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Water Programme for Preschools
Department of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism
South Africa

The Problem

South Africa is a water scarce country and one of the 30 driest countries in the world. The project demand for water resources is unlikely to be sustainable. Although water is a renewable resource, it requires careful management and protection due to its vulnerability to over-exploitation and pollution. In 2008 the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (DEDET) in Mpumalanga Province initiated a Water Programme that targeted Pre-Schools learners. The objective was to increase water awareness among pre-school learners (the level in the schooling system that has been neglected up to then) and also to encourage responsible water usage. The rationale was based on the premises that early childhood environmental education plays a critical role in shaping the child’s attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior towards the environment as well as environmental education/awareness and water conservation and proper management should begin during the very earliest years of life.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Although it is too early to assess the impact of the programme due to the fact that its implementation date was only 2008, some tangible benefits could however be noticed, for example, preschool educators and learners are beginning to demonstrate a positive attitude toward water conservation and management, e.g. gardens are no longer watered during the day, i.e. between 10h00 and 15h00, watering cans are used to water gardens instead of hosepipes, leaking taps have been fixed, glasses are used fro drinking water instead of drinking directly from the tap, and JOJO tanks are used fro water harvesting. Some school principals have also reported a drastic decline in the monthly water bill paid to municipalities.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The programme was conceptualized in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders that included the Department of Education; Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the DELTA Environmental Centre, Water Service Providers, Mpumalanga Wetlands Forum, Food and Trees for Africa and other Community Based Organisations/Workers. The programme was implemented and driven by DEDET

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
a. The key elements that contributed to the successful initiation and implementation of the water programme can me tracked back to the principles of Batho Pele (People First) – which include consultation, service standards, access and redress to programme, ensuring curtsey, providing relevant information and customer impact, openness and transparency, best value for money and integrated and coordinated service delivery

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
b. After conceptualization of the programme by DEDET a wave of consultation with stakeholders unfolded. These consultations shaped the practical development of resource pack, training the educators, selection of participating schools, procurement of programme tools and materials as well as planning of the implementation.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
c. The main challenge is the inclusion of other preschools in the province – due to limited funding the Department can not enroll all preschools in the province. The private sector has been approached to adopt some of the preschool facilities in their localities.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
d. The project is mainly funded by DEDET. Food and Trees for Africa has donated seedlings used in the preschool gardens. An amount of R22500 was received by the Department as prize money for winning the Premier’s Service Excellence and Youth Awards.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The water programme was implemented for the first time in 2008 and it the first of its kind in the whole of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa and there are some version of replica throughout the country and this gives opportunity for improving environmental education throughout the country and also an opportunity to develop and shape future champions to look after and conserve the threatened water resources.

The water programme has a high potential of transferability and replication because it focuses and addresses learning areas at foundation phase as per revised national curriculum statement (RNCS) of South Africa. The main emphasis is on Natural Science, Language, Art and Culture and Life Skills as learning areas. The resource pack makes the programme replicable throughout South Africa.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
One of the lessons learned is that the content of the Resource Material is very comprehensive and more time is required by educators to ensure that all sections are dealt with thoroughly considering the mental development of learners. Some preschools were not aware of the programme resulting in their non-participation. It is recommended that enough time be given to educators to teach the whole content of the Resource Material and an advocacy campaign is needed to increase the awareness o the programme amongst all preschools for their future involvement and participation.

Budget also presented a challenge and was an inhibiting factor as it limited the number of preschools that wanted to participate in the programme. Almost all participating preschools are from the formerly disadvantaged group where medium of instruction is not English. Educators had to translate the resource material from English to a vernacular used in that particular locality. On the other hand, educators had to compile a script in English in fulfillment of the judging requirements.

The maximum participation by Special Schools is handicapped by the unavailability of translated material into Braille. Unfortunately DEDET also does not have the capacity to address this challenge at the present moment. More engagement is needed with the Department of Education to explore ways and means of addressing the challenge. However, the positive development is that Educators in these preschools are also trying their best to improvise in order to ensure that the programme is implemented to a certain extent.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Department of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism
Institution Type:   Government Department  
Contact Person:   Nomathemba Makama
Title:   Provincial Coordinator  
Telephone/ Fax:   27176892019
Institution's / Project's Website:   27176892019
E-mail:   makamanp@vodamail.co.za  
Address:   Government Boulevard; Riverside
Postal Code:   1200
City:   NELSPRUIT
State/Province:   MPUMALANGA
Country:   South Africa

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