FG to include trafficking in persons studies in school curriculum – Minister

The Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu says the Federal Government will review school curriculum to include studies in Trafficking in Persons (TIP) at all levels of education.

Adamu disclosed this on Tuesday in Enugu during the train-the-trainers workshop on Trafficking in Persons Issues mainstreamed into Nigeria College of Education (NCE) Minimum Standards.

The minister was represented by Mrs Obianuju Anigbogu, the Deputy Director, National and International Partnerships Division of Department of Education Support Services of the ministry.

Adamu said that the review had become necessary considering the challenges posed by trafficking in persons in the country.

He said that primary and post primary schools in the country needed to be properly guided on issues of trafficking.

Adamu said that migration was inevitable and it was imperative to infuse the studies in the school curriculum so as to prepare the next generation of Nigerians not to fall prey.

The minister said that the TIP studies had been mainstreamed in the NCE which necessitated the training.

The minister said that the ministry had created a special desk on migration with a view to taking care of migration issues.

“It is good that our children have started knowing about human trafficking and the important thing is to know when you are being trafficked.

“It is, therefore, necessary to start mainstreaming studies in TIP at all levels of education,” Adamu said.

Earlier, the National Project Officer, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Mr Matthias Esene, said that the training involved participants from colleges of education in South East and South South, Nigeria.

Esene said that the participants would in turn cascade the knowledge they would gain to their colleagues in their respective institutions.

He said that the objective was to train selected master trainers from the colleges of education on the TIP issues mainstreamed into the NCE Minimum Standards.

He said that ICMPD supported National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for the infusion of TIP issues into the curricular of basic and senior secondary schools in Nigeria.

Esene said that the project jointly funded by the European Union and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), was delivered in collaboration with the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

Also, the Executive Secretary of NCCE, Prof. Bappa-Aliyu Muhammadu, said that school children needed to be taught about TIP in order to resist the evil.

The Director, Public Enlightenment of NAPTIP, Mr Arinze Orakwe, said that the move was to tackle the issue of human trafficking from the core, adding, “we are throwing light to darkness.”