NI,e rla.n T rttuul C
28 Tucs(h.y. 14 February. 2012 -
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Why 9-year basic education curriculum is reviewed - NERDC boss C l e m c At I doko
MPLEt.1El\ rATION of the currlcu lum comn,enccd natio nwide In September 2008. with primary I and Junior secondary schools (JSS) I, respccth'ely The flra' act of JSS I"."cr. will transit Into Senior SecoRdu, SChOolis (SSS) In September this year. while lhe flnt IIct of ben dtc=.tar1u of t he 9 -Year BEC at the prlmuy achool level will enter Jun Ior acc:ondan' schools In September 20104 Speaking "Illl newamen at the nallonal stakeholder. forum orlanlud by NERDC In AbuJa (or the review of the 9-Ycar B •• le Education Curriculum. Profea.or Oblom •• ald, -re!::en' (cf'dl;a r k on the Implt'mcn lallon of the nEe augants c urricula oyerload In u:rma of subjecttl 0(· fered at the rrlmary and Junior sec· ondary h:\e1 «. • J-I~ .ald ~urr('nlly. the 9·Year Ba sic Education Curriculum comprises 20 aubje~la' lI.tlngs Ihat wer~ u: pecled to en' urIC Ihe attalnmenl or Nlg~rta'a vls'on 20 ·2020. the Na Ilonal EconOlolc Empowermenl anr! Developm~nl Sirategy (NEEDSI tar geta and Ihl' Millennium Oe'~lop m~nl Goals ( MOOa' He aald there wa. the need 10 compresa Ihe curricula in both prI mary and !lecolldary achools In line with Int~rllaUonal best prac:lI cea He added ('la t this was reltenled at the Presidential Summit on the Siale or EdU( aUon In Nigeria. held In October. 2010. aaylng there w . . the need 10 further compress the curriculum without 10.lng Ila con tent and to make It globally com· petltl'e . Pro(esaor Obioma aald the sum · mit chaired by Prealdent Ooodluck Jonathan . rt'commend~d that the number or subj ects offered (or Oasic Education Ihould be reduc~d to between al'( an<1 13 In tandem wllh tnt~rnatlonal beat practices For In · stance. he said In Kenya. the maxi mum aubjeclll offered In bastc educalion Is 7 aubjecla;'Tanzanla. 8 subjecta: United States o( America . 6 subjects; Malayala and Indonula . 9 subjecta eac:h
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-And thue ar~ other emergIng laaues. aecurlty (or Inslance, thue ..as the need to put Into th~ curriculum the Issue of aecurlty educallon and making aure that It gained acceptabilIty .· Obloma aald He aald the 9 · Year BEC wa. developed by NERDC 10 enlure that the baals level of educa tion oHers tht' atudenls and pupil. a we ll r ounded educa tion In terma or knowledge. .kllis. te~hnlquea and valuea needed to produce an Indl Vidual who ha. been well edu cated ror character. aptitude and able to compete ravourably anywhere In the world -The major ba.la for the re(orm In the achool currIculum In th~ co nlext or th~ g-Year basic education was 10 elimi nate the eXlating disconneci betw~~n the primary and JSS . define the philosophy of baalc education and re"l~w as well as realign Ihe currl~ulum cont~nts o( primary and JSS Inlo a contlnuoua whole -In the proceaa or reviewing and reatlgnlng Ihe C'urrl~ulum conlt'nu. emergIng lasuc.s In "al uea . morals. peace . envl ronment. IIIV / AIDS and entre pre n e u rial a kill s were I n ru tied . ualng relevanl ~xtant aubject. 8S carrlera_' Obloma aald Minister of Stille for Educa lion . Barrlater Nyeaom Wlke . who waa rep rea en ted on the occatllon by his Spe~lal ASllts Ia n I. T e c h n leal . 0 r 0 Iu Oyewoh . said major ~hallenges w hie h h a 'Ie co n (ro n t cd N Ige r la cd u cat Ion 0'1 crt h e ear. I n t e r m s 0 f q u alit y a t tal n men t and auatalnabillty were lack o( regular rUlew lind updating o( existing ~urrtcula to meet changing aocletal needs and In adeq ua te (u ndlng (or regu la r currl~ulum development and revt~w . •
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Women farmers need better support Co llins Nnab u fle . in this report . hlghllghts the contributions of women to agriculture and calls for more support for the women farmers. Th~ and Indeed the wof1d 0YeI". amaU IlO&dcr" rarmcB and an: prcdoml there has bttn a growtng tnlen::al on nantly WOIllC1'(lnIC!'T\lltlonal Fund ror AtmaJnstn:am.Jng beau..IR at LIIe rtrultural DtYdDpmmt n:ponl valucadtlltJonlthaaonthewomt'fl.nucIcaT II was IL'!I a ~I afthls that the Per· l"arnUy. Ole aodety and UlC nalJon at large. manml Sttre\ary. Federal Mir\laby or Ag~
Cendcr~ uddlncd by U1C United NaUona OnodopInenl prognunmc l&Il1rlR account or gender" cquHy ~ b1 aD poIk::y. IJftlWSDUl1C. admlnlstraUve. nnandal actMUes and In org:antsatJonal proct'dun:s. lhen:by oonlJ1buUng to profound orpnlsaUonal tnnsfor-
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maUon. When ont' hears matnst.rumJng
l1ruItun:andRuraJ~IDrEldUd ~llonlsaJd.dwtnganInIcnlcttYt'MJrk alqJ ror 'MXllCn...t youths on ~ trans· formation agmda or Mf" f"rt'sIdolt thai •
tnnIIbmaUonagmdawlllar§:truWcam· mwulJe&, partk:uIarty v.unen. youth IU.t falTT1Cf3 85!IOdaUona. 85 wdI _ UnproYIng runallnsHtulknl1U.t ~
gen.
ItlaappafllngtoltnowUlBtN.,..uscd to be a major" pla)'Cf" In U1C agJ1cUltural wortd IL'!I she once accounted iJr 60 pt'I' cent atlhe gIobIJ supply d palm CIA. 30 pt'I' cent 0( groundnuL2.().30 pt'I' cenl of gruundnut oil and 15 pt'I' cenl of JIobaI auppIy or c:oc:c. but to.t Its pIKe In the gklbaI oommunIty lhJs was as a reauJt of ncguemcc or U1C IIfP"kUJturaJ sedor" and maa lOcus on Ule pctnJkum sector TI1C FcdcnJ Government neub to bCUll rmre on the agncuttural acctOf" be-cauectlcanc::n:atcrmrejobarorthcpopu· t.oeandrcdua:thcpn:eentscc:untychaJ· !alp which arc aubBtanUally e.used by pwertyand ~L .JabI ~ rtcc. c.lSlYIl. aoqIaan. aJCDa. 1ht' fedenIl fPriJ ....... 1t has been trying .-.rJ muon value d1Illns alone. • • pcrUnent on tts own to 8t'IC how best WOfTlt'fl could 1 brATAIoWXUlluutLolemon::..unenbt'call!lC be bkndcd tnto Ita prcRIlt AgrtcuItunll I it has bcm known thai the tnulI!Ibmatlon TranaiJnnaHon~Recendy.<kD1I:the I agenda wit Iixus on key aaprdII or Yllluc &h arwtURJ MIadInance Conft'rax:e and dcr b1 agricultural acctor. what comes to mind Is women becauec lhc:y arc ti1C de.Idvantagt'd poup tn theawtcultural sector tn lcrm5 d IU.'CC8II to prodUCU~ agJ1cu1lurallL'!l8Cta. but rqxJrt Mows that women ha~oonU1bu1t'd rmre U\M 70 pt'I'cenlcl agncuttunJ production. 60 pel"C:oenl cI agrt_ cultural prot'C!I!IIJIIr and 50 pt'I' cent or anIhusbandry rdated actMtIeIL, yet they lwumcnlllB~ leas than 20 percent aa:caa to 8fP1Ct1IturaJ U8CIa (Oa.lL NatIonal Bu· IUU orStausucal.With the rec:c:nl Pn:alcknl Goodlue:! ..klnatta1~n..:.I I ........ AgtndL KrA. whk:h .. aimed at ~ 3.5 maon
Wlke noted Ihat the prob lem of unemployabl e graduatea of t e r t la ry Ins I I t u I Ion sin N I g e ria atarted (rom the ba.le l ct.hl.lndudIng~andavalat*yol ~A..,jorpacdbythc education level and 1 tmprOYcd Inputs laced and JertJltttrsL tn· Cc:nbaI Ba:nk af~ em. the GIMn'u tasked the Itake- a1:MCd produc:U\1tyand pnxIuc:Uan as v.d afCll'f. MalamSanuMI..amkIos.u.t8lllld ho i d e r a to In t h e I as Uw: eat.abtii!fwnent orSIDI* Crop ~ thattheBankwu"MJrbWlI:JIt.'afdsaapcaal r e " l ew 0 ( h c: cur. I tng lAlncs tsCPZl. lrd by the end d" the )'NI" to p-tMdc m:dI AccordIng 10 the NatJonal Aanntng com- r.c.uca to women al a . . . digit '"'krst rtc u I urn. add re a s I h e 1 nUasIoo. 65 pt'f" cc:nI of WOI11t'Jl an: IMng f1IIc. 1hIa would proridt'~ wtth the neem I a al n g II n k be · I below povttty line as agatnat Ule 35 per CI!I8I)' bid kt ~ 80RIC iIrm . . . . II. tween certificate ob - I cent ofmc:n.lt. abofPJd to note that 73 .... aI!Io be ~ kt enhance &aM tal n ed and the qual - L!Jlt'I'" cent ofthc: runt! populatJon COIlSIsts or kt"ntlwuughMgtrtalnc.attM:fbakBaae Ity or graduatea _ ----------------' /g"bJIIlr.II~b"F~
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FCT mjnister to visit Venezuela Oke tc. Nigeria. Mr Enrique Uonshlp with Caracas. CbrlallaD Abuj.
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E~mmen lor
Venezuela has ex pressed Its read! ness to InVite the Minister or lhe Federal Capt-
tal T~rr1lOi"y WCf1. Sena ·
Rut. na tu agfaJ, IttlaealloD MLnlsler
tor Bala Mohammed 10 Caracaa (or bilateral deals .s pa" of Ita determlnauan fOf'tmproved bilateral relations b~ tw~en Venel.uela and Nigeria This was con~yed to lhe mloisler by the Veil _ _ _--'.,%~u".!"la Ambassador t!?
Fernando Arrundell James who was on a vtslt to th e mln taler In hla ornee last Wttk. The enYO)' staled that hls country was commitled to measures l h at would promote beller~ . I. tiona between both counlr1ea and expressed saUsracUOn with the cr(orts 10 make Ahuja sc~~.
Responding. Senator Mohammed noted thllt AbuJa will aoon est ..bUsh a slster·clly rela·
LIIe capital or Venezuela In ord~r 10 share aperlencea and apertlse In metropolitan management. In another de"elop· ment. The Mlnlater or lhe Federal Capttal Tu· ritory. FCT. Senator Bala Mohammed. has held tal" With a group o( tn veslO'" rrom Turkey on Investment opponunllit'a In AbuJa and how the Inveators can tap Into the g~ell areas to expand their Invesl mc.n~ In Ule clty _ .___
:=:;-;::: wnaonbldab"1Iftli11CI\. When IhIII Is sdtIcva1.
the numerous dWknges raced by YII'UIIlen wlthtn the agrIcU1luraJ sector would ratuc:e to Its nearest mirYmwn. Ac:OJrdIng to 0.. Luc::aa BraIder (00. international lnaUtutc for n-opIca1 AgrtcuJtu~l.· AfrIca Is to de-vc.1op a more productive.. auatalnablc: and cquJtabIc agrtcultura) structure. It cannot afford to neglect 'IoQilt'fl, U~ thec:haJlatgal women race b1 agncultun: .. to ~ the CJClnt' roomofa:onomJcp~ ~