Nigerian govt to introduce tourism in school curriculum – Official

The Deputy Director, Domestic Tourism in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Patricia Narai, said plans had been concluded to introduce tourism as a subject at senior secondary school level.

Ms. Narai said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.

“The Nigerian Educational Development Council has proposed 34 trades and identified tourism as one of the trades to be thought at the entrepreneurship level.

“So students from SS I to SS III will soon start studying tourism and at that level they can come out successful and establish a tourism business of their own.

“And they can also further their education on that line.

“What is left now is the approval, and am sure that soon, the curriculum will be out and the students will start studying tourism,” Ms. Narai said.

On its impact, the deputy director said the students would be empowered with skills and knowledge on tourism and hospitality.

She maintained that after graduation from secondary school, such a person could become a tour guide, event manager, visa professional or get employment in the tourism and hospitality sector.

“This is because he or she would have acquired the needed skills and knowledge to effectively carry out responsibilities that will encourage tourists and boost the positive image of the country.”

On getting the proposed tourism subject into Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examination, she explained that it would be a gradual process.

“We have done the curriculum, when it is approved, the teachers’ guide will follow to enable them know what they are going to teach and subsequently it will go into JAMB and NECO examinations.

“The essence of this is to catch them young; by the time tourism is studied in all senior secondary schools across the country, it will go a long way to produce large workforce for the sector,” Ms. Narai said.

(NAN)