Lagos reintroduces history in schools’ curriculum

The Lagos government has made mandatory the studying of history across primary and junior secondary schools in the state.

The state ministry of education, in a statement seen by TheCable Lifestyle on Saturday, said that the subject is to be offered as an elective in senior secondary schools.

It said its latest move is in line with directives from the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC).

“I have the directive of the OG (OEQA) to inform you that the teaching of History as a standalone subject is back to schools,” the ministry’s statement read in part.

“The subject has been re-introduced in the national curriculum and in the current Lagos state unified schemes of work for primary and junior secondary schools.

“You are to note that while the subject (History) is compulsory for both primary and junior secondary school classes, it is an elective subject in the senior secondary school.

“To this end, I am further directed to inform you that the subject should be taught in primaries 1 and 2 and JSS 1 and 2 classes in the 2022/2023 academic session.”

History, for some years, has been mostly excluded in the curriculum of many primary and secondary schools.

In many cases, a few historical topics are taught without much depth as part of social studies.

In 2018, the federal government ordered the nationwide reintroduction of history as an independent subject in the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in the country.

Adamu Adamu, minister of education, had stated that the NERDC would carry out the disarticulation of history from social studies curriculum.

He had said the new curriculum would be designed to expose students to a body of knowledge that would enable them to appreciate history as an instrument of national integration and nation building.