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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Lagos State Government has ordered the reintroduction of History as “a stand-alone subject” into the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in the state.
According to a memo addressed to private school owners and signed by the Director of Research at the Office of Education Quality Assurance of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Pelumi E.I, the new development is in line with the directives from the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
The memo added that the subject has been re-introduced in the national curriculum and the current Lagos State Unified Schemes of Work for primary and junior secondary schools.
The government said the subject is compulsory for both primary and junior secondary classes but elective for senior secondary classes.
“I have the directive of the OG (OEQA) to inform you that the teaching of History as a stand alone subject is back to schools.
“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,” the memo read .
History, for some years, has been excluded in the curriculum of many primary and secondary schools.
In 2018, the Federal Government ordered the nationwide re-introduction of history as an independent subject in the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in the country.