Educational bosses dismiss rumours Christian religious studies has been abolished nationally

NIGERIA'S Educational Research and Development Council (Nerdc) has debunked rumours that Christian religious knowledge (CRK) has been removed from nations schools’ curriculum and replaced with Islamic Arabic Studies.

Over the last week, it was widely reported that Nerdc officials has instructed school to stop teaching CRK and replace it with an Islamic Arabic studies/French combination. Coming at a time of heightened ethnic tension in the country, the news spread like wildfire and fuelled rumours about there being a plan to Islamise the country.

Nerdc executive secretary, Professor Ismail Junaidu, said the Basic Education Curriculum which includes the CRK and Islamic studies was approved in 2013 by the National Council on Education. He added that the National Council on Education, as the apex policy making body in education in Nigeria, is made up of all the 36 states’ commissioners of education and chaired by the education minister.

Professor Junaidu said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the last review of the curriculum was approved in 2013 and implementation commenced in September 2014. In both instances, neither the Christian Religious Knowledge nor Islamic Studies was removed from the curriculum.

“In fact, at the commencement of the present administration, the minister of education sought and obtained the approval of the National Council on Education to make Christian Religious Knowledge compulsory for all Christian students and Islamic Studies compulsory for their Muslim counterparts. Claims peddled on social media platforms and a national daily are speculative, false and unfounded, specifically as regards the Religion and National Values Curriculum."

According to Professor Junaidu, the Nerdc management reiterates categorically that the subject offerings under the Religion and National Values Curriculum are distinct and taught separately on the time table. These include civic education, social studies, Christian religious knowledge, Islamic studies and security education.
 

“In this curriculum, no child should be coerced or compelled to learn or be taught in school any religious studies relating to the belief system professed by the child and his/her parents. CRK is still taught in schools as a separate distinct subject with the accompanying teachers’ guide and there is no subject in the Nigerian School Curriculum called Islamic Arabic Studies nor anywhere in the world as being speculated," Professor Junaidu added.