12 years after, Nigerian govt to reintroduce History in schools

The Federal Government has commenced plans to reintroduce History in the Basic Education curriculum about 12 years after it was removed.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who disclosed this at an event on Thursday in Abuja, said 3,700 History teachers had been shortlisted for the first round of training ahead of the reintroduction of the subject in schools. 

History was removed from the school curriculum during the 2009/2010 session.

The plan for its reintroduction was first announced in 2018.

But the implementation was put forward by the government.

Adamu, who was represented at the event by the Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah, expressed regret at the removal of the subject from the education curriculum.

READ ALSO: Buhari revokes Obasanjo’s policy, returns history to schools’ curriculum

He said: “History used to be one of the foundational subjects taught in our classrooms, but for some inexplicable reasons, the steam of teaching and learning was abolished.

“As a result, History was subsequently expunged from the list of subject combinations our students could offer in both external and internal examinations, compared to the subjects that were made compulsory at basic and secondary levels in Nigeria.

“This single act, no doubt, relegated and eroded the knowledge and information that learners could otherwise have been exposed to. It was a monumental mistake and we have already started seeing its negative consequences.

“The loss created by the absence of this subject has led to a fall in moral values, erosion of civic values, and disconnect from the past.

“More worrisome was the neglect of the teaching of this subject at basic and post-basic levels of education, which invariably eroded the knowledge of the evolution of Nigeria as a country.”

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