TEKAN Headquarters Jos, Plateau State –

Press Release.

The Position of TEKAN on the Removal of CRK From Public School Curriculum.

Tarayar Ekklisiyoyin Kristi A Nigeria (TEKAN) comprises of 15 Churches with the population of 30million members across the Nation with Headquarters in Most of the 19 Northern states and the South including the Federal capital Territory Abuja have raised their voice in total support on the called made by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to the Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to immediately publish the full details of the new Curriculum of Education if they have no hidden agenda.

TEKAN view that any curriculum of Education in Nigeria should be robust and comprehensive enough to trigger national Unity and development. However for any Curriculum review in the Country should be left to different States of the Federation to handle since education is not on the exclusive legislative list. One of the most frequently discussed concerns in Nigeria today is mismanagement of the nation’s diversity by an over a centralised Federal Government. Which is why, everyday, there are strident calls on the Government of President Buhari to consider the imperative of implementing the 2014 Constitutional Conference Report which has taken care of all these complications in the polity.

The church have on good authority gather that the current education minister have arbitrarily ordered that in the current curriculum, Christian Religious Studies will no longer be studied in schools as a subject on its own but as themes in a civic education, adding that Islamic studies had however been made a compulsory alternative subject to French for students in sections of the curriculum.

We are also aware of the very destabilizing plots by the Minister of Education to foist the study of Islamic religious study as compulsory subject in public Secondary School even when the constitution in section 38 (1) and (2) provides that on no occasion will a strange religious faith be taught to students/pupils of different religious in persuasions.

Specifically section 38 (1) & (2) averred thus: (1) “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, practice and observance.

The Education Minister as an agent of destabilization of inter-religious harmony going by his arbitrary appointments of persons of the Islamic religious faith group to head the strategic educational agencies such as the National Universities Commission, NUC; Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB); Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, amongst others.

TEKAN strongly condemn and will resist any attempt by the Education Minister to favour a religion against Christianity while using public office and resources even when the Nigerian constitution frowns against such extralegal inclination. We however warn Mallam Adamu Adamu against the promotion of one religious as such will be bring disharmony and could precipitate religious war. We call for the observance of Federal character principle in the appointments of key officials in the Education ministry.

The church as a body demands the immediate restoration of the study of Christian religious knowledge as subjects in public school.

We also view the exercise being spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja through its agency, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) should be discontinued forthwith because the rationalisations by the Council so far have been more than puerile and the exercise will not serve any public good.

We called on the Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo and the National Assembly to immediately take action on the new Education curriculum such as to avoid any religious disharmony, as the Unity of Nigeria is sacrosanct.

Signed:
REV MOSES J Ebuga TEKAN General Secretary

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Jos: The Position of TEKAN on the Removal of CRK From Public School Curriculum.