Primary school learners prove they’re water-wise

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) recently hosted its annual Baswa Le Meetse (BLM) Young People and Water competition at Actonville Primary School.

The competition saw Grade Six learners from various primary schools in the Ekurhuleni North district, including Solomon Motlana Primary (Wattville), Laerskool Mooifontein Primary (Kempton Park), Siphiwe Primary (Thembisa), OR Tambo Primary (Edenvale) and Westside Primary (Kempton Park), participate in various arts and culture categories like music, poetry, drama, poster design and praise poetry.

The BLM competition is part of the DWS’ education programme, a ministerial initiative implemented in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education.

It encourages schools to develop innovative water projects to address water and sanitation challenges in their schools and communities while inspiring learners to pursue water resource management and environmental management careers.

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According to Reshokestwe Malepe, from water services support at the DWS, the initiative recognises the role of young people in educating society about integrated water management, sanitation and health and hygiene issues.

“The department launched the BLM to teach and empower learners and educators the value of water and our rivers so that our people can access clean and safe water through arts and culture.

“The schools representing the Ekurhuleni North district have surpassed expectations with their innovation in the different categories. The adjudicators had a tough task choosing the winners because all the schools were well-prepared,” said Malepe.

Before the BLM district competition, there were capacity-building workshops with teachers to equip them to help the learners prepare.

Competition results:
Music: OR Tambo Primary School took first place;
Creative poster: First place went to Laerskool Mooifontein Primary;
Poetry: Three-way tie between Westside, Siphiwe and Solomon Motlana primary schools;
Praise poetry: The joint winners were Laerskool Mooifontein and Westside Primary.

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