The Sunday Mail
Kudzai Tenga Bindura University of Science Education
TWO preliminary rounds of the Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ) Mashonaland quiz competitions were held at Arundel and Saint Georges Schools last term.
From these preliminaries, 10 primary schools made it to the Mashonaland branch finals which were held at Hellenic School.
The Mashonaland finalists were; Belvedere Primary, Chisipite Junior, Dudley Hall, Gateway Primary, Hartmann House, Hellenic Primary, Louis Mount Batten, Ruzawi School, Rydings School and Springvale House.
The winners of this year`s event were Rydings Primary School after stiff competition, Hellenic Primary (the hosts) came second and third place was Gateway Primary School (2014 National Champions).
The participating students showed a high level understanding of wildlife and environment. The students partook in an amazing manner as reflected by their answers to questions on wildlife and environmental issues.
WEZ president Mr Isaiah Nyakusendwa acknowledged the children`s efforts and encouraged them to keep on with the good work as wildlife and environment ambassadors.
Winners received prices that included solar lanterns (courtesy of Big Sky), pens and rulers (courtesy of EMA), 2016 calendars (courtesy of Birdlife Zimbabwe) rhinoceros sculptures, chocolates, books (courtesy of Miracle Missions) and a bird book donated by Professor Magadza. After the finals, all in attendance enjoyed delicious eats and drinks kindly donated by the Zimbabwe Hunters Association and Mrs Lynton Edwards.
Quite a number of the parents and other guests admitted they could not have answered some of the questions the kids managed to answer.
“It was quite a good experience having children displaying the knowledge they had acquired about wildlife and the environment,” one parent said. The audience also had a high turnout of students and schools who had missed out on participating in the finals present.
The Quiz objective is to raise awareness to the young generation on conservation. The brilliant participation by the students was a reflection of how far WEZ has gone in its Environment Awareness Education Programme.
Children are the future of our Nation and therefore have to be well equipped with proper wildlife and environmental education to guard our national heritage. WEZ hopes that the children will in turn take the message to their families and to communities in which they live and that these communities will become stakeholders in the world of conservation.
Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe, is a member based registered private voluntary organization, founded in 1927 and thus the oldest environment organization in the country.
Although WEZ, formerly known as the Wildlife Society of Zimbabwe, was initially concerned with the conservation of our wildlife heritage, it now also considers the importance of the total environment to the welfare of our nation and our people. The WEZ goal is to encourage and assist all people in Zimbabwe to understand the importance of their wildlife and the environment to the well-being of current and future generations and to ensure the utilization of the natural resources is fair and sustainable.
WEZ Environment Education Programme (EEP), is based in all its branch areas. The action programme is guided by these principles: sustainability, conservation and participation and planning.
More than 100 communities and school based projects have been established. Environmental officers as patrons make regular visits to schools and run seminars for teachers and pupils.
WEZ greatly appreciates and thanks the following for eats, facilities and prizes and for making the quiz a success: Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Arundel School, Hellenic School, Saint Georges School, Big Sky,Birdlife Zimbabwe, Miracle Missions, Mrs Lynton- Edwards, Professor Magadza and the Zimbabwe Hunters Association.
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