Green thumbs up for Durban’s Eco-Schools
Hundreds of learners across KZN have helped create a greener SA by reducing their carbon footprints through the WESSA initiative.
MORE than 35 schools from the Highway hub, Durban, South Coast and Durban North converged at Birches Pre-Primary to celebrate their Eco-Schools Awards.
WESSA Eco-Schools is an internationally recognised programme of the Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) which accredits schools that make a commitment to continuously improve their school’s environmental performance. “Currently 63 countries are part of the programme worldwide with over 30 000 schools participating. Some of the more recent countries to join include Iran, China, USA and Uganda,” said the water explorer project manager, Bridget Ringdahl.
Now in its 14th year in South Africa, the Eco-Schools Programme has become a valuable curriculum framework for schools to work toward sustainable development goals. Since it was launched in South Africa in 2003 with funding support from Nampak, the number of schools that have registered have increased from 100 in the first year to over 1000 schools. “Danville Girls’ High school, The Birches Pre-primary and Manor Gardens Primary celebrated 12 and 13 years of sustained effort and action,” said Bridget.
