Tag: school curriculum

By Oluwole Osagie – Jacobs JP, FCA

In recent years, the teaching of History in Nigerian schools has suffered a lot of bufettings. Out of ignorance, a vicious canard emerged that History is no more relevant in a modern and technology-driven world. The study of History became loathsome and students who had interest in pursuing a degree course in History started looking for other options. This sentiment was given a legitimate baptism by the government with the withdrawal of History from the school curriculum.

However, this has been reversed by government after what I would call a lucid interval. It was realised that the decision to expunge History from the school curriculum was not well thought out. This cold attitude towards History has extended to its cousins; Archaeology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Psychology and Classics. Classics is now considered a dead subject. Whereas, the early generation of those who read Classics in Nigeria like, Chief Bola Ige and Dr. Gamaliel Onosode, were fantastic intellectuals with enormous contribution to the growth of the country. This tendency is noticeable in the sciences. Single honours degrees in the sciences are looked down upon.

This attitude is an index of underdevelopment. In developed countries, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, which are the building blocks of science and technology, attract the best brains. Imagine science without scientists like Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, Planck, Faraday, Mendel, Darwin etc. Imagine the Arts without Socrates, Aristotle, Herodotus, Shakespeare, Milton, Tosloy, Goethe, Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Senghor, Achebe, Soyinka etc. The post-graduation financial reward of subjects studied is now the major determinant of their choice and not the love for them. In terms of financial reward, History is considered a poor player.

Many people don’t see History beyond a record of inter-tribal wars and the rise and fall of empires. This is wrong. History has a majestic scope and it is integral to every discipline.

History has been aptly defined as “the systematic study of past events, focusing on change and its impact on the present and future”.  It shapes our values, beliefs and prospects. It guides policy decisions and enhance the understanding of global dynamics. It is important to emphasise that any course of study is aimed at building the intellect and the knowledge acquired is for multidisciplinary applications. That is to say every subject of study is as important as the other in as much as it enriches the intellect. Spencer H. Lewis, a worthy leader of the Rosicrucian Order, classified knowledge into three: Mysticism, Science and the Arts. These are expounded in the monographs studied by members. To downplay any aspect of knowledge is to be uncultivated and ignorant. History Professors: Onwuka Dike, Ade Ajayi, Emmanuel Ayandele, Tekena Tamuno and Olayemi Akinwunmi have put up a diligent service in university administration as Vice – Chancellors. Prof. Akinwunmi, the vice – chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, has taken great and unprecedented strides in promoting excellence in the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science. He has raised the standard of study and made medicine and the sciences an attraction to the best brains all over the country. Prof. Akinwunmi is a historian and not a scientist. Currently, in the Nigerian Civil Service, there are medical doctors who are Permanent Secretaries in Ministries other than the Ministry of Health. They have an outstanding record of service.

It is crass ignorance to localise the relevance of the historian to the recording of past events. We should look at relevance beyond areas of study. A Personal Assistant to a boisterous minister recently told my in-law, Dele Momodu, he could not speak for journalism because he possessed no certificate in journalism. Dele Momodu has contributed more to journalism as a brilliant writer and publisher than himself who with his certificate in journalism is hibernating under a minister.

Some years ago, two Professors of English Literature at the University of Lagos said the legend Chinua Achebe could not speak for Literature because he possessed only a first degree. These Professors would shout down Shakespeare from discussing Drama for the reason that he didn’t go beyond secondary school. Whereas, a thousand of these Professors cannot produce Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces.

History is the foundation of knowledge. It affords us the opportunity of knowing the past, learn from it and correct mistakes.

In my university, students who read Economics took “History of Economic Thought” as a compulsory course. Similarly, those who read Geography took “History of Geographical Thought” as a compulsory course. It is the same for most degree courses in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. We were acquainted with how the subject of study evolved. Historical records are useful and indispensable. You cannot teach Jewish History well without the Talmud – a compendium of Jewish tradition. Teaching Law and Jurisprudence would be enriched with the knowledge of the most ancient Law Codes of Ur Naumu and Hammurabi. The Bornu Chronicle is central to the history of the Kanem Bornu Empire. Our societies have benefited immensely from the Griots and minstrels of yore whose works have survived till this day. To live without history is to live without memory. This can be likened to the Markov Chain in Mathematics – a stochastic process where the occurrence of future events depends on what is happening now and not what has happened in the past. It is a memoryless process. The Arab – Israeli war is rooted in history.

Therefore, resolution of the conflict would draw from historical accounts. It is the same with the resolution of tribal and border conflicts which would benefit from historical accounts. In the Holy Bible, it was the chronological reference to history by Gamaliel, a highly respected Pharisee and a teacher of the Jewish law, that saved the Apostles from being stoned to death. Are we saying future Egyptian children should not be taught the Suez Canal Crisis? Should the French Aeronautic Engineer not have knowledge of the French Revolution? Shouldn’t the blacks in America and the Caribbeans be taught history of the slave trade to enable them know how they came to be where they are?

 It is history that has sustained our cultures to this day. Tourism relies heavily on history. Most tourist sites would lose relevance without historical accounts. History is at the foundation of civil rights and liberation movements. History is the foundation of law and jurisprudence. Law Reports are historical records pure and simple. A medical doctor would be severely handicapped without access to the medical history of his patient. The holy books; the Bible, Quran and the Bhagavagita, are substantially historical accounts. The Hadith, an Islamic book, is an eyewitness account of the activities and the sayings of Prophet Mohammad. I am thrilled by the intricate and elaborate succession rites to the position of the British monarch and the Pope. What you see is fidelity to history and tradition. Conversely, I am nonplussed at the cavalier attitude of Nigerians to their culture and tradition. We have found sanctuary in philistinism. It is for this reason we have thrown away the Ifa Oracle, which is one of the most precious gifts of God to humanity.

The knowledge of Ifa is primarily an oral tradition which is one of the sources of history. When I suggested that Ifa Oracle should be taught in our schools, my friend considered my suggestion as barmy, antisocial and devilish. I was in secondary school in Arigidi, Akoko, Ondo State, when I lost my father in 1971. A relation of my father he calls, Big Uncle, opted to pay the fees of my father’s nine children to the university level. For good measure, he was ready to fund our postgraduate education to the PhD level. Wonderful! My other siblings didn’t take advantage of this opportunity but I enjoyed his scholarship for two years. He was a very rich industrialist. It was when I paid him a visit in 1992 in Benin – City that he told me the reason for his decision to fund our education.

Big Uncle was admitted to Kings College, Lagos, in the early 1930s. In his second year in school, his sight failed him. All medical procedures to restore his sight failed. The school had no other option than to send him back to Benin – City. My grandfather was moved with pity and he took him to a renowned oraclist and native doctor called Baba Elijah in Idanre, Ondo State. His house was at the foot of Idanre hills. At the time in mid 1930s, Baba Elijah was already an old man. After consulting the Oracle, Baba Elijah administered on his head 120 incisions. His body was soaked with blood. Baba Elijah followed with powerful incantations on his head which lasted for about 30 minutes.

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At the end of the procedure, Baba Elijah told my grandfather that if he heard that our Big Uncle is blind in the future, it would not be from this present attack. Baba Elijah knew his onions. The return to Benin – City took two days. Big Uncle had his sight fully restored within a week. He returned to Kings College, Lagos. What Baba Elijah did with incantations was a miracle which is not different from the miracle we achieve with our prayers. My question is, on the day of judgment, will the Almighty God damn Pa Elijah for the restoration of the sight of my Big Uncle?

Few years ago, I was at Idanre and after a tasking search, I located the family of Pa Elijah. I was told he died in 1951. I wanted to obtain his healing formula and come back and close all hospitals for the blind in Nigeria. It is painful that there was no record of his procedure.

My friend believes that divination is against the teachings of Christianity in spite of the fact that there were instances of divination in Bible. The choice of Saul as King was revealed by divination. Jonah’s identity was revealed by divination and he was thrown out of the boat.

The Bible records that the counsel of Ahithophel the Gilohnite was as if one consulted the Oracle of God. If there is anything crude in our culture it can be done away with. Christianity was so saved by the New Testament. Crude practices in other holy books are dying off courtesy of civilisation. What we cannot discount in religion is mysticism, which accounts for the miracles we credit to ourselves. Throwing overboard completely a piece of oral tradition like the Ifa Oracle is wrong and a serious mistake.

As the Federal Ministry of Education prepares to launch a new school curriculum this month, Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon analyses the need to incorporate findings of Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition (DOTS) project to tackle the endemic challenges in the basic education level.

An educated society is crucial for economic growth. Countries with higher literacy rates, according to experts, also tend to be in better economic situations. With a more educated population, better behavioral dispositions and more employment opportunities are opened as citizens keep learning and researching to constantly stay innovative.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must have had this on his mind when he highlighted his administration’s commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians, particularly the students and youth, through various initiatives that promote education. He had also reiterated his administration’s commitment towards repositioning the education sector.

Last year, the President said the sector would get a comprehensive four-year strategic plan, serving as a roadmap for development. This, he said, would not only tackle the challenges confronting the sector but also shape the future of education in the country.

It was, therefore, not out of place when President Tinubu, as part of his eight-point agenda, decided to prioritise education by giving approval to the Federal Ministry of Education for a project called DOTS, an acronym for Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition.

DOTS is aimed at ensuring an overhaul of the sector for improved learning and skill development, increase enrolment, and ensure the academic security of children. DOTS is also designed for creation of a data repository to address the paucity of coordinated, verifiable and authentic data on all aspects of the education sector in Nigeria.

However, as the stakeholders are awaiting the report of DOTS, the Federal Ministry of Education said it is preparing to launch new school curriculum this month. One hopes that the DOTS initiative will strengthen the outlines of the new school curriculum.

Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who announced that a new school curriculum will take effect from this month, disclosed this to State House correspondents after President Bola Tinubu presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting at the presidential Villa. According to him, the new curriculum is aimed at both primary and secondary schools. It is designed to address the ongoing concerns surrounding the behaviour and values of young Nigerians.

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Mamman said: “There is a general concern about the behaviour and conduct of our young ones in the country and our social values, and civic education is compulsory in secondary schools. But with all that, we still have some deterioration and serious concerns about our national values.

“So, we are rolling out a new curriculum for primary schools and secondary schools in Nigeria from this October, which is supposed to incorporate knowledge, skills and values, especially with a special focus on skills, so that our students, when they graduate, they will have skills that they can connect with the economy.”

But, stakeholders have been calling for tackling endemic issues affecting education in the country without which any new curriculum would die naturally.

Issues of out-of-school children and learning poverty

While a new curriculum for primary schools and secondary schools is desirable, it is relevant that the ministry must tackle the rising number of out-of-school children in the country. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), decrying the increase, stated that it is now 18.3 million.

UNICEF noted that this alarming figure positions Nigeria as the country with the highest number of out-of-school children globally.

The number of Out-of-School Children (OOSC) is constantly growing in Nigeria, rising from about 10.5 million in 2013 to about 18.3 million in 2024, despite many efforts to address the situation.

To address this challenge, UNICEF is collaborating with the Universal Basic Education Commission to develop the “National Framework of Action to Reduce the Number of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria” and the “Retention, Transition, and Completion Model”.

Also, with six years remaining before the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target date of 2030, Nigeria is among the many nations grappling with the task of achieving SDG 4—quality education for all.

According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 250 million children worldwide still lack access to good education.

In Nigeria, where children are in school, statistics indicate that they are often face with learning poverty, a measure of children’s inability to read and understand a simple text by age 10, the World Bank and UNESCO stated.

The 2022 UNICEF report on the State of Global Learning Poverty offers a grim picture of the increasing number of out-of-school children and of declining education systems, learning content and teaching methods. The report claims that 56 percent of children worldwide were suffering from learning poverty before COVID-19 hit—a staggering 89 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa—and this figure is predicted to have skyrocketed since the pandemic.

The United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) project set out in 2021 to tackle some of the root causes of learning poverty.

PLANE, which is a comprehensive programme that runs through 2028, operates at various levels, engaging with legislators, state and non-state education providers, civil society organisations, teachers’ unions, community leaders, learners, and parents. The programme is active at the federal level, in the Southeast and Southwest regions, and at the state level in five northern states (Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno).

PLANE is designed to improve students’ foundational skills, standardising primary education, and enhancing the quality of teaching.

Education policy

Education in Nigeria is a 6-3-3 system. The official primary school entrance age is six and the primary school cycle lasts six years, followed by three years of lower secondary education and three years of upper secondary education. Primary and lower secondary education are free and compulsory. Students sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)/Junior Secondary School Examination at the end of grade 9 and those completing upper secondary school sit for Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), which requires them to demonstrate their mastery of multiple subjects including English and Mathematics. According to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), in 2012 there were 59,382 primary schools in the country, and 11,561 lower secondary schools.

Critical stakeholders in the education sector have condemned the decision of the Federal Government to peg the age at which students can write the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations, SSCE, at 18, saying it will simply draw the education sector back. On the qualifying examination to enter tertiary institutions, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the nation is divided on directive to peg the age at 18 years.

Tahir had directed that from 2025, any candidate who is not up to 18 would not be allowed to write the examinations, and without doing so, such candidates won’t be able to seek admission to tertiary institutions.

The stakeholders who spoke against the policies included the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), and others.

Teachers welfare

Teachers are central to effective and efficient learning. Despite the Federal Government’s increment of funding to Universal Basic Education (UBE) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund, state’s’ contributions have been comatose.

A media report indicated that all the tiers of government in the country will require at least N345 billion monthly to pay the new minimum wage for teachers in public primary and secondary schools, if the salary package proposed for teachers in the welfare scheme promised by the government in 2020 is to be fully implemented.

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has about 2.3 million licensed teachers in its register who are mostly government employees, while the minimum wage proposed for teachers is N150,000 per month.

But, the unfavourable economic situation in the country has left the state and local governments foot-dragging on the issues that have financial implications for education.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari, who made the promise to teachers in 2020 to increase their welfare, only implemented the increment in the retirement age of teachers from 35 to 40 years of service and 60 to 65 years, whichever comes first. Only 15 of the 36 states in the country have jerked up the retirement age of teachers. Surprisingly, the Southwest region has not started implementing the new retirement age.

The Secretary General of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Dr. Mike Ene, said the union was frustrated by lack of progress in the implementation of the scheme for teachers.

Even, the Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission, Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed that over 30 per cent of the Nigeria’s teaching workforce left the service within the past three years.

UBEC and funding gap

To tackle the prevailing funding gap for infrastructure and others in the basic level of education, the Federal Government recently approved an upward review of the matching grants of state governments for infrastructural projects under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) to N3.5 billion.

The increase in matching grants is coming as UBEC Executive Secretary Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, in July, declared that over N45.7 billion in funds allocated for the implementation of UBE between 2020 and 2023 have not been accessed by many states.

According to the UBEC boss, 27 states failed to access over N45,730, 811,745 00 set aside by the Federal Government for basic education. The figures obtained from UBEC dated July 1, 2024, covered grants from 2020 – 2023, which the 27 states failed to provide the counterpart funds to access. On the non-payment of the counterpart funding, NAPTAN’s Deputy National President, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, wondered why the states are not paying up.

Ogunbanjo said: “If I bring 50 percent and then UBEC is also giving me 50 percent, why not? Then, it’s attractive to the states, meaning they are helping me, assisting me to fund education with my marching grants.

“You can only pay your marching grants to access it. Okay. The moment I pay my N3.5 billion, then they will now give me the projects and all that and add their own N3.5 billion.

“Great. We now know that at least N3.5 billion is there in the Federal Government’s coffers to be sent to each state of the federation as long as the state is also remitting its own N3.5 billion.”

He urged all state parent teacher associations, state education stakeholders, including the NUT, Nigerian conference of principals of secondary schools, head teachers association of Nigeria to ensure that they engage their various states to access the funds because education is paramount.

Language use and other solutions

Experts have also picked hole in language used for teaching – English. According to UNESCO, conducting classes in a child’s first language is optimal for literacy and learning throughout the primary school. Research shows that children whose first language is not their language of instruction are more likely to drop out or fail in early grades. While this discussion had been on for a while, nothing has come out of it.

Additional strategies include reviewing educational policies, providing support for learning disabilities, investing in technological and sporting resources, implementing safe school policies, and promoting education through various channels such as school-based management committees, religious bodies, scholarships, and teacher training.

Experts have indicated that foundational skills such as reading and solving basic math problems allow for cognitive development and acquisition of more complex skills. When a country fails to provide these skills to children in the first three years of schooling, learning becomes an increasingly frustrating experience. The consequence is high levels of dropout (42 per cent of students drop out between primary 1 and the first year of Junior Secondary School), fuelling the out of school problem.

Also is the quality of teachers. There are low levels of teacher competency and pedagogical skills. Fifty per cent of teachers in basic education in Nigeria, according to records, lack minimum teaching qualifications.

At this age where pupils and students globally are competing with experts in the area of computer software development, robotic research and development, among others, the education sector needs more effective and efficient planning and quality assurance at both level of public and private elementary schools.

Founder of Jesus Desciples Bible College (aka Kingdom College), Ozu Abam in Arochukwu Local Government Areall, Abia State, Rev. Dr.  Emmanuel Ukoha, has called for a paradigm shift in the nation’s educational sector with an urgent review of the education curriculum.

He said the current curriculum had become obsolete and makes youth job seekers rather than job creators. Hence the problem of unemployment.

According to him, Nigeria’s limited success in technology and innovation was due to the over-reliance on theoretical aspect of learning, which, he said, has not been empowering graduates to explore the peculiarities of contemporary daily realities.

Ukoha insisted that it is possible to turn Nigerian youths to creators, using his own model of education at the Kingdom College, where he is introducing a new entrepreneurial mentality to gospel preaching among young and prospective pastors.

He said he established the institution to make preachers more self-reliant to be able to preach the gospel in truth the way the ancient apostles did without any economic or financial influence.

He noted that he was moved by the plight of the many poor pastors who depended mostly on donations and offerings from church members for survival, to establish the college with a unique approach to training pastors.

“In our college here, they not only study theology but also learn more of practical and technical skills like farming, building and fabrication to become more self-reliant before graduating from the college”.

Taking reporters round the college’s farms, workshops and other facilities in Ozu Abam town, Dr. Ukoha noted that the activities vary from cultivation of all farm products to rearing of domestic animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry, among others in commercial quantities.

He disclosed that through its agricultural programmes, the college had able to produce palm oil, yam, garri, rice, beans, groundnuts, among other crops to feed the state at cheap rate in the school’s shopping mall where the products are displayed for shopping.

In the building section, he added that students are meant to acquire such skills as surveying, architecture, building technology, mason, block moulding, and such other skills as fabrication of various machines, painting and production of paints as well as auto-mechanic.

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“With all this knowledge, all gigantic buildings in this college, including three four-storey building hostels, a seven-floor hotel and other magnificent edifices that grace the town here were designed and constructed by our students without buying any materials. The only materials we buy are cement, rods, wire cables and roofing sheets. This is because we don’t produce them.

“For me, this approach is meant to help preachers develop a well-rounded skill that will enable them to serve their communities in a more holistic way.

“It also helps them understand the value of hard work, self-sufficiency, and stewardship, which are important principles in both religious and secular contexts”, he said.

Dr. Ukoha therefore called on the governments at various levels to replicate what the college is doing by changing education curriculum to something more practical.

“If the government will reinvest in these youths, you will see that you are not wasting your money. If it is done sincerely with this kind of programme, you will find out that most of the problems in this country will be gone for good.

“But, the government is always spending hundreds of billions in making sure that the youths are empowered. For me, it’s like planting crops without clearing the grass. It can’t germinate. The characters are like the grass that has not been cleared. It will choke up any money invested.

“The kind of education we have here in Nigeria cannot realise the nation’s industrial quest. The education we have here in the country is a borrowed one, mostly theoretical. It has expired. Our graduates have certificates, looking for jobs.

“I don’t see why a university of agriculture cannot produce rice, garri and other crops in commercial quantities. I don’t see why a department of civil engineering in any university cannot take up construction of any road or building within such institution’s premises rather than hiring people from outside,” he said.