IMPRESSED by the fresh knowledge and ideas which they gained at the training programme on the implementation of the new Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC) organized by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), a large number of Ekiti State teachers who attended the workshop have called on the organizers of the event to make it an annual event.According to the secondary school teachers, this is necessary to update their knowledge and keep them constantly abreast of new developments in the teaching profession. Having realized that an excellent curriculum can contribute to the development of the nation's educational system if it is well implemented at the classroom level, the South ' West Zonal office of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) last week trained Ekiti state teachers on the implementation of the new Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (SSEC).The capacity building workshop which took place at Olaoluwa Mushin Grammar School, Ado Ekiti turned out to be an eye opener for the teachers who, until the exercise, knew little or nothing about the new curriculum whose implementation commenced in SS1 nationwide in September last year.According to the Director/Head of NERDC South-West Zonal Office, Dr. Moses Salau, who spoke on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the parastatal, Prof. Godswill Obioma, the two-day training programme was necessary to inform, educate, retool, update, equip and strengthen the capacity of teacher in the state because the structure of the new curriculum is different from the old one.This new curriculum, according to him, provides for a systematic connection between basic education curriculum (BEC) contents and the learning of the future contents, and for 42 curricula (subjects) as well as 34 vocational trade/ entrepreneurship subjects. He added that the curriculum is designed to equip secondary school students with functional education which will make them self- reliant on the completion of their education.Dr. Salau said: 'The SSCE is to ensure that every senior secondary school graduate is well prepared for higher education; has acquired relevant functional trade/entrepreneurship skills needed for poverty eradication, job creation and wealth generation, and in the process strengthen further the foundations for ethical, moral and civic values acquired at the basic education level.Apart from the capacity building workshop for teachers which is to be carried out annually in all the states of the federation, Salau disclosed that NERDC has also put in place other strategies to ensure an effective delivery of the curriculum. These include the distribution of the curriculum to all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, reviewing and developing textbooks on all the approved subjects, regular assessment of educational books and reference materials and annual evaluation of the curriculum implementation process.While assuring all stakeholders at the workshop of NERDC's readiness to fulfill its own obligations, Salau urged Ekiti State government to recruit teachers who are academically and professionally competent and train or re-train adequate number of teachers who would implement the curriculum ,adding that both the state Ministry of Education and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) should replicate the training exercise in each of the Local Government Areas of the state in order to increase the number of trained teachers.The boss of NERDC South- West Zonal office explained that it is the responsibility of the state government to build and equip workshops for the vocational trade/entrepreneurship subjects which it closes out of the available 34 trade curricula, reiterating that the state government must also create an enabling environment for the teachers, who, in turn must seek all avenues to make them competent in the discharge of their job.The Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Eniola Ajayi who personally declared the workshop open described the collaboration between NERDC and her ministry as very timely given the on-going efforts of the state government to revamps its educational system and transform it to a functional and wealth creating one.Ajayi commended the persistence and doggedness of Dr Salau in securing the partnership of her ministry on the training workshop, adding that the actualization of the goals of the curriculum depends largely on the effective delivery of teaching in schools.The state Executive Chairman, Teaching Service Commission, Chief Bayo Adeniran; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. K.O. Aderiye; Director of Evaluation, Mr. A. O. Jeje; Permanent Secretary, Teaching Service Commission, Mr. J. B Ogundare and the state chairman, NAPPS, Chief(Dr.) Ayo Agbebi took their turns in commending the 'thoughtfulness and purposefulness of NERDC in developing the curriculum, especially the inclusion of entrepreneurial skills or subjects in the curriculum as well as the initiative of training the teachers to ensure an effective implementation of the curriculum. The representative of the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Francis Jacob spoke in the same vein.On the first day of the training programme, teachers were taken through important items such as the overview of the philosophy of the new curriculum, structure and mode of its implementation as well as questions frequently asked by stakeholders on the curriculum.Dr. Salau, who gave the overview, told the over 200 teachers who attended the workshop from across the state that unlike the old curriculum, the contents of the new SSEC are systematically linked to those of the Junior Secondary School curriculum, that every student on graduation would have acquired at least one functional trade, will become ICT literate and that new subjects such as computer/ICT, Civic Education and Entrepreneurship Studies are now in the new curriculum, explaining further that the new SSE curriculum has neccessitated the need for WAEC, NECO and tertiary institutions to restructure their curricula in order to cater for the changes brought about by the restructuring of SSE curriculum.While responding to the skepticism of some teachers on the successful implementation of the curriculum, especially the vocational trade and computer curricula as a result of poor power supply in the country, Salau asked the teachers to help themselves in developing their competence by relying on generator sets, adding that a computer literate teacher is an asset to his or her community.He enjoined the teachers to be proactive in delivering the curricula by adopting various teaching techniques that will cater for the students' individual learning abilities.Messers Nwachukwu Olisa and G. N. Chukwu are the two other resource persons from NERDC South-West Zonal Office While Dr. Oladunjoye Oluwayomi from Olabisi Onabanjo University,Ago Iwoye also taught the teachers at the workshop.On day two of the training exercise, the teachers were divided into three groups-Humanities, Business Studies and Science, Technology and Mathematics. They were exposed to important topics crucial to the effective delivery of the curriculum in classroom such as strategies for handling perceived difficult concepts, evaluation techniques and various instructional resources for teaching the different subjects.The teachers who attended the training programme said it has increased their capability in teaching and has enriched their knowledge on the curriculum .Mr. Bamisile Bolade, who teaches at Ayebode HigH School, Ayebode Ekiti said what he learnt at the workshop has updated his knowledge in teaching generally. He however appealed to the state government to provide schools with the needed facilities, especially workshops and laboratories.Mr. Kehinde Amos is a teacher at Government College, AdoEkiti. He saysP;'without organizing this workshop it will be difficult for teachers to know the details of the curricula. It is important for schools across the state to set aside two days at the beginning of school session for the training of teachers on the implementation of the curriculum. In making it successful, I will suggest that the programme should be done in collaboration with NERDC'Mr. Ojo Olayika, who teaches at Amazing Grace College, Otun Ekiti said the workshop was very educative and impressive and has greatly improved his knowledge in teaching, adding that if the workshop is organized on a regular basis it will bring about a turnaround in the education of the state.Both teachers in public and private schools were invited to the workshop.
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