The three-hour hands-on environmental education programme, provided to learners by the Grootvaly Blesbokspruit Environmental Education Centre, hangs in the balance.
One of the main objectives of the centre, which is part of the Blesbokspruit Conservation Trust, is to provide environmental education to schoolchildren.
The site is situated in Welgedacht Road, at the Blesbokspruit wetland, a designated Ramsar site. Charl van der Merwe, chairman of the trust, says the programme includes educational lectures and trails to inform children about the importance of the area.
During 2016, 1 562 learners attended the three-hour handson environmental education presentation which is conducted in accordance with the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) curriculum for Grade Six, Seven and 10.
“The learners in these grades focus on wetlands in their social science class,” says van der Merwe.
About 2 778 learners were introduced to the wetland in 2015 and many more were exposed to the importance of wetlands over the past 16 years.
According to van der Merwe most schools don’t have the facilities to conduct environmental education.
“The centre is an open air laboratory available for all schools, free of charge.
“However, the lack of funds to maintain the infrastructure at the centre is curbing our ability to educate,” he says.
According to him the trust used to bus the children in, in the past, but due to a lack of sponsorship they are currently not able to assist with transport.
“The metro have a limited budget for environmental education and have supported us with transporting learners from various schools to the centre this year,” he says.
The GDE is involved with the organising of the schools and inspections during environmental lessons.
“We enjoy excellent support from them,” says van der Merwe.
Schools currently visiting the site are mostly from the non-feespaying schools” from the poorer communities.
Van de Merwe invites schools with their own transport to arrange with the GDE to visit the site by contacting Moipone Maleka on 061 394 6103 or email moipone.maleka@ gauteng.gov.za
The trust is managed by a board of trustees, who are all volunteers, and is funded by sponsors.
At the moment the trust employs three people including Patrick Gana, the environmental education officer. Gana says he explains the importance of wetlands, pollution and recycling to the learners during the programme.
