History as an academic subject has found its way back into the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in Lagos State.
The state’s Ministry of Education said in a statement on Saturday that the subject is to be offered as an elective in senior secondary schools.
The statement read that the Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, (OEQA) at the state’s Ministry of Education, Abiola Seriki, announced that teaching history as a stand-alone subject will be back in schools in the state.
The return of the subject is in line with a directive from the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC).
A memo has been addressed to owners and heads of private schools in Lagos State, informing them of the addition to the school curriculum.
The subject will be taught in primaries 1 and 2 and JSS 1 and 2 classes in the 2022/2023 academic session.
Expunged from Curriculum in 2009
History was a subject in Nigerian primary and secondary schools until it was removed from the curriculum in 2009.
That was when the Nigerian government launched the New Basic Education Curriculum for primary and junior secondary schools.
Criticism followed the decision and in 2017, the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) announced it would reintroduce the subject from the 2018/2019 academic session.
The National Council on Education (NCE) approved a new curriculum for teaching the subject at its 63rd meeting in June 2017, and the federal government ratified the curriculum in 2018.
