Don’t Dare Scrap Social Studies - NASSA Warn Gov't

Members of the National Social Studies Association (NaSSA) is warning the government to reconsider its decision to scrap social studies from the school curriculum or face their wrath.

The aggrieved members have vowed to stage streets demo and picket the Jubilee House if the government dare temper with the subject.

Addressing a press briefing in the Ashanti regional, President of the Association, Opoku Afriyie Prince says government through National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) was reviewing in phases, the curriculum of basic and second cycle institutions.

The council he noted, is done reviewing the upper basic school curriculum of which citizenship education has been scrapped from the curriculum and replaced with a nomenclature ‘Our World and Our People’.

According to him, series of consultations were held with the NaCCA, coupled with concept papers written by the Department of Social Studies Education at the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba on the need to maintain social studies in the curriculum.

He said, they were given assurance by the secretary of NaCCA that the subject would not be tampered with because of its importance.

Notwithstanding the assurance, NaCCA members have seen the curriculum framework based on which the JHS and SHS curriculum would be developed, and have noted that social studies has been scrapped from the core subjects and replaced with geography and history.

He said the scrapping of the subject is worrying and causing considerable panic and frustration among large sections of the thousands of professional teachers and students whose profession and academic programme is dependent on social studies.

"The government’s decision to scrap the subject will lead to unemployment amongst social studies teachers from basic to tertiary education levels and also leave the fate of thousands of students who have been enrolled on social studies programme," he stated.

The group is, therefore, appealing to the government to reconsider its decision and maintain the subject either as a core or elective subject or they will hit the streets and picket the Jubilee House.