Page 11 - CKA 2025 Yearbook Final Edition

Integrating the United Nations SDGs into School Curriculum:

Preparing Our Learners for a Future-Ready World

As educators in the 21st century, we are continually faced with the question: Are we preparing our learners not just to succeed in
exams, but to thrive in a complex, interconnected and rapidly changing world? At City of Knowledge Academy (CKA), our answer
this academic session has been a deliberate and resounding Yes! — and it came through a bold step: embedding the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the core of our learning experiences.

The SDGs — 17 global goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 — represent a shared blueprint for peace, prosperity, and a
sustainable planet. From quality education to climate action, reduced inequalities to responsible consumption, these goals outline
the most critical global challenges and the kind of thinking today's students must develop to lead tomorrow’s world.
Across the globe, countries are already making strides in integrating SDG education into their curricula. Finland, for example, is
known for embedding sustainability across all subject areas from an early age. Japan has incorporated Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) across its educational institutions, while Scotland has woven the SDGs into its national curriculum through a
“Curriculum for Excellence” framework. These nations understand that preparing students to be global citizens must go beyond
traditional academics — it must instil a deep sense of responsibility, creativity, and civic engagement.

Why Nigeria Should Embrace SDG-Based Education
For Nigeria, the largest black nation and a key player in Africa’s development, embracing SDG-aligned education is no longer
optional. With a growing youth population, a changing climate, economic challenges, and technological disruption, Nigerian
students must be equipped with the skills, mindset, and moral compass to be solution-providers. Teaching the SDGs in our
schools means producing critical thinkers, empathetic leaders, and active citizens ready to shape a better future for Nigeria and
the world.

CKA’s Commitment to SDG Education
At City of Knowledge Academy, we took a bold and innovative step this academic session by devoting significant portions of our
learning activities to sensitizing students across all year groups to the SDGs. Through assemblies, workshops, class discussions,
debates, research presentations, and field visits, our learners were challenged not only to know the SDGs but to live them. Our
students were guided to see themselves as stakeholders in a future that depends on their values, voice, and vision. They didn’t
just learn about the world — they learned how to change it.

Major Projects: Learning by Doing
Three key projects across various year groups stood out this term, showcasing how powerful and transformative SDG-based
education can be:
1.Beautification of the Environment (Years 7 & 8)
2. Linked to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), our younger students embarked on school-wide
beautification projects. From flower planting to maintaining green areas and creating upcycled art installations, they
developed a new respect for their environment and the importance of sustainability. It also nurtured teamwork and a sense of
ownership for their immediate world.
3.Community Service Project (Years 10 & 11)
4. Aligned with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 4 (Quality Education), our senior students identified
local needs within our host community and engaged in impactful awareness outreach, including volunteering to clean up the
community and awareness sessions. They experienced firsthand the power of empathy and civic duty.
5.Charity Project (Year 9)
6. Focused on SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), Year 9 students led a charity drive for vulnerable
children, collecting and distributing essential items, and organising peer tutoring. More than just giving, the students engaged
in conversations around systemic poverty, inequality, and what lasting solutions could look like.

These projects did more than tick a box — they transformed mindsets. Students began to see global challenges not as distant
problems, but as issues that mattered to them. They learned that change begins with them, and that every voice and action
counts.

A Note of Gratitude
This journey would not have been possible without the collective spirit of our CKA
community. To our parents, thank you for your unwavering support, encouragement, and
for reinforcing these values at home. To our teachers, your leadership, dedication, and
ability to guide our learners beyond the classroom have been exceptional. And to our
students, we are immensely proud of your resilience, creativity, and openness to grow.
You have shown that learning is not just about getting grades, but about shaping the
world we all live in.
As we look ahead, we remain committed to nurturing global citizens who are not just
future-ready but future-shapers. The SDGs will continue to be a compass in our
educational journey at CKA because our children deserve a future that is sustainable,
inclusive, and filled with hope.

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Mr. Sylvester Ugwunna V.P. Academics