The Borno State Government has announced plans to introduce trauma counseling in its primary and post-primary schools to cure students of insurgency-inflicted trauma which may impede learning.

 

The Permanent Secretary of the state ministry of education, Alhaji Hassan Mustapha Aminami, made the announcement at this year's commemoration of the abduction of Chibok girls, organized by the Borno State Network of Civil Society Organizations in conjunction with Women's Rights Advancement Programme (WRAPA), in Maiduguri weekend.

 

"The idea to introduce this novel component for the proper education of the generality of our children, majority of who seem trauma-stricken, is a fallout of the meeting we had during the education sector planning committee meeting," he said, adding, "We had a lot of complaints coming from the people across the state; and consequently UNICEF told us that they are providing some support in terms of psychosocial training for our teachers; and we decided that this UNICEF intervention would not be enough.

 

"That is how we decided to incorporate trauma counseling in the curriculum of our tertiary institutions, especially the colleges of education, so that when NCE teachers are properly trained they would be fully equipped with the required skills to counsel their students properly. We envisage a situation where almost all our schools will have trauma councilors who are also teachers of other subjects."

 

The Chairman/Executive Director of the Borno State Network of Civil Society Organizations, Amb. Ahmed Shehu, had earlier called on the Federal Government to expedite the establishment of the Northeast Development Commission to facilitate the reconstruction of the Northeast after the destruction by Boko Haram insurgency.

By Uthman Abubakar, Maiduguri