UI partners ILO to train teachers, other stakeholders on SCREAM, child labour

Vice chancellor, the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, has described the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s ‘Supporting Children Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media (SCREAM)’ programme as one of the best initiatives to control child labour in the global spread.

He stated this as the chairman at the opening of a six-day workshop   with the theme “A Certificated SCREAM” organised by the ILO in collaboration with the University of Ibadan, to train teachers and other stakeholders in the cocoa and artisanal mining sectors held at the Balogun Subomi Conference Centre of the university last Saturday.

According to him, the SCREAM agenda wholly intersects with two of the university’s mission statements which are – to contribute to the transformation of society through creativity and innovation and to serve as dynamic custodian of society’s salutary values and thus sustain its integrity.

He noted that it was in recognition of these intersecting interests that the university was in collaborative partnership with ILO on the SCREAM project, saying “ILO should be rest assured that it has one of the best collaborators in this in UI.”

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Speaking further about the training, he said that the effort was geared towards the conduction of a certificated SCREAM module training not just for teachers but other stakeholders such as labour officers, agricultural extension officers, mines field workers and civil society organisations who will in turn implement the knowledge and skills provided by the UI team to ensure that the control of child labour in agriculture and mining in Nigeria.

He lauded members of the duo training teams for a job well done and appealed to the participants to make the best of the opportunity in order to make a difference in the society.

In his speech at the event, the director, Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETel), University of Ibadan, Professor Akin Odebunmi noted that the journey of the SCREAM project which commenced in 2020 was highly involving and challenging, not only intellectually but also socially.

For the training, he stated that all necessary ingredients of effective pedagogy had been injected into the sessions in spite of the challenges of time, encouraging participants to involve themselves in the activities of the training not only for fulfilling the purpose of their nomination for the programme, but also for picking up skills that will help to transform the society.

Country director, ILO, Ms Vanessa Phala, represented by the national project coordinator, ACCEL Africa Project (Nig), Dr Agatha Kolawole, said that with the contribution of the academia in the certificated training workshop on the elimination of child labour, the fabric of the society could be re-engineered through the adoption of proper practices relating to child development and acceptable forms of works for children within the working age.

She disclosed that the Dutch government’s funded ACCEL Africa project in Nigeria had increased and sustained the campaign against the exploitation of children in the workplace through a multifaceted approach which included the provision of back-to-school kits, re-absorption into the school system, livelihood support for identified vulnerable children and adult beneficiaries.

She also stated that the project had awarded grants to 13 Nigeria postgraduate students to conduct studies related to the elimination of child labour in the cocoa and Artisanal Gold Mining (ASGM) sector, and postgraduate student from the University of Ibadan is a beneficiary.