Learning about their environment
New Horizon School for children with special needs hosted Polokwane Municipality at an event to celebrate Nelson Mandela Day last Friday.
POLOKWANE – New Horizon School for children with special needs hosted Polokwane Municipality at an event to celebrate Nelson Mandela Day last Friday.
It was emphasised during the event by one of the speakers, that Mandela had humbled himself and citizens should follow in his footsteps, thereby also making changes for the good.
As special needs children, the learners follow a specialised education curriculum.
They require special attention, fairness, patience and a mental boost.
Thabiso Kobe, waste education coordinator at Polokwane Municipality said children needed to be environmentally conscious from a young age so they could grow up with the idea of conservation of the environment.
There was also always an opportunity for children to learn while they played, Kobe said.
“The primary role is to get people residing in the city, the surrounding townships and households, committed to aim for this goal and recognise that a variety of techniques need to be employed to achieve the targets. Education is one of the primary tools for generating behavioural change and changing attitudes towards consumption and waste,” he said.
The aim of education in this context was not to try and get people to gain more information, but rather to get people to change the way they did things and in so doing, change their behaviour, Kobe said.
He explained that other schools could invite them to present waste education awareness and clean-up campaigns.
“The objective is to ensure hands on activities to help learners synthesise their newly-gained awareness and discover their common ground,” he added.
People aspire to have a clean environment, but often fail to comprehend the unique care and management required to maintain a cleaner production in the city and communities, he added. “By informing and educating the public, destructive practises such as illegal dumping and pollution can be decreased,” he concluded. For more information Kobe can be reached at (015) 290 2532/2498/2000 or you can send an e-mail to thabisok@polokwane.gov.za or mapininit@polokwane.gov.za.
