Nigeria: Over 1,000 Children to Benefit From YBWorms Social, Emotional Learning Programme

What the report says

The Young African Bookworms Initiative (YBWorms) has won approval to widen its Paragon Train Club social and emotional learning programme into nine additional schools in Lagos, according to This Day and distributed by AllAfrica. The expansion includes four more public primary schools approved by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board and five low-income private primary schools in Ikorodu. The organisation says the move will significantly increase the number of children reached, with more than 1,000 pupils expected to benefit.

Paragon Train Club is described as a structured Social, Emotional and Ethical learning programme for primary school pupils. Its sessions are designed to help children build skills such as empathy, emotional awareness, responsible decision-making, leadership and resilience alongside classroom learning. YBWorms said the programme had already been running in five schools across Lagos before this latest expansion.

The initiative also plans to train teachers from the participating schools so they can help facilitate weekly club sessions. The group says the effort is intended to support children from different backgrounds, including those in lower-income communities, by strengthening character education and life skills. More broadly, the programme reflects a growing emphasis in education on students’ social and emotional development as a complement to academic work.