Climate Change curriculum rolled out in Vincentian schools

Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines -

The Ministry of Education and Reconciliation is launching a new strategy to improve children’s understanding of the climate crisis and the importance of Disaster Risk Reduction.

With support from UNICEF, the Ministry is engaging all teachers in the Climate Change Mitigation Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Curriculum (CCMA-DRR) rollout. The initiative enables teachers to integrate aspects of CCMA-DRR into the existing curriculum.

The curriculum was developed with strong stakeholder engagement and has been crafted to foster synergy among teachers as they incorporate a safety culture in their classrooms and personal lives. Youth were also invited to provide direct feedback on the content and monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum.  

Teachers-in-training at St Vincent and Grenadines Community College were recently introduced to the CCMA-DRR curriculum. Efforts to train active teachers are also underway as authorities aim to implement the programme in all secondary schools next year.

“I was very engaged throughout the sessions, which was much more than expected. I hope to one day integrate the knowledge learned today when I become a teacher,” said a second-year student-teacher in response to a survey that followed the sessions.

Another said: “I can now differentiate between hazards and disasters. I learned where to locate the information so that I can reinforce it to my future students. This session was educational because as climate changes, it affects us in many ways, some more than others, ands this is something that I never paid much attention to until this session.”