By Usman Usman Garba
The Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), has organised a State-Level Step-Down Training on Greening Schools and Climate Change Education Intervention (GSCCEI) in Kano State.
The training, held at the SBMC Hall, SUBEB Headquarters, Audu Bako Secretariat, Kano, brought together key education stakeholders to strengthen their capacity for the effective implementation of the GSCCEI in schools and communities.
A total of 10 Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) were selected for the Training of Trainers (ToT), with 10 schools selected from each participating LGEA.
Each selected school was represented by six participants, bringing the total number of participants to 60.
Declaring the training open on behalf of the Executive Chairman of Kano State SUBEB, Malam Yusuf Kabir, the Board Secretary, Hajiya Amina Umar, described the initiative as timely and important, noting that climate change has become one of the major challenges facing society.
She highlighted the effects of climate change, including changing weather patterns, environmental degradation, desertification, flooding and excessive heat, which directly affect communities and the education of children.
Hajiya Amina stressed the need for schools to serve as centres for promoting environmental awareness and sustainable practices, including tree planting, school gardening, cleanliness, conservation and the responsible use of natural resources.
She said the training would provide participants with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required to promote environmental sustainability and climate resilience among learners.
The Board Secretary urged participants to actively participate in the training, share experiences and ensure that the knowledge gained was translated into practical action in their respective schools and communities.
She further charged them to become ambassadors of environmental sustainability in their schools, communities and Local Government Education Authorities.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Aisha Garba, was represented at the occasion by the UBEC Zonal Coordinator, Malam Abdurrahman Musa, who said the training represented a significant milestone in the Federal Government’s education sector reform agenda aimed at repositioning schools to respond effectively to emerging national and global challenges.
He explained that the GSCCEI aligns with the National Education Sector Renewal Initiative and Nigeria’s commitment to the UNESCO Greening Education Partnership through the integration of environmental sustainability, climate change education, green skills and climate-resilient school practices into basic education.
According to him, the GSCCEI was developed through an extensive consultative process involving Federal and State education institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, development partners, climate experts, academia and civil society organisations.
He disclosed that the consultative process culminated in the development and approval of the National GSCCEI Implementation Guidelines and Handbook, which serves as the official framework for implementation across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Malam Abdurrahman further stated that UBEC would deploy a web-based Monitoring and Evaluation Portal to facilitate real-time reporting, performance tracking and monitoring of the implementation of the initiative across the country.
He urged state implementation teams to ensure timely, accurate and consistent reporting through the platform, stressing that quality data would be critical to measuring progress and informing continuous improvement.
The UBEC Zonal Coordinator also disclosed that the Centre for Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development (ACEARD) had been appointed as the technical consultant for the GSCCEI to provide technical guidance, capacity building, implementation support, monitoring and tracking of state-level implementation in collaboration with UBEC.
He called on SUBEBs, state and LGEA desk officers, school administrators and facilitators to work closely with UBEC and the technical team to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
In their separate remarks, two participants, Malam Abdullahi Sule Rano, Desk Officer, and Mahmud Muhammad Sadiq, Desk Officer, Dala, pledged their commitment to supporting the implementation of the programme in their respective areas.
They said they would use the knowledge gained from the training to teach pupils practical environmental conservation skills, particularly tree planting and nurturing seedlings until they mature.
They noted that such activities would help reduce the effects of climate change, improve environmental sustainability and contribute to creating a cleaner, greener and more conducive learning environment in schools.
The participants expressed appreciation to SUBEB and UBEC for organising the training, describing it as an important initiative that would equip education stakeholders with practical knowledge to address environmental and climate-related challenges.
