The Anambra State Government has introduced 15 entrepreneurial subjects into the Junior Secondary School curriculum as part of efforts to equip students with practical skills and nurture an entrepreneurial mindset from an early age.
The newly introduced subjects include solar installation, garment making, GSM repairs, agriculture, plumbing, digital literacy and robotics, alongside bakery, hairstyling, make-up, interior design, CCTV and intercom installation, and event management. The initiative is designed to align the state’s education system with 21st-century demands and improve students’ employability, creativity and capacity for innovation.
Speaking at the launch of the programme in Awka, the Chairperson of the Post-Primary Schools Service Commission, Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, said the curriculum marks a deliberate shift from theory-driven instruction to more practical, value-oriented learning. She noted that the goal is to prepare students not only to seek paid employment but to create value, generate jobs and contribute meaningfully to the economic development of the state. According to her, education must move beyond examinations to equip learners with practical skills, creativity, innovation and an entrepreneurial outlook.
Also speaking at the event, Mr. Cyril Nwuche of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, stressed that traditional academic instruction alone is no longer sufficient to prepare children for the future. He said schools must embrace practical and skill-based learning to enable students to thrive in an increasingly dynamic and competitive global environment.
The curriculum reform builds on steps taken by Governor Charles Soludo since 2022, when he appointed Prof. Ikediugwu as Chairperson of the PPSSC and announced plans to transform selected secondary schools into smart schools under the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board initiative. The state has since extended its free education policy up to Senior Secondary School Year Three, recruited an additional 3,115 teachers to bring the total workforce to 8,115, equipped 60 secondary school laboratories with essential STEM tools and increased operational budgets to support quality education delivery.
Many of the vocational subjects now included in the curriculum are skills young people often leave school to learn informally through apprenticeships or artisan work. By formalising these courses within the school system, the government hopes to retain more students, provide structured and certified training, and reduce dropout rates. Courses such as baking, make-up and digital literacy are also expected to offer pathways for early income generation and entrepreneurship.
While the initiative has been widely welcomed, questions remain about staffing for the new vocational subjects and whether additional specialist teachers will be recruited. Governor Soludo has previously said Anambra has one of the lowest rates of out-of-school children in Nigeria, estimated at between 0.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent in late 2024 and early 2025, though earlier studies in 2021 put the figure much higher, particularly in rural communities.
The inclusion of entrepreneurial subjects at the junior secondary level reflects the Soludo administration’s broader education reform agenda, which aims to make schooling more relevant to students’ real-life needs and the state’s long-term economic development goals.
