The Federal Government has refuted claims that it chopped off Christian Religious Knowledge, (CRK) as a subject from the public school curriculum.
They have been calls by several bodies, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), that the subject has been yanked off the syllabus while there was a reintroduction of Islamic Religious Studies, (IRS).
However, the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Chinenye Ihuoma, has noted that the subject was not removed from the curriculum but rather, it was merged with IRS to become “Religion and National Values.”
“The alternation is not from the minister, this is purely from the National Council on Education. It is just as the council has said that History should be a subject of its own at the basic level in the first nine years,” she said. “Now, a new subject has been introduced, called Religion and National Values. It is a fusion of religion and civics.”
Mrs. Ihuoma added that “…where you have subject combinations in the same period, everyone will attend lectures that correspond with their own religion.
“Arabic and Islamic Studies are not standing alone. Islamic Religious Study and Christian Religious Study as well as national values will be taught under a new subject.”