FG Urged To Integrate Climate Change Education Into School Curriculum

The Federal Government has been urged to integrate comprehensive climate change education into Nigeria’s national school curriculum to equip students with practical skills to tackle flooding, drought, rising temperatures and other environmental threats.

Executive Director of Climate and Green World Foundation (CGWF), Dr. Ike Anosike, who made the call in Makurdi during sensitisation lectures carried out some secondary schools, noted that the country’s education system must prepare children and young people to understand climate risks and build resilient communities.

Anosike said climate change had far-reaching implications for public health, agriculture, food security, water resources, biodiversity and livelihoods, stressing the need for urgent action to prepare learners for its growing effects.

He said the Nigeria’s education system must respond to the growing threat by ensuring that climate change education goes beyond theoretical lessons to provide learners with practical knowledge and skills for addressing environmental challenges.

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He advocated a comprehensive, age-appropriate and action-oriented curriculum covering climate science, the effects of climate change on Nigerian communities, adaptation strategies, renewable energy, environmental protection and sustainable agriculture.

The environmental expert noted that students should be taught about climate-related disasters, including flooding, drought, desertification, coastal erosion and rising temperatures, as well as their implications for food production, public health and community safety.

He also called for lessons on disaster risk reduction, early warning systems, climate justice, environmental rights and Nigeria’s climate policies to help learners understand the responsibilities of governments, businesses, communities and individuals in tackling climate change.

Anosike added that climate education should also equip students with practical skills in waste management, recycling, tree planting, forest conservation, energy efficiency and sustainable consumption.

He further stressed that schools should encourage environmental clubs, school gardens, tree-planting exercises, waste reduction initiatives and climate awareness campaigns to translate classroom learning into practical environmental action.

The CGWF boss further led his team, teachers and students to plant trees in some schools, including Christ Anglican College, High Level in Makurdi, while emphasising the need for climate change education to be integrated across relevant subjects.

Anosike also urged support for appropriate learning materials, teacher training, practical activities and community engagement with curriculum that should reflect local environmental realities.