Concerns As History Lessons Drop In Secondary Schools

"WITHOUT HISTORY IS NO NATION, WITH A NATION, THERE IS A HISTORY" - Aunty Debby.

Commenting on the concerns as history lessons drop in schools, a former Head of Department, Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Prof. Femi Akinwunmi, said neglecting the study of history was tantamount to taking 10 steps backwards.

He noted, ‘‘History teaches morals. In the past, we used to be taught morals on the assembly grounds in the primary and secondary schools. History explains and defines the past and gives direction to the present and the future. Pupils used to rush to history classes because it is an interesting subject. It helps people to compare their ways to others. ’’

Chairman, National Union of Teachers, Lagos State branch, Mr. Adesegun Raheem, explained that youths were integrated into the society based on their knowledge of their society.

He said it was important for pupils to have a deep knowledge of their culture which could be readily attained through history.

Raheem stated, ‘‘Our culture demands that each individual knows about his society. It is a sad thing that most of our secondary schools do not have history teachers. History, as a subject, is going off from the curriculum of pupils in secondary school and this is sad. If one loses the history of one’s culture, one has lost everything. Nigeria is moving away from graduates searching for jobs to creating jobs. Our culture of employment has made this possible.’’

He further advised policy makers to look into the school curriculum and re-examine some major components there.

Also, the Education Rights Campaign which decried the situation, said it was bad for the country’s post-primary education.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER