KANO (Education Ministry’ Report)- The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu has reiterated that the controversy on curriculum review regarding alleged removal of the Christian Religion Knowledge ( CRK) is very unnecessary, diversionary and painful.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Ministerial session of the 62nd National Council of Education (NCE) in Kano, Malam Adamu Adamu stressed that immediately on assumption of office as minister, he made a case that the two religions should be taught separately and also placed among the core and compulsory subjects up to end of secondary education level.
The Minister recalled his address at the 61st National Council of Education, where he dwelt on the need and necessity for promoting religious moral studies at the basic level.
He said: “This is something that we Nigerians must never forget. We owe a very heavy responsibility to present and future generations to remove all inhibitions against making our children acquire morals and ethics as taught in our religious traditions. I urge you to continue making the study of Christian Religious Knowledge compulsory for Christian students and the study of Islamic Religious Knowledge compulsory for Muslim students at least up to the end of senior secondary school. There is nothing we can do to them than give them character.”
Speaking further, the minister said that the National Council on Education agreed with him as can be seen in its communiqué read publicly at the end of the 2016 conference at Sheraton Hotel Abuja on September 30th, 2016 where it resolved in paragraph (e iii) of that communiqué. “that Christian Religious Studies (CRS and Islamic Studies (IS) becomes core and compulsory for all Christians and Muslim learners respectively from basic to senior secondary school level.”
The Minister urged the general public to disregard the false information being peddled on the issue, stressing that the two subjects are taught separately.
He assured that government would pursue vigorously, the issue of inclusive and lifelong learning which by implication is addressing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 and the Theme of the 2017 National Council, on Education. This is even as he advised the state governments to endeavour to access their counterpart fund with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Mallam Adamu Adamu commended the Kano State government for accepting to host the 2017 NCE as well as the governments of Anambra and Edo states for hosting the preparatory meetings prior to the NCE meeting.
The Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in his address to the meeting read by the Deputy Governor and Commissioner for Education, Prof.Hafiz Abubakar reviewed the many steps being taken by the government to tackle education challenges.
According to him, out the sum of 217.9billion naira which is total approved budget for Kano State for 2017 fiscal year, education sector was apportioned 50.1billion, representing 23.1% which indicates the seriousness attached to the sector.
He further stated that the state does not owe its teachers any arrears of salary, adding that five years backlog of promotion for teachers in the state have also been cleared and their accruing increment paid already. In the same vein, he said that the state does not have any un-accessed fund with UBEC.
