges affecting the implementation of CCMAS, including inadequate funding, strike actions, inadequate instructional materials, brain- drain, inconsistent implementation across institutions, and inadequate training and retraining of lecturers. The hypotheses tested showed that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of Business Educators in Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education regarding both the level of implementation of CCMAS and the challenges affecting its implementation. Based on the findings, the study concluded that CCMAS is an important strategy for enhancing skills development among Business Education students, especially in the areas of entrepreneurship, digital literacy, innovation, and employability competencies. However, effective implementation requires adequate funding, provision of modern instructional facilities, continuous staff development programmes, and improved monitoring mechanisms. The study recommended that university management and educational authorities should strengthen the implementation of CCMAS through adequate funding, provision of ICT facilities, and regular training of lecturers to improve the quality of Business Education graduates in Nigerian universities.

Keywords

Core Curriculum Minimum Academic StandardEnhancing Strategy Skills Development Business EducationImplementationChallenges.

References

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Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS) Adoption as an Enhancing Strategy for Skills Development Amongst Business Education Students in Rivers State Universities

Abstract

Keywords

References

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