The European Union, in collaboration with UNICEF, has commenced training education stakeholders on school safety, psycho-social support and climate literacy in Kano.

Speaking at the opening on Wednesday in Kano, Aisha Abdullahi, education facilitator of Education and Youth Empowerment (EYE), said the four-year programme, which is from October 2023 to August 2027, covers Kano, Jigawa and Sokoto.

She said that Kano was selected as one of the top beneficiaries of the newly introduced EU-funded education and empowerment programme in Nigeria.

Ms Abdullahi noted that the project would increase the number of girls and boys benefiting from safe, inclusive, relevant learning and skills development opportunities.

“We started this exercise with the training of ToT. They are the master trainers, and the master trainers will go down to step down the training to 800 teachers across the schools in 10 local government areas of the state.

“The local governments are Nasarawa, Kano Municipal, Dala, Gwale, Sumaila, Gezawa, Dawakin-Tofa, Makoda, Tudun-Wada and Dambatta local government areas,” she said.

Ms Abdullahi added that the training would develop the capacity of the stakeholders to reduce conflict and disaster risk through effective knowledge of early warning signs, identification, and response.

She said that the 40 participants were drawn from local government areas, the education ministry, SUBEB, Quranic, Islamic and Sangaya schools management board and tertiary institutions.

Umar Doguwa, the education commissioner, commended the intervention of UNICEF through the EU-EYE project in the education sector.

Mr Doguwa said the interventions would improve access to quality education for children, particularly those in underserved communities.

“Their programme has addressed challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, teachers training, and gender disparities in education. UNICEF has helped in creating a brighter future for these young learners,” he stressed.

(NAN)