After Outcry, FG Orders Reintroduction of History in Schools

Paul Obi in Abuja
Following the outcry that trailed the suspension of History as a taught subject in schools nationwide, the federal government on Thursday reinstated it across basic schools in the country.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who called for the disarticulation of Social Studies in the current curriculum of basic schools and reintroduction of History as a subject, said this had become imperative given the critical nature of History to the nation’s socio-political development.

The minister made the statement in Abuja yesterday while addressing delegates at the 61st meeting of the National Council on Education Ministerial Session.

The minister also urged the council to consider making the study of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) compulsory for Christians and Muslims to the end of Senior Secondary School.

Adamu said the reintroduction of History as a subject would give the Nigerian child a self-identity of who they really are.

He added that Nigeria owes present and future generations the responsibility of removing all inhibitions against opportunities of acquiring morals and ethics as taught in religious traditions.

“It is only the study of history, our own history, that can explain and give meaning to our very humanity and that is why we must study it and teach our little ones. And it is also not enough that they merely know who they are, we must teach them about their God.

“Since it is said that if you want to destroy any nation, it is said that first the family must be destroyed, then education is destroyed, and the third are social morals that are destroyed, so in Nigeria we owe both present and future generations the responsibility of removing all inhibitions against making our children acquire morals and ethics,” he said.

At the council’s meeting, the minister also launched the National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP) and the National Quality Assurance Policy (NPEQ).

According to the minister, NPEQ is an assurance system for institutions below tertiary level and expected standards of practice in Nigeria while NTEP identifies the pivotal role of qualified teachers in the provision of quality education at all levels.

“The objective is to produce highly skilled knowledgeable and creative teachers who are capable of producing globally competitive students. The policy also seeks to ensure that teachers are recruited, trained and re-trained based on explicit standards,” he said.

On the school feeding programme and the recruitment of 500,000 teachers nationwide, the Chairman, House Committee on Basic Education, Zakari Muhammed, at the meeting expressed concern over the programmes, saying that legislators might face challenges with programme monitoring and evaluation, as they are not directly domiciled under the Federal Ministry of Education.

The Deputy Governor of Kano State, Shamzu Abubakar, who also doubles as the Commissioner for Science and Technology in the state, called on the federal government to channel all resources to the grassroots across the state and local governments.

He also called on the federal government to concentrate more on monitoring and evaluation to ensure adequate review of the developmental strategic plan.