The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, announced that the new curriculum for primary schools will be implemented across the country starting in January 2025.
On October 9, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu, revealed that a new curriculum is in the works.
During a meeting with stakeholders in Abuja on Monday, Mamman emphasized that students in primary schools will need to learn a minimum of two skills as part of the new curriculum.
He also mentioned that private primary schools must adopt the new curriculum, assuring that an updated curriculum for secondary schools is expected to be ready by September 2025.
He said, “And the whole idea, as I said there, is that it is our position that by the time children finish school, they should have at least two skills. Students should be able to finish school with at least a minimum of two skills so that they can have a very productive life. The basis for the curriculum is the National Skills Framework, and it has been approved.
“It’s a very big project, it affects all schools in Nigeria, public and private. Whether in the public sector or private sector, all schools are going to implement it. So this is already determined. It doesn’t require anybody’s consent or any institution can depart from it.
“And then we want to use this school year to set off on this, while simultaneously the relevant agencies with the Ministry of Education work on the senior secondary school curriculum along the same line so that from September to October next year, the senior secondary school can be ready, as we are ready with this one, for implementation.
“Our projection is we should be able to conclude on this until December so that in January, schools across the country can now commence implementation. We do not expect comprehensive, full implementation from January. Because when you roll out something new, there’s a lot of preparation that has to take place by the schools, acquiring new things, equipment, you know, small, small things that they will need.”
The minister mentioned that preparations are in progress to ensure teachers are adequately prepared for the new curriculum.
He also stated that the ministry intends to engage with private school stakeholders to discuss the effective execution of the new curriculum.
He said, “There is a need for the preparation of the classrooms and teachers’ development. We are also working on teachers’ support and development for them to be able to implement this. So we want to use the next three months for all these three stages.
“We’ll also do a national stakeholders engagement on publicity, particularly with the private schools. So that’s part of what we will be doing. And then teachers’ capacity, which is going to be ready to meet.”
Highlighting one of the advantages of the curriculum, the minister stated that it would reignite the interest of both parents and students in pursuing formal education.
He said, “Some parents do not want to send their children to school. Right now, part of the problem why schooling has become unattractive is because people finish and there’s no change in their lives.
“They cannot be employed. They can’t do anything on their own. So parents question the value of why they are spending money to send their children to school.
“Now it’s going to change that game altogether. And we have seen how these things resonate with parents. When they are successfully implemented, you will see students will want to run to school every morning. Parents want to take their children to school because they are learning practical things while in school.”
The Director of the Curriculum Development Centre at the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council stated that all attempts to establish a new curriculum over the past 12 years have been unsuccessful.
He said, “It’s a very happy moment for Nigeria and for all of us. Because this is something that we’ve been wanting to have for the past 12 years. This will help train our children to be skill-oriented and to have the requisite kind of skills and training that’s globally competitive. And I bet to say that this curriculum will be among the best in Africa.
“It is also aligned with the STEM initiative. That is science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics and the disruptive technology aspect of it in terms of digital literacy has been captured greatly here. Which means then that our children are part and parcel of it.”
