Training tomorrow’s environmental educators
Delta Environmental Centre — YES Project Youth Leadership & Job Creation
orking together with the department of environmental affairs, the Delta Environmental Centre (DEC) will, over the next three years, select 100 youths to complete the Youth Environmental Service Project’s (YES) short course in Environmental Education, Training and Development Practice.
The DEC, a non-profit company that focuses on environmental education and training for groups of all ages and in all parts of the country, is acting as the facilitator and implementer in the North West province for the national YES programme.
The DEC is an accredited training provider with the Education, Training & Development Practice Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP-SETA) that has been in operation since 1975, running out of a beautiful art deco building in Delta Park, Johannesburg.
The YES course is aimed at learners who have not gained a matric and are therefore unable to enter tertiary education, but have an interest in environmental affairs.
The course earns points towards a National Diploma in Environmental Education, Training and Development Practice (Level 5) and prepares learn- ers to function independently as entry-level environmental entrepreneurs and education practitioners. Those accredited with this qualification will be able to design, plan, implement, evaluate and improve on a variety of environmental learning programmes.
People qualified at this level will make a meaningful contribution to environmental change through an educational response to environmental issues and risks in a range of contexts and workplaces. They may also be able to function as teachers’ aides or environmental education specialists in formal education settings like schools.
Shortly after completing the diploma, one of the learners, Kebabaletswe Morake, took a job working on the department of water affairs’ “War on Leaks” project, which is being implemented by Rand Water. She is based in Klerksdorp.
Morake is a prime example of the success of the YES programme: an environmental service leader who has developed self-confidence and can ably participate in the green economy through training, community service and entrepreneurial opportunities.