House
of representatives has asked the ministry of education not to group
subjects like Christian religious studies (CRS) and Islamic religious
studies (IRS) under civic education.
The
revised universal basic education curriculum implemented by the
Nigerian educational research and development council (NERDC), both
subjects were grouped under civic education.
At plenary on
Tuesday, Beni Lar, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker from
Plateau state, opposed the compulsory inclusion of religious education
in the revised curriculum.
Lar charged his colleagues to look
into the issue which has sparked controversy in the country. After a
debate, the lower legislative chamber adopted the motion to ask the
ministry of education not to merge the subjects.
“The
house; notes that under the previous secondary school curriculum which
brought a lot of discontentment, civic education was not a compulsory
subject and religious education was taught as Islamic religious
knowledge and Christian religious knowledge, both of which were optional
subjects,” the order paper of the house read.“Also notes that
the federal ministry of education introduced a revised curriculum
without due consultation with parents and stakeholders and the new
nine-year basic education curriculum on religious and national values
consolidated religious education and civic education under national
values and made civic education a compulsory subject for senior
secondary certificate examinations.“Concerned that the new
curriculum which is in conflict with certain religious beliefs also
makes the teachings of those beliefs compulsory. Section 10 of the
constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 makes Nigeria a
secular state and therefore religion should be separated from national
values.”
The NERDC had launched the
revised basic education curriculum in 2014, eliciting reactions from the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of
Nigeria (PFN) and various quarters about the structure of the
curriculum.
The curriculum had grouped subjects having religious
components with civic education and called it religious and national
values.
The NERDC had also included Islamic language in the curriculum as an optional subject.