By Usman Usman Garba
The Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Abuja, has organised a stakeholders’ sensitisation programme to promote environmental sustainability and climate change awareness in basic schools across Kano State.
The one-day programme, held on October 24, 2026, focused on the Greening Schools and Climate Change Education Intervention (GSCCEI) under the Agricultural Education and Training Programme (AETP) for the 2025 intervention year.
The initiative aims to create a conducive teaching and learning environment, equip pupils with practical agricultural skills, promote environmental sustainability and contribute to efforts to address climate change.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Chairman of SUBEB Kano, Malam Yusuf Kabir, represented by the Director of Academic Services, Malam Ibrahim Yahuza, emphasised the importance of environmental protection and practical agricultural education in basic schools.
He explained that greening schools goes beyond planting trees to include establishing school gardens, nurturing trees, improving the school environment and introducing pupils to productive agricultural activities that can develop their skills from an early age.
Under the intervention, 44 schools are expected to benefit from activities such as tree planting, school gardening and small-scale animal husbandry, including the rearing of chickens, pigeons, rabbits and fish, as well as other suitable livestock.
The initiative is designed to transform schools into centres of environmental awareness and practical learning while encouraging pupils to develop an interest in agriculture and acquire skills that could support their future livelihoods.
The SUBEB chairman called on head teachers, agricultural science teachers, Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) desk officers, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) chairmen, parents and host communities to work together to ensure the successful implementation and sustainability of the programme.
He stressed the need for transparency, accountability, compliance with programme guidelines and effective community participation, noting that the success of the intervention depended on the collective commitment of all stakeholders.
In his remarks, the Greening Schools and Climate Change Education Intervention Coordinator, Yusuf Madaki Bichi, highlighted the importance of effective coordination and monitoring in achieving the programme’s objectives.
He explained that monitoring and evaluation mechanisms had been established to track implementation, assess progress and ensure that participating schools carried out planned activities in line with the intervention’s objectives.
The coordinator also urged schools to protect and maintain planted trees, properly manage school gardens and livestock facilities, and ensure that pupils actively participated in practical agricultural and environmental activities.
Parents, community leaders and other stakeholders were equally encouraged to support the initiative by providing labour, watering and protecting trees and gardens, and helping to maintain facilities provided to participating schools.
Some participants also shared their experiences and commended the Board for organising the sensitisation programme, describing it as an important step towards raising awareness about environmental sustainability and climate change education.
The Greening Schools and Climate Change Education Intervention reflects the collaborative efforts of SUBEB Kano and UBEC Abuja to promote environmental sustainability, improve the quality of basic education and strengthen practical agricultural learning in schools across Kano State.