AFRICAN/ UGANDA LECTURERS ASKED TO SCALE UP CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS

By Darious Magara

www.mknewslink.com

In Kampala

Ugandan tutors and lectures especially those handling science disciplines have been urged to integrate climate change examples in their classroom work in order to help students appreciate climate change challenges facing the globe.

As a result of human actions and negligent poor government policies and implementations countries are facing severe droughts and floods, diseases as a result of abusing the environment leading to climate change.

TROP ICSU; Trans- disciplinary Research OrientedPadagogy for improving Climate Studies and Understanding officials have urged Ugandan lecturers and their counterparts on the African continent to use their lessons and classroom work time to teach and create awareness to students on effects of climate change.

TROP ICSU although based in Indianis a global climate change organization whose objectives are to spread awareness of climate change on the globe and its effects if the people and their governments do not conserve the environment well.

Aparna Joshi and Anita Nagarajan told participants attending aninternational workshop organized by African UnionConservationists [AUC] at Kolping Hotel in Kampala, Uganda Wednesday.

They said their mission is to train lecturers, teachers who have large audiences of students on climate change so that the awareness is greatly spread. They said teachers and students are great change agents.

The international workshop under the theme Climate a cross the
curriculum: Resources for integrating climate topics in discipline
specific Teaching.

It drew 95 participants who were trained on how to use the tools
and lessons to teach disciplines such as ; Mathematics, Humanities
Geography, environment science, chemistry among others that were
developed in India.
The tools taught to participants include; mobile applications, games,
models, audios and videos.

Participants are from Uganda,Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi and DRC Congo and Rwanda.

The AUC secretary general Raymond Katebaka said their mission is to integrate environmental conservation intoour development needs, contribute towards understanding Africa perceiving new potentialities and science as an essential means of meeting societys basic needs that include food, water, transport and communication.

He said challenges such as poverty, poor shelter are also targeted to be solved. Participants were asked to be trainers of trainers so that their skills are replicated.

Moses Mugizi a Lecturer of Mountains of the Moon said Lecturers and teachers have to research more on climate change so that they find it easy to integrate it in their classroom work.

He said the way people picked up the ICT and computer use sometime back, is the same way climate change can be made a priority to be embraced in this era because of its importance.

Richard Waiswa a top NEMA official said the importance of leaning about climate change cannot be over emphasized because the abuse of the environment has created vivid challenges of prolonged droughts, diseases, landslides, and floods.

He said Ugandans and Africans have a choice to make in order to preserve the environment or abuse it and leave no future for generations to come.

Source: www.mknewslink.com a greater western Uganda news website

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