Introduction to the Two New Subjects Every Good School in Nigeria Must Teach Starting September
It is almost the end of the current 2020/2021 academic session. And many schools are far into the preparation for a new, 2021/2022 academic session. A key question to consider in the preparation is what they should or not do in order for the session to be successful – or more successful than the current session. Success within academic environment has many implications – each for the various stakeholders.
Implication of Successful Academic Session
The most important, on which others hinges; is the implication of a successful session from the context of the learners. To these, and based on modern norm; excellent grades alone does not define a successful academic year. Instead, successful academic year also means one in which learners acquire contents that are relevant for survival in the present daily living; and the future.
This is why among the things that every good school in Nigeria must do for greater success starting September, is to teach these two subjects. As a matter of fact, many schools already teach these subjects.
What You Must Understand About This
If you are a parent, and your child’s school did not teach these two subjects by September; it means that something is amiss. And if so, you owe it to your child’s better education today and greater chances of survival in future; to demand the school to do the needful.
If you are a school administrator or owner, you must understand that this is not just a matter of another replaceable subjects. Instead, it is a question of the children’s wholesome development and survival in later years.
In this post, I outline the two new subjects that every school must introduce in September; and the reason for that.
The Reason for the Two New Subjects
Why do we need extra subjects? Are the ones we have not already many? Indeed, existing subjects in Nigerian schools are enough. This is particularly so in private schools – where some invent, split and rename subjects so as to look superior, modern or to impress parents.
The official subject listings in the national curriculum; and in government schools; are not as many as to invalidate the importance of the two new subjects. Certainly, a good number of private schools that understand the overwhelming importance of these two subjects have long began teaching them; some, since 2019. As a private school administrator, I ensured the immediate introduction of the subjects as soon as the national curriculum/Scheme of Work became available.
Also, it is pertinent to note that one of the reasons why other schools have not yet is because they were unaware of their existence – since our governmental education agencies are naturally poor at implementation and supervision of policies.
Why are the Two New Subjects Important?
That being said, let’s look at why the two new subjects are important. The major reason why the two new subjects are important is the inclusion of recent issues that are national and global concerns.
The Concerns
Except to one that is alien to this planet or to babes, one needs not introduce an adult to the fading bonds which binds our shared humanity in the modern world. Even more so within the Nigerian society.
In what one may liken to be another proof of Emerson’s Law of Compensation; the world is seeing almost as many new challenges as it is achieving new developments. And all of these are creating new histories. This, different people(s) are telling in ways diverse enough to efface the old, our shared origin and the last record of our true humanity.
This is because as the bond of society is break, the society goes into pieces; and every one twist and/or tell the history in the way that preserves his/her piece. Already, there are too many variations of our history that it is now becoming increasingly difficult to tell which is, and which is not true.
What We Must Do
Education remains the soul of the society, its compass. To navigate through the new and arising national and global challenges; we need to gather the bits and pieces of the various versions of our histories into a centre reservoir of national heritage that will represent unbreakable tie, knotting our society together.
This is the position of the learned members of the national education council when they ratified the inclusion of the two new subjects in the subject listing in 2011, 2013, 2016 & 2017.
Yet, 4 years later; we are yet to see the widespread introduction of the subjects across our schools. Once, again a handful have. Hence, I will now go ahead and mention the two new subjects that every good school in Nigeria must teach starting September.
What are the Two New Subjects Every Good School in Nigeria Must Teach Starting September?
The two new subjects are:
- History for Primary and Junior Secondary Schools
- Security Education for Primary and Junior Secondary Schools
In subsequent posts, I will give a review of the content of these subjects as the national curriculum outline. However, let me briefly say a word or two on Security Education.
Security Education
The beauty of education is that it prepares one ahead of eventualities. One could say that the NERDC foresaw the current incessant security challenges about 10 years; when it drafted the Revised 9-Year BEC.
Security challenges is perhaps the greatest nightmare that parents now wake up to face as they send their children off to school every morning. From individual adoption to mass kidnapping of pupils and students. Even within the school environment and at home, there are many security threats – including molestation, rape and food poisoning among others.
Now schools and parents have to adopt security measures and improvise what to teach their children in case of the occurrence of any of these – what to do, how to react/behave.
Many are unaware that all these are part of the national curriculum on Security Education. And that NERDC structured the content according to the age of the learners; such that they are better equipped to handle themselves as much as possible before help comes in the event of any of these ugly occurrences.
Hopefully, you are better informed of the two subjects now. And I will discuss even more in the next posts. However, if you are a school owner, administrator, teacher or parent; and you have decided to start teaching your young scholars Nigerian History and Security Education but you do not have the official scheme of work; please click here to download it from our store on paystack. You can use the search box there to search for related materials.