

Chapter 14



ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

This report has made many suggestions about how we can protect our environment. But we do not have enough well-trained people in South Africa to do all these things. Because of  apartheid  many black South Africans have not had a proper education. Many black South Africans cannot read. The new government must start an education campaign for children and adults. They must also train the people we need to protect the environment.

It will take many years to train all the people we need to protect our environment. It will also take many years for all schools to start teaching environmental education.

Environmental awareness and environmental responsibility should be taught in all our schools. The children of today will be making decisions about the country in the future. They must understand how important the environment is so that they can make the right decisions.

In the past, environmental education was mostly about the protection of plants and animals. Often it was taught as if the teacher knew all the answers and the students knew nothing.

But there is a new way of learning about the environment. In this new way, the students find out the answers for themselves. They don't wait for the teacher to tell them what is right or wrong.

Environmental education in primary and secondary schools

Some people feel that environmental education should be a separate subject at school. Other people feel that it should be part of all the other subjects, like English, History, Geography, Art. One of the problems at the moment is that there are not enough teachers who have been trained in environmental education. First we must train the teachers.

The Environmental Education Policy Initiative was started by the Department of Environment Affairs and the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA). They held consultations with many people around the country. From these consultations they have made some suggestions for environmental education. They suggest that:

- environmental education should be included in all other subjects. For example, in history, students should look at how the environment changed through history, and why. In English they could write poetry or essays about the environment

- there should be three separate environmental courses at schools. The first would be Environmental Studies in lower primary school. The second would be "Education for Sustainable Living" at middle school level. The third would be a separate subject at senior secondary level. This could include, for example, environmental law, environmental planning, primary health care, conservation management

- students should be involved in environmental action outside the school grounds.

Environmental education at schools should include traditional environmental knowledge. Students should also look at how different cultures have managed their natural resources. This should include how black South Africans managed their natural resources in the past.

Environmental education and training at universities and technikons

South Africa needs more environmental scientists, engineers, and technicians to work in industry. We need more black people and more women to study these subjects.

Many of the subjects taught at university must be changed so that they include environmental education. For example, scientists and economists must learn about the effect of their work on the environment.

We must improve our courses in water, waste management, and soil conservation. We must set up new courses to train more inspectors who can look at water, air and land pollution together, and not just at one of these.

The government must also organise "on-the-job" training for people in government departments, so that they can protect the environment better. We should learn from other countries about how to train the people that we need.

This training could include:

- in-service training and short courses in environmental management

- being sent to work outside South Africa for a while. Newly-appointed government officials could be sent to other countries for a few months to learn about how they protect the environment, and

- short visits for ministers or senior officials to other countries to learn about how they protect the environment.

Workplace education

Workers can help to protect the environment. They can help to check whether industry is breaking the law or not. But workers need training and education to do this. Environment courses for workers in industry need to be developed. Worker health and safety representatives should become health, safety and environment representatives. Their reports should be part of the company's environmental reports.

Research

There is a lot of research that must be done on environmental issues. The local people should take part in this research. Their local knowledge should be respected. They should own the results of the research with the research organisation.

Environmental education outside the schools

Environmental education should not only happen inside classrooms. Environmental education should empower people to understand their community and work environments. It should empower them to take action to make their lives better.

Environmental awareness and education should be based on the knowledge of the local community about their environment. It should help communities to solve local environmental problems. Environmental education must help communities to take part in making decisions about environmental issues that affect their daily lives. Communities must also be empowered to measure the quality of their environment.

Rich people must be educated about how their lives damage the environment. The more people use water, paper, electricity, and the more things they buy and throw away, the more effect they have on our environment.

NGOs and private companies must help in environmental education in communities and factories.

Rural training institutions should be set up as suggested in the RDP. These could build capacity in community tourism management, resource management, building tourist lodges, and other skills needed for making money from tourism. This could help the rural areas to develop.

Environmental education can also take place through primary health care services, water committees and so on.

Environmental education must be available to women, particularly black women. Women are often very active in environmental issues that affect the health of their families.

Finding the money for environmental education

The suggestions that we have made will all need money. The new government must find the money for these things. It is very important that we educate all our people about environmental issues.

Recommendations

1.  At primary and secondary schools, environmental education should include:

2.  environmental education as a part of all subjects
3.  three separate environmental courses:

(i) an Environmental Studies course in lower primary,

(ii) "Education for Sustainable Living" at middle school level, and

(iii) a separate subject at senior secondary level

4.  environmental activities in the community.

5.  At universities and technikons:

6.  science courses must include environmental education
7.  technical courses for water and waste management, and soil conservation must be improved
8.  more students must be trained as environmental scientists and engineers.

9.  Education and training in the workplace:

10. industry should develop courses in health, safety and environment for workers
11. more government officials must be trained in environmental management.

12. Non-formal education:

13. a programme of action around environmental awareness and education should be started by the government, the private sector and environmental NGOs.

14. Gender:

15. special effort must be made to make sure that women, especially black women, can study environmental education at all levels.

16. Research

17. the government should study the best ways to teach environmental education.





