NERDC Infuses Family Life Education into Curriculum by Frank Oke
The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), has infused the Family Life HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) into the nine-year basic education curriculum.
Briefing newsmen in Enugu, the Executive Secretary of the council, Professor Godswill Obioma said the measure was to create awareness on HIV/AIDS in school children and to internalise social values.
Obioma explained that it would also help to grow the culture of empathy and control on those that were infected as well as promote positive disposition toward infected and affected persons.
The executive secretary said the manual for the FLHE had been developed and uploaded onto the web to enable pupils and teachers access it through the Internet, adding that the subjects which the FLHE had infused, included Mathematics, Basic Science, Agriculture, Physical and Health Education, Social Studies, English, Cultural and Creative Arts.
On how the electronic manual will reach the rural children, Obioma said that with good public policy, the Internet would soon get to the rural areas, citing the Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) as an example of a communication system that had reached the hinterland within a short period.
He disclosed that about N80 million was spent in developing the manual and on capacity building of teachers and staff of the council as well as hosting and sustaining the website to ensure the success of the programme.
According to him, the FLHE curriculum had five main themes, which were Human Development, Personal Skills, HIV Infection, Relationships and Society and Culture.
