Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) says it will include Gender Based Violence (GBV) and sexual reproductive health rights in its Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education curriculum,FLHE.
The Executive Secretary, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, disclosed this during a planning and writing workshop for the review of FLHE curriculum in Mararaba Nasarawa State.
The theme of the workshop is “Concept Planning and Writing Workshop for the Review of Family Life & HIV/AIDS Education Curriculum in Nigeria.’’
Prof. Junaidu, represented by the Director, Special Programmes of NERDC, Dr David Omole, said the move was in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and other key stakeholders.
He said the existing FLHE curriculum for basic education was developed in 2003, hence the need to include current trends in line with global practices that would capture prevailing issues affecting the society.
He, therefore, urged the participants to evolve modalities for the review of the curriculum, select topics and contents that would be used for the exercise, and write the curriculum based on the selected topics.
The Spotlight Project Manager in UNESCO, Dr Steven Onyekwelu, said that the workshop was a platform to review the national basic and secondary education curriculum to include prevailing issues affecting the society.
Onyekwelu said that the review would include issues relating to ending violence against women and girls, sexual and reproductive health rights and harmful practices.
On her part, the National Programme Officer for Education, UNESCO, Ms Ngozi Amanze, said the review of the FLHE was necessary as it was obsolete and did not capture global trends affecting the society.
She explained further that after the curriculum review, teachers would also be trained to end all forms of violence and harmful practices affecting the health status of the nation.
Participants at the workshop include representatives of Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, NACA, NERDC and other stakeholders.