The British High Commission recently donated 600 guidebooks on wetland education to the Centre for the Study of Biological Diversity at the University of Guyana to aid teachers in planning lessons on wetland education.
According to a press release the books will help teachers to engage students in identifying links between human activities taking place in the wetlands such as burning and waste disposal and natural wetland processes such as water cycle and food chains. The lessons have been developed along four key themes: wetlands, pollution, fire and biodiversity loss and extinction.
The education ministry, through the National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD) reviewed the books. They will supplement the current primary school curriculum in the areas of science, social studies, English language and mathematics and will be used by grades five and six teachers. The Commission said it hopes the books will be distributed to all primary schools particularly those in the North Rupununi as a pilot study was conducted at primary schools in the area; at Surama and Aranaputa during the initial stages of developing the materials. The books will be given to the ministry which will in turn distribute them to schools.
A more extensive pilot study will be conducted to asses the impact of the materials at the targeted grades. This may lead to further updates to the materials and/ or a decision to implement at other levels. The books were prepared with input from NCERD, UG’s biodiversity centre, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (UK), Royal Holloway University of London and The Open University. They were printed locally.
