THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

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dc.contributor.authorLEKWAT, BARNABA B.
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-25T13:21:08Z
dc.date.available2014-03-25T13:21:08Z
dc.date.issued1984
dc.descriptionSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education, Health, Nursing, and Arts Professions, New York University.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe dissertation explores the history of the development of Christian religious instruction in Nigerian schools from 1925 to 1979. The aims of the dissertation include the need to discover why the government legalized school religious instruction, to identify problems arising from teaching the subject, and to offer ideas for improvements. The background surveys of Chapters I and II show that Christian religious instruction was the foundation subject of the Nigerian educational system from 1842 to 1925. During the period, the colonial administration generally left educational development to the missions. The latter promoted evangelis-. tic and moral goals through a Bible-based religious instruction. The government promoted the virtues of individuals for social discipline through moral instruction. Yet it was only the Education Policy of 1925 that first accorded religious instruction and moral instruction equality with other school subjects. Chapter III analyzes the relationship between church and state. The relationship led the government to take over Christian schools. Educational policies left the curricula development of religious instruction to religious organizations. The education policies of the 1950's and 1960's and the constitutions of 1960, 1963, and 1979 institutionalized school religious instruction. Despite its legal position, religious instruction remained an optional subject. Chapter IV examines how the government changed the evangelistic objectives of religious instruction. Government objectives included the promotion of virtues, a social stabilizing force and religious heritage. Critical teaching of morality based on religion was advocated instead of denominational indoctrination. However, according to Chapter V, some state governments did not implement the policy of teaching school religious instruction. Chapter VI investigates concepts of religious instruction. The concepts, reflecting the concerns of the users, included moral instruction, Bible knowledge, religious knowledge and moral education. Religious education was advocated in the 1970's to substitute for religious knowledge. There was a tendency to reduce the Biblical orientation of religious knowledge. The dissertation concludes with the suggestions that: 1) moral education and religious knowledge constitute a double-major subject; 2) there is no justifiable reason for Nigerian schools to reduce the Bible content of moral/religious education; 3) a critical and objective approach, meaningful to the pursuit of social justice is crucial; and 4) the federal government should set up a task force to ensure the implementation of the policy of teaching religious instruction in all schools.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/4249
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT,en_US
dc.subjectRELIGIOUS,en_US
dc.subjectEDUCATION,en_US
dc.subjectNIGERIAen_US
dc.titleTHE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN NIGERIAen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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