By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
The Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) on Tuesday tasked the South West Governors’ not to make their plan to unite school curriculum and education policies in the region a mere political statement.
MSSN gave the advice in a press statement made available to newsmen and signed by its Amir (President) of the MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, Dr. Saheed Ashafa to support the governors planned gesture.
According to the MSSN Amir in the statement, there is the need for the governors to make the proposed curriculum all inclusive and be built to tackle the growing moral decadence in the region and country at large.
“We applaud the collaborative efforts of the governors in the South Western region. We hope that this will aid development of the region in different areas. We particularly commend their interest on moral decadence observable among students through a unified curriculum being proposed” he said.
Emphasizing that the South West governors’ resolution on education would boost literacy in the South Western region and Nigeria as a whole, the Amir noted that “we strongly believe that the earlier government realised the need to tackle moral decadence, the better the future that awaits youths. This a major reason for the inclusion of a course like Islamic Religious Studies. Religious education remained one of the most reliable means of ensuring moral uprightness”.
“Having a uniform curriculum is a good plan that will help equal educational development in the region and will assist in eradicating illiteracy, which is still very high in some of the states. It will also create a chance for a practical means to measure the standard of education in the region.”
The MSSN Amir while advising the governors not to politicise education, lamented the non-teaching of Islamic Religious Studies in some schools in the South Western region.
He also urged stakeholders in education sector in the region to assist the governors in making the curriculum unification a reality, saying,“we hope that this move is not a mere political statement. The Governors should act swiftly on their plans, especially the one relating to education by taking the proposal beyond paper works”.
