The Old Mutual Foundation (OMF) has added an environmental component to its “out of the box” mathematics and science portfolio. The new offering seeks to help learners switch with ease to the revised curriculum that is due next year.
Called an “out-of-the-box comprehensive environment education programme”, the initiative is designed to integrate all the learning areas, while maintaining its bias towards maths and science.
It is packaged to guide teachers on the best methodologies suitable for environmental lessons. Some of these are: a teachers’ guide and a resource pack with various resources such as an environmental diary; a guide on how schools can make money; and resources on life skills and HIV/Aids. Teachers also get back-up in the form of training workshops and classroom visits.
Liyanda Maseko, the OMF’s corporate social investment practitioner, says the programme is learner-centred and informative. “We would like to encourage teachers to go a step further and be innovative – to think outside of the box,” Maseko says.
She says the resource materials of the programme cover nine themes: water, waste, climate, energy, wildlife, people, rocks, schools and agriculture, which meet the requirements of the national curriculum development department. These topics form a basis to “broaden learners and teachers’ experiences around issues related to environment”.
Maseko says the resource materials equip teachers with skills to tap into the rich environmental and cultural diversity as they teach subjects such as natural sciences, economics, technology, management sciences, arts and culture. The other advantage is that it is visual and therefore easy for kids to remember, says Maseko.
Learners are not only taught about how to look after the environment, but also how to make a living from it. For example, says Maseko, learners can raise funds by collecting empty cans and selling these for recycling.
“During our interaction with schools, we witnessed that most children experience hunger on a daily basis and this will come in handy for them,” she says. Learners can also be taught art by artistically converting cans into ornaments or mathematics by calculating mass, size and quantity of the drink.
Although the programme was designed for the intermediate phase, “a number of schools found that senior and foundation phases benefit as well”, says Maseko.
The programme was put together with the assistance of the Maths Centre and a Johannesburg-based NGO. To ensure quality delivery to schools, it has enlisted four service providers to hold workshops for teachers and offer classroom support.
The programme was piloted in 20 primary schools in Vosloorus and Thokoza – east of Gauteng – and in another two clusters of schools in Bophelong and Boipatong.
Maseko says the success of the pilot saw the programme extended to three more provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. This benefits 110 primary learners, with 750 teachers also participating. In the end, the programme will affect 25 000 learners, says Maseko.