Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD)
28 March 2007
A rural school in Mpumalanga is on course to advance the principles of the
United Nation's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Pupils at
Mlilo Primary School at Tembisa near White River are involved in intense
environmental activities in their backyard. They take part in soil
conservation, water recycling and greening of the school through gardening.
These and others are issues of sustainable development and LandCare programmes
that took centre stage during the launch of the Junior LandCare Project in the
area.
Acting Environmental Manager at Ehlanzeni Region, Mr Aaron Madonsela charged
that the initiative is part of the province's greening campaign and sustainable
development. "It's been a year since the school has been involved in such
activities, as you can see the pupils are enjoying their gardening and the
school is embracing the policies of the DESD," quipped Madonsela. The school
has been endorsed by the Health Department as a health conscious institution
amongst other schools.
Junior LandCare co-ordinator also a teacher at the school, Ms Lucy Magagula,
believes that the support and trust shown by the provincial government in
engaging them as a school in such campaigns paid dividends. "As a school we owe
it to the officials from the health department who identified us and assisted
in taking part in the whole drive." The school was once plagued by soil erosion
because of the bare soil which was making the school's aesthetic value to be of
low standard. The efforts started by extension were supplemented by the
awareness initiatives of the Nelspruit Environmental Centre. To have a smooth
implementation, utilising the junior care grant and greening of the school has
started with a fenced vegetable garden, a Jojo tank has been installed for
water harvesting and availability, water recycling and reuse thereof and a
nursery is being developed.
The school Environmental Committee including the School Governing Body (SGB)
is leading the process and doing a sterling job with noticeable community
participation. Commending the efforts by the pupils, Madonsela voiced that the
school must be applauded for their visionary role of supplementing the grant
received, which is a rare action. The approach fits well into the Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), the outcomes of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the Millennium Goals of Sustainable
Development.
This initiative is supported by the education department as the school has
emerged as a health standards promoting school. The launch takes place when the
country is celebrating the Water Week and Sanitation, which poses a challenge
for the school to ensure sustenance of the project by greening the
curriculum.
As the theme is "Water is life Protect our scarce resources," it is indeed
befitting to officially launch this project and hope that it will indeed be
emulated by the adjacent households to augment Adopt a Spot Programme
initiatives. The school strides are linking perfectly with the call to push the
frontiers of poverty sustain ably for lifelong skills to the learners as future
leaders.
For enquiries, contact:
Freddy Ngobe
Tel: (013) 766 6086
Cell: 082 821 4148
Aaron Madonsela
Tel: (013) 766 6117
Cell: 083 956 5056
Issued by: Department of Agriculture and Land Administration, Mpumalanga
Provincial Government
28 March 2007
