The Federal Ministry of Education has announced that a new curriculum for basic education will be introduced in January 2025, with the curriculum for senior secondary education set to follow in September 2025. This was revealed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, during a stakeholders' meeting in Abuja on October 14, 2024.
According to Prof. Mamman, the revamped curriculum will emphasize skills acquisition, aimed at equipping students with the necessary tools for life in the 21st century. The minister highlighted that the curriculum would introduce practical skills across both basic and secondary education, with the objective of providing students with at least two life-sustaining skills by the time they complete their education.
"In the last year, we have worked with stakeholders to develop a skills framework that will inject practical skills from the latter part of basic education to secondary education. By the time children finish, they should have a minimum of two skills to lead productive lives," Mamman said.
The meeting was also an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the details and finalize aspects of the curriculum, setting a timeline for its implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Addressing questions about the similarities between the new curriculum and the previous 6:3:3:4 system, which also aimed to integrate skills acquisition, the minister explained that the major issue in the past was the lack of proper implementation.
"The 6:3:3:4 system was designed with the idea that students would acquire skills by the end of basic education, but we deviated from it. The new curriculum is intended to correct this by ensuring full implementation," Mamman noted.
Dr. Garba Gandu, Director of Curriculum at the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), explained that the new curriculum is competency-based and digitally focused, aligning with modern Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) teaching methods.
The curriculum will include 15 newly introduced trade subjects for basic education, such as information technology, vocational entrepreneurship skills, and practical fields like building and construction, plumbing, tiling, hair styling, garment making, and even GSM and CCTV installation and maintenance, among others. These skills are expected to prepare students for a more practical and productive future.
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