The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has pushed back at claims that it has removed Social Studies from the newly introduced curriculum at the basic level saying the subject was not part of Kindergarten(KG) and primary curriculum.
This comes after the National Social Studies Association (NaSSA), comprising Social Studies teachers across the country threatened to embark on a series of actions to compel the government to restore the subject in the newly introduced curriculum at the basic level.
The group, NaSSA described as worrying the exclusion of Social Studies from the new curriculum and questioned what level of stakeholder engagement was done before arriving at the decision.
In a statement issued on Wednesday July 31, 2019, the NaCCA Executive Secretary Prince Armah, said the pre-tertiary curriculum review process which began in June 2017 is being rolled out in two phases and that the first phase focuses on Kindergarten (KG) to Primary curriculum while the second phase focuses on the Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) curriculum.
He further indicated that : “Currently, the first phase has been completed and handed over to the Ghana Education Service(GES) for implementation beginning September 2019. The subject “Social Studies†has never been part of the KG and primary school curriculum. A key goal of the curriculum review is to ensure “learners have an understanding of Ghana’s history, culture and traditions and of their rights and responsibilities as citizens†and this has been embedded throughout the reviewed curriculum.â€
He said the second phase, comprising JHS and SHS curriculum, will begin in August with a Stakeholder Engagement chaired by the Minister of Education from the 2nd to 4th August 2019.
“This consultation process will engage key experts who will be involved in drafting the framework for this phase of the curriculum review process.â€