21 May 2013

Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Mr Rule Opelo say it is important for learners to be taken on board on issues of environment to combat challenges that beset the environment.

Mr Opelo said this May17 when officiating at the Central Region-hosted Environmental Education Fair in Palapye, which was meant to sensitise learners on issues of environment.

Mr Opelo said the greatest challenge of all living organisms were diverse changes affecting organisms, adding that global warming, climate change and unsustainable ways of using the environment top the agenda of both developed and developing countries. Mr Opelo further said despite the ancestors’ lack of modern education, they practiced sustainable methods like food preservation such as dried meat and used bows and arrows for hunting.

Therefore, he said it was important for this generation to buy in some indigenous knowledge to help combat environmental exploitation.

He said it was important for learners to include environmental education in the school curriculum to impart knowledge, skills and actions to learners, urging them to practice the concepts of Reduce, Re-use and Re-cycle. For his part the acting director for Curriculum Development and Evaluation, Mr Molaodi Menyatso said there were lots of developments taking place in the world as countries strived to grow their economies.

These developments, Mr Menyatso said did not come cheap as they caused enormous environmental challenge, calling for a need to intensify the strategy of education for sustainable development.

He said the greatest task was for the society to equip children with attitudes, knowledge and skills needed to re-think and change the current patterns of actions for a sustainable future, adding that this could be achieved through education for sustainable development and environmental education.

Education for sustainable development, he said was the use of education as a tool for attaining sustainability.  “The world has moved towards a holistic approach in tackling environmental, social and economic conditions using education as a strategy.”

Education for Sustainable Development was premised on improving basic education. The fair held under the theme “Indigenous Knowledge a Step Towards Poverty Eradication and Environmental Sustainability was aimed at introspecting achievements in the central region and anticipated successes following the activities as outlined in the National Environmental Education Strategy Plan. ENDS