Education: New curriculum to commence January 2025- Minister

By Mariam Abeeb

The Federal Ministry of Education has announced that the new curriculum for basic education would commence across schools in January 2025.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting on the implementation of the new curriculum Abuja.
Mamman said the curriculum for senior secondary education would also commence by September 2025.
He said the new curriculum would address problems of learning poverty at basic education as well as employability problems.
According to him, this new skills will have multiplier effect by equipping students with 21st century skills and this will eradicate out-of-school completely.
“ In the last one year, we have worked with stakeholders to develop a skills framework that will inject skills right from the later part of basic education to secondary education.
“The whole idea is that by the time children finished, they should have a minimum of two skills so that they can have a productive life,’’ he said.
The Minister said the meeting was conveyed to discuss the modality and as well tidy some aspects of the curriculum while also giving timeline for implementation, support, monitoring and evaluation.
He said that the next three months would be used for preparatory stage and also preparing teachers guide in using the curriculum.
When asked on changed with the 6:3:3:4 system of education that also infuse skills in the system, he said the problem was their ability to implement the policy.
“The major justification for what we have done has been the inability to implement the 6:3:3:4 system in its assumptions.
“The Minimum Academic Standard of 1993 shows a reason for 6:3:3:4 and the Acts outlined clearly the learning trajectory of schools in Nigeria.
“It is envisaged that by the time learners finished basic education, they would have acquired skills. 6:3:3 assumed that the system will involve a lot of practical knowledge.
“Unfortunately, we departed from it in terms of implementation of education system and everything because one and now we have a position on this,’’ he said.
The Director of Curriculum, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Dr Garba Gandu, said the new curriculum would provide prerequisite skills and training for global competitiveness.
Gandu said the curriculum is competency and digital based as it also aligned with Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and (STEAM) methods.
The new curriculum includes 15 newly introduced trade subjects for basic education.
The subjects are Basic digital literacy such as Information Technology, Vocational Entrepreneurship Skills such as Building and construction including Plumbing and Tiling.(NAN)