Ayo Marvel 
The Federal Government has announced the return of History as a subject in Nigerian schools.
The govt also banned nursery school graduation ceremonies and other practices used by some schools to collect extra money from parents.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced this during an interview on Arise News.
He said the decision followed an order from President Bola Tinubu after the government reviewed the school curriculum and found the removal of history to be wrong.
History was taken out of the curriculum for primary and junior secondary schools in 2007.
Alausa explained that the action taken many years ago made young Nigerians lose touch with the country’s past and identity.
He said the current administration quickly moved to correct the mistake by returning Nigerian history to the list of approved subjects.
According to the minister, the review showed that students now grow up without proper knowledge of how the country was formed and the events that shaped it.
He said this gap made it necessary for the subject to be taught again in schools across the country.
Alausa also announced that the government has stopped nursery school graduation ceremonies, describing them as a way for schools to collect unnecessary fees from parents.
He said graduation should only take place at major stages such as the end of primary school, junior secondary school and senior secondary school, where it marks a real academic milestone.
He added that many schools have turned simple activities into money-making events, placing pressure on parents who are already struggling with rising costs.
The government, he said, will no longer allow such practices.
The minister further disclosed that the sale of compulsory textbooks and workbooks by schools has also been addressed.
He explained that in the past, children used textbooks passed down from older siblings, which helped families save money.
But some publishers and schools later introduced workbooks attached to textbooks so students would write inside them, making the books useless for reuse.
He said many publishers only changed the cover or page numbers and still forced parents to buy new books every year, even when the content remained the same.
To stop this, the ministry has ordered that workbooks must now be sold separately from main textbooks.
Alausa said these steps are part of efforts by the government to protect parents from unfair charges and to improve the quality of education in the country.
About the Author
Emmanuel Femi Adedayo 
Ademola Busayo 