TheCable

Michael Semiye, country director, World’s Largest Lessons Nigeria, says there is a need to include climate education in the Nigerian academic curriculum.  

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Semiye said education is a major tool for effecting change and curbing global environmental threats.

With only two weeks before the UN climate change summit in Glasgow, Semiye believes that Nigerian students need to understand the realities of the climate crisis. 

He said the country needs to do more in filling up the climate education gap as it would go a long way in addressing the climate challenges.

“The ministries of education and environment should work together to begin the formal process of including climate education in the national school curriculum,” he said.

“There’s no greater tool to change the world than education. Students must be made to understand that climate change is not just a threat, but is a reality resulting in social, economic and environmental instability in a country that is already vulnerable.

“Our contextualised resources for the classroom include all these issues and possible solutions, so that future generations in Nigeria can be climate champions.

“Climate education is a gap we need to unite and fill. Education globally has been identified as a catalyst for actionable result-oriented change and national development. So, how well has Nigeria explored education as a tool to address these climate challenges?” 

Semiye called on the federal government to set up green clubs in school, engage students in climate-based extracurricular activities, and introduce climate-based literature as reading materials.