NSCIA Condemn New NERDC Education Policy

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The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has reacted to the revised Basic Education Curriculum (BEC), which is set to be implemented in the next academic session for primary and junior secondary schools across the country.

According to the Council’s Publicity Secretary, the new curriculum, if implemented, could deprive children of their right to receive adequate religious education. The Council therefore called for an immediate reversal of the policy, describing it as ill-advised and unacceptable:

“The new curriculum which relegates Islamic Studies/Christian Religious Studies (IS/CRS) to a part of a subject up to Junior Secondary School, and makes the subjects optional at the Senior Secondary level, should be reversed so that the two are made independent, core and compulsory up to the Senior Secondary level.”

According to the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), some subjects have been merged under the revised BEC in an effort to reduce the number of subjects offered by students from about 13–15 to between 6 and 10 - read summary here.

The grouping of Islamic Studies, Christian Religious Studies, Civic Education, Social Studies and Security Education under a new subject known as Religion and National Values (RNV) has, however, generated controversy among religious and educational stakeholders.