The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Tuesday organised a two-day training for 70 Islamiyya and Qur’anic school teachers on Basic Child Protection and Psychosocial.
Mr Godwin Odoh, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, said during the event in Kano that the objective of the training was to promote a right sensitive and learning environment for reintegrated Almajiri children.
According to Odoh, the training was also to improve the knowledge and capacity of Almajiri teachers to carry out their roles and responsibilities of child protection.
He said that the training would build the capacity of the teachers to provide psychosocial support to Almajiri children in the state.
”UNICEF observed that during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many children were subjected to all manners of indignities that did not go well for their protection.
“Many of them were being repatriated to their states of origin without any recourse to their health, protection and education.
“So, we felt during that period, UNICEF should intervene and provide some of the capacity building to states in response to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The specialist said this was particularly in relations to the Almajiri issue because of the vulnerable nature that they live in.
He said that after that, UNICEF realised that Kano State Government had established three modern Almajiri schools to cater for the over 1,000 children repatriated from other states.
“We feel it is important for the teachers that will handle the children to know the kind of challenges they have faced, and the new environment they find themselves.
“It is good for the teachers to know that each of the children came with his kind of experience and challenges in life, so that they should know how to manage them,” he said.
Odoh, therefore, stressed the need for the teachers to know the attitude of the children, especially through guidance and counseling.
However, Jamila Ahmed, one of the participants who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that she had been a teacher for over eight years, but never undergone such training.
Ahmed commended UNICEF for organising such training, saying it came at the right time.
According to her, the training has improved her knowledge on how to manage the children to guide and put them on the right way.
Another participant, Aminu Usman, said in his over 20 years as a teacher, the training on child protection was the best. (NAN)
