Why FG Must Integrate Drama, Theater In School Curriculum – AAUA Professor

Omotayo Oloruntoba-Oju, Professor of African and Caribbean Drama and Theatre, has called on federal government to integrate drama and theater into school curricula at all levels, including tertiary institutions.

According to her, literature and theatre plays a great deal of Influence in promoting justice and morality.

She also added that their integration into educational curricula must be with special consideration for establishing community theatre programmes in universities to enhance communal engagement and social development.

She made this assertion recently, while delivering the 34th Inaugural Lecture of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), titled “What Literature Told Me, What the Theatre Taught Me: Performance and Resistance Across Time and Space.”
According to her, “Government should take steps to integrate drama into the curriculum of schools and institutions of learning.

“As my work on integrating drama with the medical training curriculum has shown, the concept works well with the humanities as well as with the sciences,” she said.

National Council on Education, NCE, recently reviewed the school Corriculum with a view to including more vocational, hands on skill acquisitions.

The theater industry, according to global reports, is a vibrant and dynamic sector that has been a cornerstone of entertainment for centuries.

From Broadway shows to regional productions, the ndustry is a significant contributor to the global economy and a source of joy for millions of people worldwide.

The global theater market size was valued at USD 25.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 33.4 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 4.5%. By CAGR, it means compound annual growth rate. It is a way to measure the average rate of return on an investment over a period of time.

CAGR is often used to compare investments or to predict future returns. The growth in this industry is driven by factors such as the increasing demand for live entertainment, technological advancements, and the rising popularity of theater productions worldwide.

But the nation’s university suystem must be involved in teaching, development and policy mainstreaming.

“The National Universities Commission (NUC) should facilitate this integration, ensuring drama serves as a pedagogical tool for structured enactments and enhanced communication skills.

“The communal orientation of drama can be harnessed through the establishment of community theatre programmes in universities”, stressing the mobilization potential of theatre in shaping progressive societies.

On the social and political front, Prof. Oloruntoba-Oju asserted that literature and theatre have always been catalysts for resistance and transformation, saying, “Literature and theatre have taught me indelible lessons about life and what makes it worth living universally.

“Chief among these is the promotion of justice, morality, and resistance to evil and injustice. Indeed, resistance to evil is, and has always been, a canon of literature and performance,” the professor said.