The junior debating teams of Makuphula and Khayamandi secondary schools claimed second and third place, respectively, in the annual environmental educational debate hosted by the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and Working on Fire in Stellenbosch last Monday (22 August).
The debaters from the two local schools finished behind the team from Paarl Girls’ High School with their debates on climate change. The participating schools strongly drove their argument home, highlighting the effects and causes of climate change and how these can be mitigated.
Rayganah Rhoda, Working on Fire’s community fire awareness officer, said the purpose of the debates is to create an opportunity for Grade 8 and 9 learners to debate environmental issues that harm their social livelihood and natural environment.
“It also covers the mission and vision of the core focus areas of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. One of the aims of the debating programme is to strengthen and support educational processes in South Africa, in its endeavours to realise the sustainable development aspects in the country’s constitution,” she said.
Among the adjudicators was the provincial education department’s school enrichment official, Kurt Lenders, who described the debates as an active and engaging learning-centered activity for the schools involved. “I would encourage more schools to participate in the future because the topics the learners had to prepare and talk about are hot topics, like climate change. It is good that they are becoming part of the discussion about burning issues at this level,” he said.
