Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the Katsina State Government has trained 60 junior and senior secondary school science teachers on climate change.
The UNICEF Focal Person, state Ministry of Education, Hajiya Binta Abdulmumini, while addressing the participants, said the essence of the training was to enlighten the teachers on climate change and its relevance to education.
She charged the participants to step-down the training to at least 100 students and other teachers in their respective schools in order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change in the state.
She added that the teachers were selected across six UNICEF’s interventions local governments of Kankara, Ingawa, Baure, Jibia, Kankia and Rimi as part of the UN agency’s efforts to tackle the effect of climate change in the state.
According to her, “The ultimate goal for this training is for these teachers and their students to be able to live with climate change: know how to adapt and how to be innovative to bring about their own mitigation measures.”
The resource person for the training, Dr. Ummi Khalthum Mohammed, called on the participants to include climate change in their school curriculum and effectively teach children about its implications.
She said if children, who are most vulnerable to climate change are educated on how to bring innovations and sustainable ways of living with climate change, they can fit comfortably into the environment.
Consequently, she urged the state government and all stakeholders to provide an enabling environment for “these children so that they can learn effectively in their respective schools”.
She added: “If the children are effectively equipped about climate change when announcements are made on whether we are going to have extreme temperatures or heavy rainfall already, they are prepared to deal with it.
“So, unnecessary deaths, diseases or calamities can easily be avoided especially when it has to do with the welfare of the children. It will also sensitise the government and all stakeholders to provide enabling environment for these children so that they can learn effectively.”
