Educational Activities get underway

Fri, 11 June 2010

• ‘Well prepared and presented lessons. They did exciting exercises to keep learners attentive. I am so impressed because the Bugs are so helpful. Perfect and excellent lessons.’ - Gladys Mncwabe, principal*

REPORT 1: Midlands Meander Education Project – Integrating environmental education into the school curriculum

The Midlands Meander Education Project will improve environmental awareness and knowledge at a rural school in Dargle, KwaZulu Natal. The organisation’s vision is to help Midlands schools nurture capable, confident, curious children who are sensitive to environmental issues, who have the resilience to cope with a changing world and are able to contribute positively to their communities

The project began in February 2010 and is due to end in January 2011.

Outputs

• The project has worked with all 112 learners and 6 educators in the past 5 months, this included 8 visits to the school.
• 5 educators have attended one or more of the 6 workshops that have been held so far this year.
• A planning meeting was held with all educators in February to decide on their Eco-School Themes for 2010 and to plan projects and activities according to the curriculum plans of the school involved.
• Midlands Meander facilitators have co-taught classes on a number of environmental issues, including recycling, nutrition, healthy living and creative use of waste.
• The first collection of recyclable materials took place on 24 February and has continued on a monthly basis. Large bags and metal drums are used to collect recyclable materials and keep waste separate.
• An organic farmer visited the school in May 2010.
• The children were assisted in making collage posters to celebrate Earth Day. These have been entered into the HSBC Climate Change Poster Competition.
• 31 Grade 6&7 learners went on a field trip to the Go Green Recycling Centre and Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve on 14 May. They learnt all about how recyclables are sorted and they also did a mini species investigation in the Umgeni River Valley.

Expenditure

The total budget for the project is R50 000 of which R 25 050 has been paid to the project by SASIX. R18 481 of this first payment has been spent so far.

Description	Budget	Expenditure
ES registration fees	-	140
Facilitators	10 200	8 400
Creative Environment Day - Facilitator	2 000	1 000
Seeds and Seedlings	530	162
Recycling drums	300	300
Admin	1 800	1 500
Transport	1 320	1 100
Organic Farmer	600	300
Field Trip	3 000	2 923
Recycling Collection	2 100	1 000
Monitoring and Evaluation	2 200	1 000
TOTAL	25 050	18 481

The project has under spent by R 6 569. These costs will be incurred in the next 7 months of the project.

Challenges

One of the outputs of this project included the collection of recyclable materials by the students. Stopping the recyclable waste from making a complete mess of the school grounds was a challenge. Once the metal bins were in place, rather than the bags, this was alleviated. They needed to ensure that more indoor space was set aside for the storage of the waste, rather than under the trees, as having the waste outside made the school grounds look untidy.

The shortened school terms, which are a result of the World Cup, made it difficult for educators to set aside time for gardening. They have therefore prepared the garden for a spring planting and have planted a small number of cold weather veggies.

The teachers at the school often ask the project organisers to include activities which are not in their original proposal. Midlands Meander, however, are reluctant to deviate from the approved funding proposal. A boy in a wheelchair attended the Fieldtrip, which meant activities had to be altered slightly to suit him.

Monitoring and evaluation

A questionnaire was designed for educators and for learners. It was conducted in February and will be repeated in November. The questionnaire focuses on the things the project aims to achieve over the year. Focus areas include confidence, knowledge, skills and capability. To make it exciting for the learners, the class was divided into two teams in order to answer the questions. It became evident that the learner’s knowledge of basic ecological concepts was limited – no one had heard of biodiversity or climate change and one boy thought that eco-system was “a sound system for your car.” Many said that they knew how to grow vegetables and could also confidently name medicinal plants and wild greens. Most said that they recycled, but the project facilitators are unsure of exactly what the children mean, as there was no recycling service (or even waste collection) in the area, so it could mean that they reuse packaging. One learner attempted to answer the question about recycling by explaining the water cycle.
The educators’ questionnaire was a written one and asked some similar questions. Many said that they knew about gardening from attending previous workshops. They indicated that they would like to learn about Healthy Living, Permaculture, Biodiversity and the Use of Waste for Craft. The questionnaire also identified a number of areas in the curriculum where educators needed support – these included Life Skills, Natural Science, Social Science and Economic and Management Sciences. The questionnaires will be redone at the end of the year in order to measure the improvement in the knowledge, the confidence and the skills of both the learners and the educators.

Conclusions

The Midlands Meander Education Project set out to provide comprehensive training in ecology and other environmental issues in a rural school in Dargle, KwaZulu Natal. Both in the classroom, through co-teaching and teacher-support; and out of the classroom, through field trips and extra-curricular activities, the project has been highly effective and have been thoroughly enjoyed by the learners and educators alike. The enthusiasm for the project by both the learners and the educators should ensure the successful implementation of the project over the next 7 months.