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Nesia Mhaka Herald Correspondent
Government has called for the review of the education curriculum to promote climate change awareness among vulnerable groups such as youths. This follows a realisation that the current school curriculum was still based on the colonial education system where the focus was to build human capital to serve foreign interests and not to drive national development.

The call comes at a time Zimbabwe has been admitted into the United Nations Climate Change Learning Partnership programme for Southern Africa that will see the country receiving US$100 000 for the development of a National Climate Change Learning Strategy.

The US$100 000 is a grant from the Swiss Development Cooperation through the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement director in the climate department, Mr Washington Zhakata on Wednesday said the country’s education curriculum requires an overhaul in order to address pressing challenges like global warming.

“The existing curriculum is incapable of driving climate action, hence the need to nurture new skills that are required to turning challenges into opportunities.

“There is a significant disconnect between the challenges facing the country and the ability of people who have gone through the educational systems to offer solutions,” he said.

Mr Zhakata said raising awareness and promoting knowledge was an essential component and a catalyst for responding to issues of global climate change.

He added that Government aims to make climate change education a more central and visible part of the nation.

“Climate change will be introduced in the learning materials for the primary and secondary education.

The Climate Change Management Department will implement the Learning Strategy to strengthen learning and skills development on climate change. Awareness levels on climate change will be raised through the usage of education materials that will be developed.

“The Climate Change Management Department will work with the ministries responsible for Education, the Environmental Management Agency, Development Reality Institute, civil society organisations, among other institutions, in the process of development of the climate change learning strategy,” said Mr Zhakata.

He added the introduction of climate change in the curriculum will assist vulnerable people to understand the impact of global warming.

The move will also increase climate literacy among youths.

“Vulnerable groups of the society including women, children and the disabled are not receiving adequate information on climate change and thus, suffer more under extreme climate events.

“A number of casualties, loss of property, livestock and destruction of infrastructure like bridges and houses could have been avoided with adequate information and knowledge.

Currently, the levels of mainstreaming of climate change at national, provincial, district and even household levels is very weak.

“With high levels of awareness through effective training and information dissemination, some of the impacts could have been averted for example trails of destruction by Cylones Idai, Dineo and Eline, among others, said Mr Zhakata.

He added that adverse impacts of climate change, as evidenced by the high levels of vulnerability during extensive flooding and droughts of the recent years which caused losses of lives and destruction of infrastructure, indicated that there remains information gaps in society that could be filled by introducing an education curriculum.