The city’s waste management entity Pikitup’s Eco Rangers programme was launched in May 2013 at the Joburg Waste Summit by MMC of Environment and Infrastructure Services, Matshidiso Mfikoe and forms part of the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements curriculum for grade 3 and 4 pupils.
Around 150 000 pupils and 7 000 teachers were part of the programme, which is championed by the four characters Recyclo, Litter-X, Lynx and Sky which epitomise and embody the objectives of the programme.
Schools were invited to enter the Pitch In and Pikitup competition, and pupils were given the freedom to choose a project that addressed the four learning parameters of recycling, no to littering, conservation and reducing the carbon footprint.
Entrants had to state and research the problem, select the best solution and put it into practice, evaluate its effectiveness and present the results.
Prizes were offered to each of the winning seven schools, the responsible teacher, and the top three placed pupils from each of the winning schools. Prizes totalled R61 100.
The Eco Rangers programme was conceived as a platform to raise awareness and educate young children about environmental issues facing us today, their impact, and how these can be managed moving into the future.
The objective of the programme is to entrench understanding among young children that work needs to start now in order to secure our environment in years to come.
In the 2014/15 fiscal year, Pikitup will conduct Eco Rangers roadshows and embark on various other initiatives to link the current 200 participating schools, as well as an additional 200 schools – with local co-operatives for the collection of recyclable materials.
The Eco Rangers programme will again commence in term two of 2015. The aim is to have all primary schools in the city running the Eco Rangers programme within a few years.
Pikitup encourages those principals who are interested in having their schools participate to email Thato Mabitsela.
Details: thatomabitsela@pikitup.co.za or www.ecorangers.co.za or www.pikitup.co.za
