FG, centre review civic education curriculum
The Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) has, in collaboration with the development Research Project Centre (dRPC), carried out a Critique and Editorial workshop for the review of the Civic Education Curriculum for secondary schools. The Executive Secretary of NERDC, Professor Ismail Junaidu, said the existing curriculum which was developed in 2008 and distributed […]
FG, centre review civic education curriculum
The Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) has, in collaboration with the development Research Project Centre (dRPC), carried out a Critique and Editorial workshop for the review of the Civic Education Curriculum for secondary schools.
The Executive Secretary of NERDC, Professor Ismail Junaidu, said the existing curriculum which was developed in 2008 and distributed to schools for implementation in 2012, had completed the first circle and was due for revision.
He said: “Going by current trends globally and in Nigeria, there are lots of issues that need to be integrated into the existing curriculum. There is also the need to adjust some existing contents and concepts to reflect the present situation of our society.”
Prof Junaidu said civic education was concerned with the development and acquisition of skills and competencies related to social norms and values as well as taught political system and emphasized the rights, roles and duties of members of the society.
He said the key themes and topics infused into the curriculum were identified in a content selection workshop which was held between September 21 and 22, 2017 while the planning and writing workshop for the review exercise was held between October 19 and 23, 2017 adding that the third phase of the project was the “Critique and Editorial workshop.”
He said at the critique stage, participants ensured that the performance objectives “took care of lower level cognitive abilities such as explain, define, state, list etc and higher level abilities including evaluate, discuss, apply, analyse etc. They also ensured that contents led to the achievement of stated objectives and inappropriate contents were replaced with suitable ones among others.”
At the editorial state, he said, the documents were fine-tuned in terms of spelling errors and wrong use of expressions while preliminary pages of the curriculum were developed among others.
The Executive Director of dRPC, Judith-Ann Walker, said the project trained civil society organisations on a wide range of skills and topics, including fundraising for the society to function.
She said the curriculum was viewed as a significant aspect in the education system that recognised the role of civil society groups, women and youth in strengthening government capacity.
The Deputy Director General, Nigerian Law School, Bagauda, Kano, Dr Nasirdeen Usman, said teachers should be trained on the new methods of teaching required by the curriculum.
The Head of Curriculum of NERDC, Dr Garba Gandu, called on education authorities to effectively implement the revised curriculum. He recalled that in one instance, new curriculum booklets were abandoned in a government warehouse.