RECENT CURRICULUM REFORMS AT THE BASIC EDUCATION LEVEL IN NIGERIA (Onibokun Samson O.)

RECENT CURRICULUM REFORMS AT THE BASIC EDUCATION LEVEL IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme was introduced in Nigeria in September,

1988. Following this, in 2008 the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian

Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) developed and introduced the

9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) in schools by realigning all extant Primary and

Junior Secondary School Curricula to meet the key targets of the UBE programme. In view

of some contemporary and national concerns and to make the curriculum more practical,

relevant, interest generating to the young learners and in line with global best practices, the

9-year BEC was recently revised in 2012 and its implementation has just commenced in

September, 2014. This article is focused on the structure, special features and the

implementation strategy of the Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum with some

emphasis on the Basic Science and Technology component as one of the key cluster

subjects prepared with the aim of catching the young learner to love science, learn science

and create change in the learners environment.

Keywords: education, curriculum, science, technology and structure

Onibokun Samson O.. "Recent Curriculum Reforms at the Basic Education Level in Nigeria

Aimed at Catching Them Young to Create Change."

1. Introduction
The world today is undergoing major transformations. The global transformations are
multidimensional, affecting the technological, economic, social, cultural and political
development of human communities particularly those of developing societies like Nigeria.
Education in the generic and global context is a strategic instrument for social and
economic transformation. The focus of education system all over the world is the
development of the human capital required to meet present and future challenges of
globalization and knowledge economy (Dike, 2004). Consequently, the Second
International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education held in Seoul, Korea
identified challenges that would inform changes in education worldwide as:
• Population growth and rapid urbanization;
• Poverty and lack of skills for income generation; and
• Low participation rate in technical and vocational education (Obioma, 2011).
Hence the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)
recognizes that Nigeria’s economy could only be transformed and sustained through
education that empowers the people and assures the technological development of the
country. No wonder education is a foundational component of Nigeria Transformation
Agenda and Vision 2020. Hence between 2008 and now, the country has witnessed two
major curriculum reform initiatives at the Basic Education level, namely:
1. The 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) (September 2008- August 2014); and
2. The Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (September 2014 –Present).


2. Aim

The purpose of this article is to review the philosophy and structure of both the 9-Year
Basic Education Curriculum and the revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum in Nigeria
with particular emphasis on the features of the Basic Science and Technolog yCurriculum
intended to make the young learners create change in their learning environment. Based
on the review, further recommendations are made.
The 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) (September 2008- August 2014)
Following the decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to introduce the Universal
Basic Education (UBE) programme in September 1988, the Nigerian Educational Research
and Development Council (NERDC) re-structured and re-aligned all extant primary and
Junior Secondary School (JSS) curricula into 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum for
implementation in Nigerian schools with effect from September, 2008.
The 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum emphasizes value re-orientation, poverty
eradication and employment generation capabilities in learners. In these curriculum reform
initiatives, science, technology, mathematics, and vocational education and training are
specifically designed to provide the contents, learning experiences and skills for the
socio-economic transformation of the Nigerian nation.


3. Procedure

Using available sources and literature, this article identified the philosophy and structure of
the 9- Year and the Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curricula in Nigeria categorized into
Lower Basic
(Primaries 1-3), Middle Basic (Primaries 4-6) and Upper Basic (Junior Secondaries 1-3), the
basic features of the Revised Basic Education Curriculum, the structure, objectives and
features of the Basic Science and Technology Curriculum and the implementation
strategies of the curricula.

3.1. The Structure of the 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum
The structure of the 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum was such that subject offerings
ranged between ten and sixteen from Primary I to JSS III and almost every subject was a
stand- alone subject (see Table 1).
For example, Basic Science, Basic Technology, Physical & Health Education, Computer
Studies/ICT, Christian Religious Studies/Islamic Studies, Civic Education, Home
Economics, Agricultural Science, and
Business Studies were all separate subjects (FME, 2008).

Table 1. The Structure of the 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum
The 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum was particularly developed for the attainment of
the Education for All (EFA) goals, the critical targets of the National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS), and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). It was developed in response to Nigeria’s need for relevant, dynamic and
globally competitive education that would ensure that learners at the Basic Education level
are capable to compete favourably anywhere in the world in terms of knowledge, skills,
techniques, values and aptitude.
Thus the 9-Year BEC addressed among other things, the issue of value re-orientation,
poverty eradication, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and life skills. Implementation of the
9-Year BEC commenced nationwide, in Primary 1 and JSS 1 classes in September, 2008,
while the old curriculum (the 6-3-3-4 Curriculum) was systematically being phased out.
The first batch of JSS students graduated in June, 2011 after writing the Basic Education
Certificate Examination(BECE). By September, 2014, the cohort of pupils that benefited
from the use of BEC at the primary school level entered class one of the Junior Secondary
School.

3.2. The Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (September, 2014 –Present)
Nevertheless, the school curriculum is a dynamic and open document that is constantly
changing with the needs, challenges and aspirations of the society. Thus in the light of the
feedback on the implementation of the 9-Year BEC received and the contemporary global
and national concerns, the Nigerian government revised the 9- Year BEC in 2012 in line
with global best practices as in Kenya -7 subject, Tanzania- 8 subject, United States of
America -6 subject, Malaysia and Indonesia -9 subject offerings (Obioma, 2012).
The curriculum revision process involved identification and grouping of related disciplines
such as Christian Religious Studies/ Islamic Studies, Social Studies, Civic Education, and
Security Education to create a new composite or cluster of Revised BEC subject called
Religion and National Values. Key concepts in the former curricula now form integrating
threads for organizing the contents of the new subject into a coherent whole.
Philosophy of the Revised 9-Year Basic EducationCurriculum
Every learner who has gone through the 9 years of basic education should have acquired
appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, manipulative, communicative and life skills; as
well as the ethical, moral and civic values needed for laying a solid foundation for a
life-long learning; as a basis for scientific and reflective thinking.
The Structure of the Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum

The Revised BEC comprises ten(10) subjects namely:
1. English Studies,
2. Mathematics,
3. Basic Science and Technology,
4. Religion and National Values,
5. Cultural and Creative Arts
6. Business Studies,
7. Nigerian Languages,
8. Pre-vocational Studies,
9. French,
10. Arabic
(FME,2012).

Table 2(a). Lower Basic Education Curriculum
(Primaries 1-3)

Table 2(b). Middle Basic Education Curriculum
(Primaries 4-6)

Table 2(c). Upper Basic Education Curriculum
(Juniour Secondary 1-3)

Basic Features of the Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC)
a. Core subjects are English Studies, one Nigerian Language, Mathematics, Basic Science
and Technology, Religion and National Values, Cultural and Creative Arts, Pre-Vocational
Studies, French and Business Studies.
b. Elective (optional) Subject: Arabic Language
c. French and Pre-Vocational studies are introduced in Primary 4 as core subjects. While
Business Studies is introduced as a core subject at the Junior Secondary school level.
d. Basic science and Technology, Religion and National Values and Pre-Vocational Studies
are composite subjects
e. Composite Subjects and their Compositions
i. Basic Science and Technology Themes:
• Basic science
• Basic Technology
• Physical and Health Education
• Information Technology
ii. Pre-Vocational Studies Themes:
• Agriculture
• Home economics
iii. Religion and National Values Themes:
• Religious studies (CRS)
• Islamic Studies
• Social Studies
• Civil Education
• Security Education
f. The revised curriculum pays particular attention to the teaching of reading.
Consequently, the English Studies curriculum for Primaries 1-3 is focused on the teaching
of the following reading skills: Concepts of Print, Phonological Awareness, Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension and Vocabulary Acquisition.
g. The infusion of Drug Abuse Education, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management,
Climate Change, Consumer Education and relevant elements of the National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) into relevant contents of the
curriculum.
h. Teaching and learning emphasis is on skill development: creative thinking skills,
entrepreneurial and work skills.
i. The systematic connection between Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary schools
curricula contents.
The Revised Basic Education Curriculum Levels
The original structure of the 9-Year BEC is retained. The Revised 9-Year BEC is presented
as:
• Lower Basic Education Curriculum-Primaries 1-3;
• Middle Basic Education Curriculum-Primaries 4-6;
• UpperBasic Education Curriculum-Junior Secondary, JS 1-3.

The subjects and contents flow systematically and spirally from Primary 1 to JS 3. In the
process of review, particular efforts were made to further reduce content overload,
repetition or duplications within and across subjects without compromising depth,
appropriateness, and interrelatedness of the curricula content. In addition, the curriculum
is organized to ensure continuity and flow of themes, topics and experiences from primary
school to junior secondary school levels. Since the curriculum represents the total
experiences to which all learners must be exposed, the contents, performance objectives,
activities for both teachers and learners, teaching and learning materials and evaluation
guide are provided.


4. The Basic Science and Technology Curriculum (BSTC)

Here, it is of interest to examine the rationale, objectives and structure of the Basic Science
and Technology Curriculum as a typical case of a composite or cluster subject in the
Revised 9-Year BEC. The BSTC (revised, 2012) is a product of the restructuring and
integration of four Primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) BEC, namely: Basic
Science, Basic Technology, Physical and Health Education, and Computer Science/
Information Technology (IT). The integration of these science curricula became necessary
for the following reasons:

1. Recommendations of the Presidential Summit on Education (2010) to reduce the
number of subjects offered in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools;
2. Feedback from the implementation of the curricula in schools that identified repetition
and duplication of concepts as the major cause of curriculum overload;
3. Need to encourage innovative teaching and learning approaches and techniques that
promote creativity and critical thinking in learners;
4. Need to promote the holistic view of science at the Basic Education level for better
understanding of contemporary and changing world; and
5. Need to infuse emergent issues that are of national and global concern such as gender
sensitivity, globalization, disaster risk reduction, consumer education, climate change and
entrepreneurship.


4.1. The Objectives of Basic Science and Technology Curriculum
The Basic Science and Technology Curriculum, BSTC (Revised: 2012) is expected to
enable the learners:
Develop interest in Science and Technology;
• Acquire basic knowledge and skills in science and technology;
• Apply scientific and technological knowledge and skills to meet contemporary societal
needs;
• Take advantage of the numerous career opportunities provided by science and
technology;
• Become prepared for further studies in science and technology;
• Avoid drug abuse and related vices;
• Be safety and security conscious.


4.2. The Structure of the Basic Science and Technology Curriculum
The thematic approach to content organization was adopted in developing the BSTC in
order to achieve a holistic presentation of scientific and technological concepts and skills
to learners. The themes and sub-themes that formed the integrating threads for the Basic
Science and Technology Curriculum are (FME, 2012):

Table 3. The Structure of the Basic Science and Technology Curriculum


4.3 Features of BSTC Intended to Catch Them Young and Create Change
While selecting the contents, major issues shaping contemporary growth and
development of nations, and influencing knowledge driven societies were identified and
infused into the curriculum content at every level, from primaries one through to
junior secondary classes ; with a progression in infusion of concepts as class advances.
These include, but are not limited to:
a. Environmental Education,
b. Climate Change,
c. Drug Abuse Education,
d. Foods and Drugs Safety Education, e. Disaster Risk Reduction Education,
f. Consumer Education,
g. Safety and Security,
h. Entrepreneurship,
i. HIV/AIDS

The topics in each theme are spirally sequenced, from simple to complex across the 9
(nine) years of schooling in order to sustain the interest of learners and promote
meaningful learning and skills development. In addition, the curriculum promotes guided
inquiry and activity-based teaching and learning using locally sourced materials.
Furthermore, the contents of the curriculum are enriched with real-life examples that are
not only indigenous and familiar to learners, but also engender the development of relevant
attributes and survival strategies for living successfully in contemporary and global world.
BSTC (revised 2012) provides the contents and further learning experiences that will
engender the acquisition of functional skills for job creation and wealth generation that will
lead to the reduction of poverty within the communities and the nation, at large. The
activities are both learner-centered and problem solving –centred, and encourage
student-teacher, student-student interaction, working in groups or pairs and student
interaction with resource materials.


5. Implementation Strategy of the Revised 9-Year BEC

Dike (2014) remarked that it is not enough to produce curriculum, it is even more important
to put in place machinery that will ensure that its ideals are realizable through effective
classroom practices. For instance, eventhough the implementation of the Revised 9-Year
BEC has just commenced systematically in Primary 1 and JSS 1, it is known (Abakpa,
2013; Akpan, 2012; Okpala, 2011) that the structures and appropriate activities that foster
effective implementation of the curriculum are either inadequate or lacking in Nigerian
schools. Foremost among the myriad of challenges of Basic Education in Nigeria are the
issues of teacher quality and development, lack of enough specialist teachers; dearth of
relevant support materials for teachers and inadequate supervision and mentoring of
teachers. Thus, to realize the ideals of the 9-Year BEC, relevant support materials that will
aid the effective delivery of the curricula content in schools are being provided. Such
materials include computers, functional laboratories, learner- centred textual materials
prepared by NERDC and some publishers to generate learners’ interest and challenge
them in innovative and creative thinking. Basic Education teachers are also being trained
and retrained in their subject areas on continuous basis, and resources are being provided
for the acquisition of consumables and non-consumable items required for teaching and
learning of the curriculum contents.
Further to these, the Federal Government of Nigeria through NERDC has produced very
detailed teachers guides in each of the ten subjects for effective implementation of the
Revised 9-Year BEC. The teachers guide in each subject covers the following seven (7)
units on how to:

• Understand the revised curriculum;
• Break the curriculum into syllabus, scheme of work, unit of work and lesson plan;
• Plan lesson using Modern Teaching Approaches;
• Teach topics and concepts that learners find difficult to learn;
• Find, access and develop resources for teaching; and
• Assess learners in each subject area. Specific innovative classroom practices
illustrated in the teachers guides include:
• Purposive learner-learner; teacher-learner and school-school collaborations;
• Deployment of ICT and other technologies to support learning;
• Quality interactions (learner-learner, learner- teacher, learner-resource material
interactions) taking place in the classroom;
• Issues arising from the learners environment as the focus of teaching and learning
activities. In addition, series of national workshops using interactive and activity –based
approaches have been organized to train the teachers in the use of the teachers guides for
effective delivery of the contents of the Revised 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum in the
ten subject areas. These measures are being taken to ensure effective delivery of the
curriculum and hence make the young learners ultimately create change in their
environment.


6. Further Recommendations:
In addition to the implementation strategies discussed above, workshops, in-service
training and short courses should be designed to train teachers on how to bring science to
the learner as fun, utilizing low- cost materials in the immediate environment of the learner.
Such teachers should also be trained on how to integrate information and communication
technologies (ICT’s) into pedagogy. These measures will help catch the attention of young
learners and hence increase their capacity to create change in their environment.


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