The United Nations Children’s Fund has called for the inclusion of climate change education in the Nigerian education curriculum. Chief of the UNICEF Field Office for southwest Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, disclosed this at an event organised by UNICEF to mark World Children’s Day on Wednesday in Lagos.

She revealed that over 100 million children’s education in Nigeria is currently being affected by climate change. This year, UNICEF is focusing on how climate change affects the younger generation, and that every child has the right to live on a healthy planet free from the devastating consequences of environmental degradation.

“Nigeria is one of the three countries most affected by climate change. These children face the consequences of flooding, poor sanitation, health risks, and water scarcity. With climate change exacerbating existing challenges like access to clean water and education, UNICEF is calling for more governmental action to mitigate these impacts.

Speakers at the 14th edition of the annual conference of the Association of Private Educators in Nigeria said moral values are essential for shaping the future and establishing ethical standards in education. The conference titled, ‘Ethical intelligence: redefining educational values,’ emphasised upholding values like integrity, respect, empathy, and accountability, ethical standards in the education sector and society.

The keynote speaker of the first day of the conference, Prof Lere Baale of Business School Netherlands, who spoke on ‘Bring Back The Values: Building A Generation Of Moral Innovators,’ stressed that innovation must go hand-in-hand with a firm foundation of moral values.

He said, “Bring back the values” is a call to foster creative thinkers, problem-solvers, and individuals guided by integrity, empathy, and responsibility principles. A generation of moral innovators combines creativity with ethical purpose, ensuring that advancements contribute positively to society.

OPay Digital Services Limited, a leading provider of digital financial solutions, in partnership with Dolly Children Foundation, has donated school bags, exercise books, and other learning materials to three public primary schools in Lagos State.

Over 800 pupils from Jibril Martins Memorial Primary School, Agege, Issa Williams Primary School and Anwar-ul Islam, Agege benefitted from the initiative. The pupils got school bags, shoes, notebooks, stationaries, and teaching aid supplies under the OPay Back -to- School Project.

Itoro Udo, Corporate Social Responsibility Project Manager, OPay Digital Services Limited Nigeria while speaking during the distribution exercise, said that the project aims to enhance educational access for underserved children by providing critical school materials, teaching aids, and interactive mentorship sessions.

Stakeholders in the education sector have called for teachers’ reform to improve the quality of education delivery in the country. The stakeholders emphasised teachers’ roles in improving learning outcomes and the need for evidence-informed policies.

They spoke at a one-day workshop on Teacher Issues in Conflict and -Protracted Crisis Settings, highlighting research findings from Kaduna and Adamawa Teacher Reforms. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) organised the meeting in Abuja to share research conducted by the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) project team.

The UK government funded the research through the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and covers seven countries globally, including South Sudan, Myanmar, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Education is the right and not a privilege of the Nigerian child, the Senate declared yesterday. The Red Chamber urged children to claim what is their statutory right. The Senate made the declaration at the National Assembly during a programme organised by its Committee on Women Affairs to commemorate the 2024 Universal Children’s Day.

In separate remarks, many of the senators urged Nigerian Children to make education their right and not a privilege since the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act 2004, made education free and compulsory. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ireti Kingibe, told Children from eight different public schools in Abuja that attended the event that they are the future of Nigeria whose greatness lies in the knowledge they acquire today.

Echoed education as right and not a privilege for children, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan said: “The Universal Basic Education Act 2004 made basic education free and compulsory, which must be followed with required enforcement by government at all levels.

he Federal Government has allocated more than N112 billion to ensure safety and inclusive spaces for children in the next three years. The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, announced this in a statement yesterday in Abuja in commemoration of this year’s World Children’s Day with the theme: Advancing Children’s Rights for a Sustainable Future.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that World Children’s Day is UNICEF’s global day of action for children. Annually celebrated around the globe on November 20, the World Children’s Day commemorates the anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Convention on Children’s Rights on November 20, 1959 and 1989.

Consequently, the United Nations celebrates the day, and strives to raise awareness about issues, such as education inequity, child labour, and access to healthcare, while also urging worldwide action to address these concerns.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the global landscape of education, offering unprecedented tools to enhance learning and productivity.

However, in Nigerian tertiary institutions, the story is unfolding differently. Many students have succumbed to the allure of AI shortcuts, prioritising convenience over genuine intellectual growth, and the growing trend of misuse is not only alarming but also detrimental to their future and the nation’s development.

The misuse of AI in education undermines the very purpose of higher learning, which is to foster intellectual growth, curiosity, and innovation. By outsourcing their efforts, students miss the opportunity to build foundational knowledge and develop critical thinking skills.

The significance of education in a nation cannot be overstated, as it holds the key to unlocking numerous long-term benefits that shape the country's future. Business Insider Africa presents 10 African countries with highest budget allocation for education

The list is courtesy of The Global Economy. Nine out of 49 African countries allocate 20% or more of their public spending to education. To ensure economic stability and growth, governments must prioritize a well-planned budget and strategic resource allocation with keen focus on the educational sector.

Most especially, the educational budget plays a huge role in helping the country prioritize and address critical issues in the sector. It ensures that revenue income and expenditure estimates are accurate, leading to better achievement of educational goals.

Atiku Bagudu, minister of Budget and National Planning, has called for the urgent modernization of Nigeria’s statistical systems to better support education and drive sustainable economic growth.

Bagudu in his address at the 2024 African Statistics Day, themed “Supporting Education by Modernizing the Production of People-Focused Statistics,” emphasized the critical role of accurate, fit for purpose data in shaping policies that address Nigeria and Africa’s most pressing challenges.

He noted that only by modernizing these systems can Nigeria and the broader African continent unlock the potential of their youth and ensure long-term prosperity. The African Statistics Day celebrated annually on November 18th to raise awareness about the importance of statistics in development and to promote the use of data for better decision-making in Africa.

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has conducted the Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) for 16,614 teachers nationwide. Acting Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Stella-Maria Nwokeocha, who monitored the examination in Abuja with some officials from the Federal Ministry of Education, commended the conduct of the examination.

Nwokeocha said the agency was undergoing financial challenges following the delisting of the agency from those funded directly by the Federal Government. Lamenting the situation, Dr. Nwokeocha said the agency has had to cut down its operational cost and merely depend on development partners to exist.

She said that it has been harrowing taking staff on training and paying emoluments. She said: “We met so many challenges but we try to cut down on cost, everything boils down to sacrifice. I praise the staff of the agency because they have been very understanding. For something like training, we had to cut down drastically on that, instead we do group training.

The UNICEF Generation Unlimited Nigeria Public-Private-Youth-Partnership said it has connected nine million Nigerian youth with skills, digital access, and livelihood opportunities. In a landmark gathering held at the Airtel Headquarters in Lagos, the UNICEF Generation Unlimited Nigeria platform celebrated three years of remarkable progress, having surpassed its initial three-year target of 7.5 million.

A statement by UNICEF on Tuesday, said that this milestone positioned the initiative well on its journey to achieving its 2030 goal of connecting 20 million young people with opportunities for growth and impact.

It read, “The committee reviewed progress across its three core pillars: Connectivity and Digital Learning, Workplace Readiness, and Youth Engagement. Key partners presented updates on their respective contributions, underlining how collaboration has driven success.”

Social media has been described as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it connects us globally, helps to break barriers and is a platform for self-expression and creativity. On the other, it is also often blamed for eroding real-world, in-person connections.

However, the increased penetration of internet connectivity, mobile, and smart devices in Africa has seen young people on the continent embrace the use of social media to advance their education by accessing information and learning materials in real-time, helping them connect with other learners, educators, and mentors across geographical boundaries.

To give deeper insights into how young people are using social media for education and learning, the November edition of the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Mondays Africa featured views and opinions of undergraduate students from the United States International University of Africa (USIU-Africa) in Nairobi, Kenya.