Teacher: Onkarabetse Agnes
Overview
Temoso Special School offers a range of courses to students with cognitive disabilities. The gardening course combines gardening skills with climate change education providing the students with the skills to earn a living while ensuring they are able to practice sustainable gardening techniques which will improve the environment rather than causing further degradation.
Theory of Change
The gardening course was established because a lot of the students at the school are living in poverty and this has often led to the students not having access to an adequate diet. The gardening course was established to provide some additional food to these vulnerable students; however, the course also provides learners with the knowledge of how to use techniques which mitigate the effects of climate change.
Approach and Actions
The students who participate in the course often have low literacy levels and cognitive disabilities, the skills-based gardening curriculum, therefore, offers a non-academic route for these students to learn skills that may provide an income in the future. The students learn practical gardening skills and techniques which mitigate climate change and respond to the realities of the climate conditions that South Africa is now experiencing. The students participate in growing vegetables and other edible plants, they use tools and learn to maintain the tools. The students also learn sustainable gardening techniques such as how to make their own compost, mulching techniques and how to reuse waste materials in their gardening. The students learn about conserving trees for shade and to stop soil erosion.
Impact
The course prepares students with life and entrepreneurial skills that will enable them to better navigate the challenges of living with a disability in the face of climate change. These skills also help the students to integrate into society.