Government trains 372 primary school teachers on counter-insurgency in Yobe | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
5th April 2018
The Nigerian government, through the Presidential Committee for North-East Initiative (PCNI) in collaboration with the Yobe State Government on Wednesday commenced a five-day training of 372 primary school teachers on counter-insurgency in Damaturu.
The PCNI Programme Officer, Mrs Faith Anifowoshe, said that the committee was in Yobe to build the capacity of primary school teachers following the aftermath of insurgency in the state.
EduCeleb.com reports that Yobe is one of the most devasitated states as a result of Boko Haram insurgency. The state recently gained further prominence following the kidnap of 110 school girls at the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi in February. While most of the girls got released over a month later, one still remains a captive of the terrorists.
As a result of the insurgency dominantly in North East Nigeria, many schools had been closed down just as teachers and students had been demobilised. The organisers of training believe it would help the teachers on how to tackle insurgency in schools.
“We are actually in Yobe State to commence a capacity building of 372 primary school teachers who were disintegrated by insurgency in the North-East.
“This will enable children in this part of the country to get the required knowledge after lots of them were forced to abandon their education.
“At the end of this programme, we hope the teachers will be better equipped to handle the challenging situation at hand.
“This is because education in the North-East, even before the crisis, is a bit backward compared to other parts of the country, which is made worse by the insurgent activities,” Anifowoshe said.
One of the facilitators, Ali Ibrahim, said that the major aim was to improve the teaching and learning capacity of teachers and students in the state.
In the words of the Yobe State University lecturer, “This is designed to be achieved through various modules developed by the university, categorised into three: Psychosocial Support (PSS), Conflicts and Disaster Risk Management (CDRM) and Pedagogy of Teaching.”
Dr Ibrahim expressed happiness on the turnout of the participants, saying, “the turnout is excellent. The classrooms are filled. I have seen the enthusiasm, the courage and resilience in the participants”.
Some of the participants expressed appreciation and promised to utilise the skills acquire in the training.
One of the participants, Ibrahim Balami, said, “The training will really improve our methods of teaching.
“We will go back to our respective schools to share the skills with our colleagues who do not have the opportunity to attend.”