The Nigerian government has begun training 3,700 history teachers as part of a process to reintroduce the subject into the country’s basic education curriculum.
History as a subject was dropped from the Nigerian education curriculum in the 2009/2010 academic session. But the development was met with criticism that continued until 2018 when the Minister of Education, adamu adamuordered its reintroduction into the curriculum of basic and secondary education.
Mr. Adamu stated that the National Council of Education had approved the reintroduction of history as a separate topic at the 61st ministerial session in September 2016.
Therefore, the minister tasked the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) with separating history from the social studies curriculum into a separate subject.
Four years after the directive, Minister of State for Education Goodluck Opiah on Thursday marked the reintroduction and start of history teacher training in Abuja.
He said that the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has the task of conducting refresher courses for the 3,700 teachers, 100 from each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Mr. Opiah, who represented Mr. Adamu at the opening ceremony, noted that the decision to reintroduce the subject is part of attempts to modernize the education sector.
According to a statement from his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Kelechi Mejuobi, Mr. Opiah said that the teacher training was to improve their mastery of the subject and provide them with the necessary skills, technique and methodology to teach the subject. . .
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He affirmed that the return of History to the level of basic education would help the next generations to discover the historical evolution of their homeland, making them aware of how to avoid repeating the mistakes and failures of the past.
He also insisted on the need to exploit the lost original African tradition of storytelling to teach values, morality, folklore.
He said: “The story underlies the approach and methods put in place to address our current challenges, especially with insecurity. Naturally, we would use historical narratives with the application of experience resulting from the causes of events to solutions through the use of local solutions.
“This typically focuses on our ethnic heritage, cultural host, and multicultural influences within our unique communities that stem from our common origins.
“Such entrenched teaching and learning provide an opportunity to appreciate antecedents that exalt the great deeds of our past heroes, their sacrifices and contributions to create the foundations of an indivisible nation. By doing this, we remember and celebrate monumental achievements, memorable dates, events, names and every event of historical significance.”
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter for Premium Times in partnership with report to the worldconnecting local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on 1 topics covered around the world
