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The Ghana Education Service (GES) in collaboration with the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) and other stakeholders in the environmental sector has decided to integrate Climate change and Green economy into the basic school curriculum.“This makes Ghana one of the countries in the world to integrate Climate Change and Green Economy into our formal school curriculum.” “Our basic school teachers have been trained to mentor the children to understand climate change and green economy issues,” the Director-General of the GES, Dr Eric Nkansah, announced this at the launch of the Africa Student for Climate Action (ASCA) last Friday (Green Ghana Day).
An offshoot of the Africa Women and Children Conference (AFRIWOCC), the ASCA seeks to highlight the critical role students play in ensuring a sustainable future for the country and the continent as a whole.
Dr Nkansah said for instance that the young learners currently appreciated the need to plant and conserve trees, use solar energy and recycle organic waste, adding that they were more curious about their environment than ever before.
Addressing the students, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah, said the launch of the ASCA was a reminder of the urgent need to intensify the effort to address the environmental challenges.
He said the GES believed that education was not only for acquiring knowledge but about empowering individuals to transform their lives. Dr Nkansah announced that the senior high school curriculum had been completed and was currently being piloted in some 33 schools across the country.
“Again, the new SHS curriculum is very well integrated with climate change and green economy issues,” he said, adding that the government was confident that such integration would help the students to develop a deeper interest in climate change and green economy issues.
Dr Nkansah announced that the GES had been encouraging schools to form environmental and climate change clubs to promote climate change education, adding that most of the schools currently had those clubs.
He encouraged students who were not part of the club to join to help preserve the planet.
Launching the action at the Labone Senior High School in Accra, the wife of the Vice-President, Samira Bawumia, described the launch as giant step towards the journey aimed at inspiring students on the continent to be at the forefront of climate action.
She said the planet faced an unprecedented climate crisis, which posed a particular threat to Africa; Africa was disproportionally affected by climate change despite contributing the least to global emission.”
“Our continent is experiencing drought, floods, heat waves, which are severely impacting on agriculture, the economy and livelihood as well as our well-being. “Unfortunately, it is women and children who bear the brunt of these impacts and these realities underscore the necessity of including the voices of women and young children and their perspectives in our climate strategies,” she said.
Mrs Bawumia said as the country celebrated Green Ghana Day, “we are reminded of our commitment to environmental stewardship and the urgent need to combat deforestation. “By planting trees today, we are not only contributing to the restoration of our forest, but also educating our youth on the importance of environmental conservation,” she said.
