New Curriculum: Why implementation should begin with junior classes, By Kunle Ariyo

By Omoba Kunle Ariyo

The Federal Government’s introduction of a new national curriculum marks a major milestone in Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to make education more relevant to the realities of the 21st century.

The initiative seeks to produce graduates who are not only academically sound but also equipped with practical skills, critical thinking, creativity, and moral consciousness needed to compete in a globalized world.

While this vision is both timely and laudable, the method of implementation is as important as the policy itself. Rolling out the new curriculum among senior secondary students who are already preparing for external examinations such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB may create serious disruptions.

These students have been trained under the existing curriculum framework, and any abrupt change at this critical stage could unsettle their learning process, affect their confidence, and distort their psychological readiness for exams.

Education reform experts generally agree that curricular transitions should begin at the foundation, where students can grow and adapt gradually as they progress through the system.

For instance, when Kenya introduced its Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in 2017, the government began with learners in Grade 1, allowing the system to build progressively to higher levels over time. Similarly, Ghana’s educational reforms started from Basic 1, ensuring that each cohort of students moved through the new curriculum without confusion or overlap with the old one.

These examples underscore the wisdom of starting from the lower levels, where both teachers and students have time to adjust to new content, pedagogy, and assessment methods. It also allows curriculum developers to identify challenges early and make necessary adjustments before the reforms reach examination classes.

Introducing a new curriculum to senior classes in Nigeria could lead to mismatched expectations between the school system and examination bodies, teacher unpreparedness, and psychological strain on students who are already anxious about their final year results.

The outcome could be counterproductive, with students performing poorly not because of lack of effort, but due to sudden systemic shifts they were unprepared for.

Key Changes in the New Curriculum and Why They’re Difficult for Senior Students

The new Nigerian curriculum introduces important but complex reforms that demand time and foundation-building:

1. Integration of New Core Subjects
   Courses like Entrepreneurship Studies, Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence Basics, and Civic Values Education have been added to encourage innovation and social responsibility. However, for students trained in traditional subjects like English, Mathematics, and Biology, this sudden expansion of focus areas could cause confusion and cognitive overload.
2. Competency-Based Learning Approach
   The new system emphasizes practical demonstrations of knowledge over rote memorization. Senior students, conditioned to “read and reproduce” for exams, may find it difficult to adjust to a model that demands creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
3. Project-Based and Continuous Assessment
   Rather than relying solely on final exams, the new curriculum introduces ongoing assessments, digital submissions, and practical projects. This shift conflicts with the current external examination format, leaving students uncertain about how to prioritize their studies.
4. Cross-Disciplinary Learning
   The curriculum encourages merging knowledge across disciplines, for instance, applying mathematics in agriculture or civic education in environmental studies. While powerful in concept, this requires early exposure and consistent guidance, which senior students may lack at this point.

Are Teachers Prepared for the Transition?

This remains one of the most pressing concerns. For a curriculum reform to succeed, teachers must be adequately trained, equipped, and motivated. Unfortunately, across many states, the level of readiness remains uneven and inadequate.

Only a limited number of teachers have undergone formal retraining on competency-based teaching methods.

Many schools, especially in rural areas, lack the digital tools and infrastructure required to teach new subjects such as robotics or coding.

Updated textbooks, guides, and teaching aids are yet to reach most classrooms.

Without full teacher readiness, the reform risks being reduced to theory on paper, a policy without practical impact. Teachers are the true drivers of curriculum change, and their preparedness will determine whether the new curriculum succeeds or collapses under confusion.

The goal of education reform is to strengthen learning outcomes, not to destabilize learners. By starting with junior classes, the Federal Government can ensure a smooth, structured, and sustainable transition, giving both teachers and students enough time to internalize new methods and content.

For Nigeria’s new curriculum to succeed, implementation must be gradual, inclusive, and learner-centered. That way, the policy will not only look good on paper but also translate into the kind of educational transformation the nation truly needs.

Omo’ba Kunle Ariyo writes from Isinkan