Adamu wants religious studies, history made compulsory in Nigerian schools

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, on Thursday in Abuja urged delegates to the National Council of Education (NCE) to consider making the study of religion compulsory for all students.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Agidike Onu, Information Officer of the ministry, in Abuja on Thursday. Adamu, who spoke at the 61st Ministerial Session of NCE, said school children should learn religion at least up to the end of senior secondary education.
According to him, such studies will make school children acquire moral and ethics as taught in our religious traditions.

“I urge you to consider making the study of Christian Religious Knowledge compulsory for Christian students and the study of Islamic Religious Knowledge compulsory for Muslim students.
“There is nothing we can give them than to give them character, teach them about their God – the source of all values on which life and peaceful coexistence depends.”
The minister advocated the disarticulation of social studies in the current curriculum and re-introduction of History as a subject.
Adamu said that leaders in the education sector committed “a mistake” by removing history.

“How can we know who we are when we do not know who we are not?
“How can we know what to make of our society when we don’t know how our society is made up?
“How can we hope to make sense of the world when we don’t know our place in it?”
Adamu reiterated the strategic position of the teacher in the achievement of any meaningful progress in education development.
The minister added that conscious efforts were being made by the government on teacher development.
He maintained that providing all other learning facilities and environment without the right quality teacher to drive teaching would amount to a nullity.
Adamu said that teacher development programme had been intensified in the states through the Universal Basic Education Commission.(NAN)/DAILY POST