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‘Learners’ knowledge of environmental education in selected primary schools of the Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province’
Open accessAbstract
This study focused on determining the level of environmental education knowledge and skills among primary school learners in South Africa, under the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. Environmental education is important in the promotion of sustainable environmental conservation and reducing negative effects, which are caused by adverse climatic conditions. We used a qualitative approach for data collection from eight primary schools located in the North Tshwane District of Gauteng province, through interviews and observations. The sample comprise teachers, learners, and non-teaching staff working at the schools. The findings from interviews suggest that the curriculum offers learners adequate environmental educational knowledge in the Social Science and Natural Science subjects. Similarly, the results from the observations show that, from visual sights of the surroundings of the schools, the school has gardens, tree nurseries, tree plantations, and a clean environment around the school. In conclusion, learners are provided with adequate environmental educational knowledge and they are able to contribute towards maintaining a clean environment and conservation in their communities.
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“These challenges are particularly acute in urban areas such as Johannesburg, South Africa, where rapid urbanisation worsens environmental pressures (Mashaba et al., 2022).”
From Nurturing environmental awareness: how high school students in Johannesburg are shaping a greener future (2025) · cites this paper as Mashaba et al., 2022
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“The city faces significant issues, including waste mismanagement, water scarcity and energy shortages, which stresses the need for localised educational interventions (Mashaba et al., 2022).”
From Nurturing environmental awareness: how high school students in Johannesburg are shaping a greener future (2025) · cites this paper as Mashaba et al., 2022
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“Studies indicate that resource limitations, inadequate teacher training and insufficient community involvement are major barriers to effective environmental education implementation (Manaka and Maile, 2021; Mashaba et al., 2022).”
From Nurturing environmental awareness: how high school students in Johannesburg are shaping a greener future (2025) · cites this paper as Mashaba et al., 2022
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“Additionally, prior studies (for example, Fayyaz et al., 2023; Manaka and Maile, 2021; Mashaba et al., 2022) have successfully employed qualitative approaches, including case studies, to assess environmental awareness and practices among students, further validating the method’s effectiveness in similar contexts.”
From Nurturing environmental awareness: how high school students in Johannesburg are shaping a greener future (2025) · cites this paper as Mashaba et al., 2022
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Cited by
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Parayiwa, S. P., & Shabalala, N. P. (2025) · International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning · doi:10.14324/ijdegl.17.1.02 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Mashaba, E. K., Maile, S., & Manaka, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Tshwane University of Technology (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Mashaba, Ernest Khalabai
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-11-23
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 23
- Pages
- 15552
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9737615
- OpenAlex
- W4310039576
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 4.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Environmental and sustainability education
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental Education in Latin America
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Pro-Environmental Behavior and Attitudes
- Keywords
- environmental education, elementary school students, student knowledge, National Curriculum Statement, social sciences curriculum, natural sciences curriculum, environmental protection, school gardens, forest plantations
- MeSH terms
- Curriculum, Educational Status, Humans, Schools, South Africa
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Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: ‘Learners’ knowledge of environmental education in selected primary schools of the Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province’. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.3390/ijerph192315552
- The paper
- Mashaba, E. K., Maile, S., & Manaka, M. J. (2022). ‘Learners’ knowledge of environmental education in selected primary schools of the Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province’. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315552
