THE RETURN OF HISTORY IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

THE RETURN OF HISTORY IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

                         By:

               Nurudeen Dauda 

                June 21, 2019

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Permit me to congratulate Nigerians for the re-introduction of History as a stand-alone subject in our secondary schools . The Federal Government has today being the 21st of June, 2019 directed all basic and secondary schools across the country to immediately implement the teaching of history as a stand-alone subject from the next academic calendar (September , 2019).

Mr Sonny Echono, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education made this known on in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja dated 21/06/19. It may be recalled that the immediate past Minister of education, Mal. Adamu Adamu spearheaded the successful launched of a new curriculum for History subject as stand-alone subject in the federal government's attempt to reintroduce History while in office sometimes in March, 2018. 

History as a subject in our secondary schools used to be a stand-alone subject before its merger with civic education and or other subjects in 2009. The policy/decision to remove "History" from the curriculum of Secondary schools in Nigeria effective from 2009/2010 academic session was a terrible mistake. It was indeed! What a decade mistake! What a National tragedy! Imagine people without a sense of History! It was deeply pained then.

Permit me to say,  I could not agree more with the immediate past Minister of education Mal. Adamu Adamu when he once said: "the importance of history to nation building, national identity, patriotism and overall human development could not be overemphasised " ( Daily Trust, March 28, 2018). The minister had equally once said: " the removal of History was a mistake and that it is part of greatness to correct the mistake"... somebody who does not know his History is even worse than a dead".

Before the scrapping of History as a stand-alone subject it was offered in secondary schools as an "option" at senior secondary school level across the country . However, the return of History as a stand-alone subject in our secondary schools is a welcome development. In my suggestion, the subject this time around should not longer be optional as it used to be in the past , but it should be made a"COMPULSORY" subject at both primary  and secondary school levels. 

"The value of history is, indeed, not scientific but moral: by liberalizing the mind, by deepening the sympathies, by fortifying the will, it enables us to control, not society, but ourselves -- a much more important thing; it prepares us to live more humanely in the present and to meet rather than to foretell the

future." -(Carl Becker).

In my suggestion, our policy makers on the educational sector should design our educational system in such a way that it could tackle the problem of unemployment in the country as follows :

TECHNICAL EDUCATION:

The federal ministry of education in collaboration with all the ministries of education at the state levels should give more emphasis on technical education. Let's revive our "abandoned"  technical colleges in the country as a means of providing jobs to our teeiming youth. In the past we used to have functional technical schools in the country where skills acquisition courses ; such as: Welding, Plumbing, Woodwork, and Carpentry etc., were being imparted to our students at secondary school levels. Even if a child does not have the opportunity to further his education the talent or skills learnt enough for ones survival.

 

ENTERPRENUESHIP EDUCATION:

In my view, if Nigeria must get it right, the ministry of education should give more priority to entrepreneurship education in the country . entrepreneur education is highly needed in our National policy on education.The government should introduce entrepreneurship education in our secondary schools. However, the entrepreneurship courses being offered at the universities presently in the country should not be only taught at 300 or 200 levels. In my suggestion, it should be made compulsory at all levels not only 300 or 200 levels. There should a policy for start-ups. A grant or a soft loan scheme be introduced in order to address the issue of unemployment.

In my observation, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) should be restructured in such a way that it will be a means of imparting entrepreneurship skills to our graduates with a view of making them self employed rather than the job seekers that are. The reality is that the  government cannot provide jobs to all unemployed graduates. The government must realize that tackling the issue of unemployment will go along away in improving security.

"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of

mankind."- (Edmund Burke).

"The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present."- (G.K. Chesterton).

"History is for human self-knowledge ... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done.The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is."- (R. G.Collingwood).

May God bless Nigeria!