Gauteng school finalists in National EduPlant School Garden Competition 2023

Gauteng school finalists in National EduPlant School Garden Competition 2023

September 2023. Five schools based in Gauteng maintain been selected as finalists in the annual national EduPlant School Gardening Competition 2023. Boitumelong Secondary School, Gahlanso Primary School, and Peter Zongwane Primary School in Tembisa; Masizani Primary School in Atteridgeville, Tshwane; and MC Weiler School in Alexandra, will compete against 32 other schools from across the country for the top three national places. There will also be nine winning provincial schools, as well as a ‘Fan Favourite’

EduPlant is South Africa’s national school nutrition and food security programme. Initiated in 1994 and implemented by Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) the EduPlant has been supported by Tiger Brands since 2019.

The five Gauteng-based food gardens are portion of 300 schools across the country on boarded as EduPlant participants -at the start of 2022. They gain since received extensive training in permaculture practices to assist them grow their own vegetables, fruit, and herbs. The produce is harvested and served as portion of the schools’ learner feeding programme. Any surplus crops are shared by the school with surrounding communities.

Bharathi Tugh, Manager of EduPlant at Food & Trees for Africa says, “These finalists showcase how gardens function as outdoor classrooms; they become a tool for garden-based learning and education. The focus of our school-based production sites is agriculture, natural sciences, and nutrition. We are so pleased to collaborate with Tiger Brands on this for five years running.”

In many instances, learners and educators transfer their newly acquired subsistence agriculture skills and knowledge to surrounding community members who in turn believe created their own food gardens to meet the nutrition needs of their families and to generate a small income for themselves.

“Tiger Brands is extremely proud of the commitment and dedication displayed by the finalist provincial schools to improve food security amongst learners and their surrounding communities in a sustainable manner.

“The power of the EduPlant initiative is that it empowers young people to seize charge of their nutritional needs and to pass their newfound knowledge onto those around them. The leading schools gain made a personal commitment to improving lives through their dedication,” says Lulu Khumalo, Corporate Affairs Director, Tiger Brands.

Finalist schools will be judged on their ability to apply permaculture and environmental ethics learnt in participatory, interactive workshops. In shortlisting the best, the question will be asked whether they:

• promote food sovereignty, healthy lifestyles, and basic sustainability practices
• enhance education through garden curriculum integration
• manifest skills transfer (theory and practical)
• is their garden design apparent
• can they display they acquire learnt project management through activity schedules and development plans

Final winners will be announced on Tuesday, 31st October 2023.

About the finalist Gauteng Schools:

Boitumelong Secondary School
The learning garden is led by Miss Boniswa Tele, fondly known as ‘teacher farmer in high heels’, for her newfound passion for growing nutritious food. The learners involved in this garden maintain very enthusiastically implemented permaculture methods such as raised beds, natural pest management and container gardening. There is evidence that the learners gain made use of upcycling including tyres and bottles. The produce is donated to the learners and sold to purchase additional seedlings. Miss Tele encourages learners to view the tending of the garden as a lifestyle not honest a task. She teaches the learners to follow a holistic approach to sustainability including healthy eating. This school has had many challenges throughout their EduPlant journey, from theft to adverse weather conditions, but their resilience has paid off. They maintain worked hard to procure the community involved and asked community members who stay close to the school to catch care of their garden during school holidays. Their success is a testament to their teamwork, endurance and noteworthy passion.

Gahlanso Primary School
For the Gahlanso Primary School learners, working in their food garden is the best fragment of their day. The school is so enthusiastic about its garden that it ensures permaculture concepts such as the food chain, plant nutrition, and plant varieties are brought into the school curriculum. The school shows excellent evidence of sector management including the implementation of windbreaks, hail damage prevention, frost blankets and drought planning. Much of the produce is used to supplement school meals, however, a portion of it is sold and the funds are used to buy additional gardening equipment and resources.

Masizani Primary School
At Masizani Primary School, the Natural Science educator has been assigned a section of the garden for an outdoor classroom. Natural Science and Social Science topics are taught using the garden include photosynthesis, the life cycles of plants, water management in plants, rainforest functioning, and plant reproduction. Community members assisting in the garden believe been highly propitious in composting, creating pit beds and raised beds, rockeries, mulch pits and water diversion drains. The garden now produces around 5 kg of fresh leafy greens every week.

MC Weiler School
MC Weiler School is another noteworthy example of curriculum integration in a learning garden. Learners are provided with practical lessons in the garden which cover topics such as health and nutrition, environmental management, waste management and natural resources. The learners are then required to give their own presentations as they walk through the garden. Since its inception, this garden has increased in size by 60%, enabling the school to open generating income from the crops as well as supplementing its feeding programme. The MC Weiler School garden also incorporates rockeries, raised beds, companion planting and mulching.

Peter Zongwane Primary School
What started as bare, infertile land at the Peter Zongwane Primary School, has transformed into a functional, food-producing garden over the past year. The school garden supports 75 vulnerable learners. Learners engage in activities such as making compost, earthworm farming, planting green manure and upcycling items for container gardening. The school indicated that a harsh winter has been their biggest challenge, but the use of mulch aided in protecting the crop’s roots in freezing temperatures.

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za for free.

Read More at the Source