The Federal Government has announced the addition of plumbing, makeup, hairstyling and 12 other new trades (new subjects) to the Basic Education curriculum.
This was contained in a short statement issued on Thursday by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
According to NOA, the new trades were added to the Basic Education curriculum to boost students’ practical skills and employability.
The statement noted that the new subjects will take effect from January 2025 for primary and junior secondary students across the country.
The new subjects include plumbing; tiling and floor works; POP installation; event decoration and management; bakery and confectioneries; hairstyling; makeup; interior design; GSM repairs and satellite/TV antenna installation.
Others are CCTV and intercom installation and maintenance; solar installation and maintenance; garment making; agriculture and processing (including crop production), beekeeping, horticulture, and livestock farming like poultry and rabbit rearing, and Basic Digital Literacy (including IT and robotics).
Recall that the government first announced that inclusion of the 15 trades in the basic education curricullum in October 2024.
Former-Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, who announced the development noted in the the new curriculum that pupils in basic schools will be required to acquire at least two skills.
He said private primary schools were required to adopt the new curriculum, as he promised that an updated curriculum for secondary schools would be ready by September 2025.
“The idea is that by the time children finish school, they should have at least two skills. Students should be able to finish school with a minimum of two skills so that they can have a very productive life.
“The basis for the curriculum is the National Skills Framework, and it has been approved. It’s a very big project; it affects all schools in Nigeria, public and private.
“Whether in the public sector or private sector, all schools are going to implement it. So this is already determined. It doesn’t require anybody’s consent or any institution can depart from it.
“And then, we want to use this school year to set off on this, while, simultaneously, the relevant agencies with the Ministry of Education work on the senior secondary school curriculum along the same line, so that from September to October next year, that of the senior secondary school can be ready for implementation.
“Our projection is we should be able to conclude on this by December so that in January, schools across the country can commence implementation,” the minister said.
On the implementation,Mamman said, “We do not expect comprehensive, full implementation from January because, when you roll out something new, there’s a lot of preparation that has to take place by the schools, acquiring new things, equipment, and small things that they will need.”
The minister noted that plans were ongoing to ensure the teachers were well-equipped for the new curriculum.
He said the ministry would meet with stakeholders in the private schools for the successful implementation of the new curriculum.
He said, “There is a need for the preparation of classrooms and teachers’ development. We are also working on teachers’ support and development for them to be able to implement this. So we want to use the next three months for all these three stages.
“We’ll also have a national stakeholders’ engagement on publicity, particularly with the private schools. So, that’s part of what we will be doing and then teachers’ capacity.”
Explaining the benefits of the curriculum, the minister said it would rekindle the desire of parents and students to acquire formal education.
He said, “Some parents do not want to send their children to school. Right now, part of the problem why schooling has become unattractive is because people finish and there’s no change in their lives.
“They cannot be employed. They can’t do anything on their own. So parents question the value of spending money to send their children to school.
“Now it’s going to change that game altogether. And we have seen how these things resonate with parents. When they are successfully implemented, you will see students will want to run to school every morning. Parents want to take their children to school because they are learning practical things while in school.”
