The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) is pushing for a review of the Senior Secondary School curriculum.
Speaking recently at a one-day stakeholders’ dialogue organized for educational stakeholders in the North-West zone of the country, Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, said a national dialogue focusing on the review is ongoing.
Junaidu, who was represented by the Director, Curriculum Development Centre, NERDC, Dr Garba Gandu, said that the one-day dialogue in Kano was part of the conversation on review of senior secondary education curriculum going on in the north-west zone,
Junaidu stressed the need to restructure, realign and revise the present curriculum which was introduced in 2011 to meet the current global developmental challenge.
“Ten years after the introduction of the current senior secondary education curriculum (SSE), you will agree with me that times have changed.
”The world has moved on; new ideas have been created; knowledge has advanced; new goals have been set; new skills have emerged and new technologies have been developed.
“It is the first of its kind in the history of curriculum in Nigeria and in most parts of the world.
“The dialogue, which is to be held in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, is specifically made to offer Nigerians the opportunity to participate in the curriculum development process, thus making it a people-oriented national document.
“Our goal is to create the future we desire as a people.
“The current senior secondary education curriculum was introduced in 2011 after NERDC took a holistic review of school curricula, beginning from primary school”, he said, stressing that there was the need to restructure, realign and revise it.
According to Junaidu, there is the need to create opportunities for secondary school students and learners to acquire relevant entrepreneurship skills required for poverty eradication, job creation and wealth generation as well as consolidate the foundation for moral and civic values.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the states in the north-west zone present included: Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara.
The state Commissioner for Education, Mr Muhammad Salisu-Kiru, said that the current curriculum operating in schools needed to be revisited and reviewed to meet the current needs of the states and the country at large.
“The senior curriculum needs to be checked. We should look into the compatibility, with the aim of finding lasting solutions to the challenges,” the commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said.
He said that his ministry would assist and partner with NERDC to achieve its desired goals and objectives. (NAN)
