A professor of Science Education at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Benneth Uzoechi, says foreign academic curricula in some private schools disadvantage Nigerian children.

Mr Uzoechi stated this at the university’s 51st Inaugural Lecture held in Keffi on Wednesday.

According to Mr Uzoechi, private schools in the country must stop the trend because it is inconsistent with Nigeria’s National Policy on Education.

“The Nigerian child is put at a disadvantage because such curricula are not culture-friendly in terms of language, examples, illustrations, attitude development and culture heritage.

“This does not provide for equity and citizenship development,” he said.

Mr Uzoechi called on the federal government to regulate curriculum development and use and monitor the schools to ensure they comply with the education policy.

He said the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council should carry this out.

“I belong to the group that reviews curriculum at the basic education level and secondary education level. There are many inputs we have made. We talk about examples, issues in our environments, and illustrations.

“But when you are implementing foreign curriculums you are using foreign examples which do not augur well with our own society. What are we teaching our children? To become Americans, British, Non-Nigerians? So we should help them to become Nigerians.

“Becoming Nigerian means they should be able to fuse into our culture, traditions and into things that we do here in Nigeria. You can only do that by using examples from the environment that they are in and they learn more using those local examples or materials,” he said.

The education professor explained that the inaugural lecture topic aimed to shed more light on creating an equitable science environment and integrating nature and nurture approaches to help children learn science better.

“For nature, children come into the world with their natural characteristics, and then they are influenced by the environment and social existence in the community.

“So when you get into the classroom situation, you integrate these two, and when you do, you will see that you will make a complete child and a well-educated person.

“So we are advocating for creating a conducive environment for learning for everybody irrespective of culture, economic status, everybody has the right to learn and science which is a basic need,” he said.

(NAN)