NIGERIANS well apprised of the state of Nigeria’s education sector would not have been shocked at the recent verdict of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on the country’s educational curriculum. Calling for a review of Nigeria’s educational curriculum to meet present-day realities, the global agency declared that the present curriculum was overloaded and outdated. Speaking at a capacity development training workshop for officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja on Tuesday, the UNESCO director of the International Bureau of Education (IBE), Ydo Yao, said that to address the education crisis, there was a need for action, namely making the curriculum relevant to ensure quality in education and for values, knowledge and skills to thrive.
According to Yao, the curriculum as a central and irreplaceable component of any educational policy is pivotal in transforming education. His words: “You know, we say that curriculum is to education what a constitution is to a democracy. It means that the curriculum is the heart of education. So, when you talk about education, you are talking about content, programmes and learning. So, if you want to transform education and you don’t transform what is at the core of it, which is the learning, content and the programmes, your transformation has no meaning.” The UNESCO official described the Nigerian curriculum as being unreflective of present-day developments, adding that the training was put in place to strengthen the capacities of specialists and officials in the ministry on eight thematic modules.
On his part, the Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah, said that the ministry was already taking steps to rejig the curriculum. He said: “We recognise the fundamental role of the curriculum in the drive for the attainment of globally agreed goals and country-specific aspirations. It remains the singular instrument capable of transforming the human capital base of a nation for effective contribution to nation-building and development. Thus, in setting our education targets as articulated in the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) (2019 to 2022) for the education sector, curriculum and policy matters were identified and prioritised.”
To all intents and purposes, the UNESCO verdict on the Nigerian school curriculum is a call for sober reflections on Nigerian education. It is constructive criticism directed at policymakers and all those who are engaged in the business of managing and supervising education in Nigeria. This current situation with regard to the school curriculum is regrettable. The essence of education is defeated if it is not properly grounded on a purposive and purposeful curriculum. Indeed, because education is expected to reflect the changing circumstances of the society, the curriculum ought to be updated as necessity arises in order to make it relevant to changing needs. In any case, if in human affairs, not just in education, change is constant, it follows that periodic curriculum review to deliver on national goals is crucially important. The curriculum should ideally reflect current development and challenges and how to surmount them. It should deliver broad-based objectives. In this regard, we call on the Ministry of Education to engage with stakeholders on the exercise so that they can make critical inputs that would transform the education curriculum and ultimately the expected learning outcomes.
We note and applaud the government’s declared prioritisation of curriculum review in the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) (2019 to 2022). That is an indication that in principle, it agrees with UNESCO. We urge it to hearken to the admonition from UNESCO by taking steps to properly review the education curriculum and ensure that processes are put in place to henceforth ensure its timely updating to meet challenges. The country should act now to effect necessary changes to make the curriculum fit for purpose going forward. It should be up to date, relevant and designed to address current and expected challenges. That is the only way to ensure that education retains its crucial role in the development processes in the country.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then