House Summons Minister, JAMB, NECO Registrars over ‘Immoral’ Books in JSS Curriculum
James Emejo
The House of Representatives yesterday passed a resolution mandating its Committee on Basic Education and Services to invite the registrars of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Examination Council (NECO) as well as the Minister of Education to explain the circumstances behind the recommendation of alleged ‘immoral’ books for use by Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in the country.
Also invited is the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) in connection with the issue.
The resolution further urged the federal government to sanction the staff of NERDC, the Federal Ministry of Education, JAMB and NECO who were responsible for the recommendation and circulation of inappropriate books in order to forestall such actions in the future.
The House urged the Federal Ministry of Education, NERDC, JAMB and NECO to immediately withdraw the books from their curriculum as well as called on the Federal Ministry of Education to carry out a comprehensive review of existing books recommended for use in the secondary schools with a view to determining whether their contents adhere to stipulated standards.
The House committee has 12 weeks to report back for further legislative action.
The resolution followed a motion moved by Hon. Mohammed A. Mahmud on the need for critical assessment of books recommended for Junior Secondary schools and prospective Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates in Nigeria.
The motion was unanimously passed without a debate.
Mahmud had expressed concern that NECO and JAMB had recommended books which fall short of ethical values and standards stipulated by the National Policy on Education.
Specifically, he expressed worry that books including ‘The Precious Child’, ‘The Tears of A Bride’ and ‘In Dependence’ expose young students to behaviours and practices that promote social vices and corrupt moral values.
He said the regular use of obscene language in the description of events and characters in the books make them unsuitable for use in schools as they are capable of eroding the right type of values, attitudes and national ideals that the country needs to develop.
He blamed NERDC, JAMB, NECO as well as the Federal Ministry of Education for failing to perform their statutory functions, thereby allowing the use of such publications in schools.