By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja

AS part of efforts geared towards enhancing the country’s education system, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has stressed the urgent need for the implementation of an integrated learning process for students.

He emphasized that this change is crucial to align education with the ever-evolving global landscape and equip Nigerian students with the necessary skills.

The Minister spoke at a high-level committee meeting on the new secondary education curriculum, SSCE, organized by Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, on Tuesday in Abuja.

He noted that the traditional method of compartmentalizing subjects and teaching them in isolation is hindering students’ ability to think critically, solve problems, and adapt to new situations effectively.

He stressed that this method (Integrated Learning Process) would provide a more holistic and comprehensive understanding of topics, enabling students to confront real-world challenges with a well-rounded skill set.

His words: “In other countries, they are having this integrated learning process that at the end of the day students acquire all those things that we’re talking about.

“So, we have a lot of reasons or grounds to be innovative in what we have to do now. Only yesterday, I was reading in one of the papers where there are complaints about abuse of the disintegration quota system and the complaint from employers is that they are not having the kind of skills that they need.

“So, these are serious issues and challenges for us that we need to review and grapple with. Because we cannot wait forever and nobody is going to wait for us forever. And that’s why we have a lot of incidents of children outside of school because a lot of them don’t see the value of the education they go through.

“So, we have to give them value for what they sign into. Make schools attractive not only through the physical environment, but by way of what they learn when they go to school. So that when they finish, you know, their parents can see the reason why they sacrificed.”

On his part, the Executive Secretary, Ismail Junaidu, said 12 years since the introduction of the current SSEC, the country is yet to review its SSEC to reflect global standards.

He added that the only way Nigeria can have graduates who were holistically trained, is to give them the necessary learning opportunities through curriculum reform.

“It has been 12 years since the introduction of the current SSEC. You will agree with me, ladies and gentlemen, that times have changed, the world has advanced, new ideas have emerged, knowledge has progressed, new global goals have been set, new skills created, and new technologies developed.

“The only way we can effectively respond to these changes and give our children the chance to develop new skills and competencies for thriving in the contemporary world is to give them the necessary learning opportunities through curriculum reform.

“Let me inform you that our main goal in this current initiative is to develop a curriculum that not only satisfies the demands of the period but would also help us to build the future that we desire as a nation. Through this revision process, we hope to better position Nigeria to contribute to the global agenda”, he said.

Vanguard reports that the meeting was graced by various heads of agencies under the Ministry of Education, among other educational stakeholders.