The "2020 Vision for Water Schools Project" is a project within the National Water Conservation Campaign (NWCC) and was initiated by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Professor Kader Asmal. Its aim is to educate the children of today about sustainable water use and water conservation, i.e. to mould the children of today (1998) into "Water Wise" adults of the future (2020). This project is a partnership between various water education organisations nationally, and it focuses on the auditing (measuring/monitoring) of water quantity and quality within schools and their adjacent rivers.
The goals of this project are:
- to develop teaching aids on water and water conservation;
- to facilitate water audits (possibly energy and waste) in schools and homes;
- to train teachers in environmental education, especially through water auditing;
- to integrate water education into the formal school curriculum;
- to establish an international collaborative network of resource audits in schools and homes.
In order to achieve these goals a Water Audit Kit has been put together, aimed at Standards 4 - 8 (Grades 6 - 10), which enable them to investigate various aspects of water conservation. The kit contains booklets on how to conduct water quantity of river water. This kit is ideal for Curriculum 2005, i.e. the new outcomes-based education curriculum, as it includes "hands-on" activities that are suitable for all the learning areas. Last year, over 1000 schools nationally (300 in Gauteng) received these kits during Water Week '97 and they were encouraged to undertake a water quantity audit of their respective schools and submit their results to the NWCC upon completion.
This year a further 400 schools will receive these kits in Gauteng, and those schools that received a kit in 1997 are encouraged to continue with this water conservation project using their existing kit. To enable schools to utilise these kits during Water Week and throughout the year, training sessions are held for teachers of selected schools by the various Gauteng partners involved in the project. The Water Audit Kits are then issued to them after completion of the training. The teachers are then expected to implement the kit in their respective schools.
How can your school continue with or become involved in this project?
For those teachers/schools in Gauteng interested in continuing with or becoming involved in the "2020 Vision for Water Schools Project" please contact the 2020 Vision Hotline where your details will be electronically recorded. Please note that acceptance to be part of this project is on a first come, first served basis, and if your school is successful a Gauteng 2020 Vision partner will invite you to a water workshop soon.
Within the national "2020 Vision for Water Schools Project" is the Schools Water Action Project Consortium (SWAP Con), which concentrates on the water quality aspect of the project. It is envisaged that a school that wants to undertake a water quality audit of their local river should follow these steps:
Step 1: Utilise the SWAP Field Record Book, which is incorporated in the Water Audit Kit, that allows the learner to investigate catchments, water life and the basic water quality of a river.
Step 2: Utilise the GREEN South Africa Microchemistry Water Quality Field Kit, which is a follow up on the SWAP Field Record Book. This kit is aimed at high school science teachers and learners who are interested in more advanced water quality testing. Those schools that are interested in obtaining this kit, free of charge, please contact the 2020 Vision Hotline.
Step 3: Further testing of a river water sample is available to schools via a Microchemistry Water Quality Auditing Mini-Laboratory. 100 kits will be distributed to 100 schools nationwide, free of charge, according to their enthusiasm and their involvement in the project already. Each school will have an e-mail address so that they can report their results to other schools. These schools are encouraged to work with surrounding schools in a particular catchment and will test the water quality of their river/s for possible pollution using the mini-laboratory.
The results of all of these findings will be captured on the internet and televised by the magazine programme 50/50. This will give schools autonomy and allow them to talk to each other across the country. The Wildlife and Environment Society has agreed that schools that want to capture their results and do not have computer facilities can contact their local branch of the Wildlife and Environment Society. Delta Environmental Centre in Johannesburg will be the control centre for month to month recording of results and filming with schools. Each month results will be fed through to Delta and a school will be invited to put these results onto a map of South Africa. This gathering of information by schools will continue for 6 months, i.e. January - June.
This has led to the development of the Greenbike Project, which is being co-ordinated by the SWAP Con, and has been developed as a concept for the Year of Science and Technology. KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation, Imgeni Water, Delta Environmental Centre and Rand Water have bicycles fitted with a laptop computer, cell phone, modem, e-mail etc. in order to assist learners with water quality testing. As prizes 9 laptop computers, bikes and other prizes will be awarded to one co-operative catchment project per province.
How Can Your School Become Involved in this Project?
For those high school science teachers interested in becoming involved in the National Microchemistry Water Quality Project, within the "2020 Vision for Water Schools Project", please contact the 2020 Vision Hotline (Tel: 083 903 3505) where your details will be electronically recorded. Please note that acceptance to be part of this project is on a first come, first served basis. All selected schools will be invited to attend a water quality workshop to be hosted by one of the 2020 Vision partners.
Water Conservation is OUR responsibility!
The "2020 Vision for Water School Project in moulding "Water Wise" South Africa citizens. Remember water conservation is OUR responsibility and the success for this project is to have "Water Wise" school children who are actively involved in conserving our water, conserving our environment.