Stakeholders' experiences and perceptions of air pollution in a school environment.

• Main Author: Fray, Patrick Godfrey
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: air pollution
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/893

The levels and sources of air pollution in the school community of Reiger Park, Boksburg is high and serious. This small township on the eastern outskirts of the Ekhurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality experience pollution problems that are very specific: (1) smoke from coal burning stoves and refuse burning; and (2) dust from abandoned mines or slime dams. The question of sustainable development is now on the international and national policy agendas. The concepts of ‘sustainable development’ and ‘sustainable human settlement’ have strongly emerged as priority concerns globally. Reiger Park, like many settlements in South Africa, encounters acute sustainable development problems. Indeed, the challenge of sustainable development is a national concern and priority in South Africa. Reiger Park shares characteristics of the broader developing world. Reiger Park, like many townships and communities in South Africa depends on the use of firewood and coal for cooking and heating purposes. This is problematic, releasing large amounts of smoke and carbon dioxide, which in turn pollutes the air. The pollution has widespread effects on the population, including learners within schools. This study’s main foci – education and clean air – reveals the typically degrading impact of poor quality air pollution on the education environment, posing serious threats to sustainable development of the poorer communities. Many households in the school community of Reiger Park make use of coal burning stoves for cooking and for keeping warm during the winter months. The coal that is burnt in the community, especially during winter months, releases gases into the atmosphere, which are harmful to the community. Other sources responsible for polluting Reiger Park, other than smoke from chimneys of houses, include dust from the nearby gold mine dumps, and open veldt fires and exhaust pipe emissions from automobiles. The authorities have found it difficult to control or eliminate these aspects of air pollution in the Reiger Park area. Educators were in agreement that, in the event of dust storms, classrooms are used as shelter from dust particles. Teachers and learners generally find the pollution problem in the community unbearable === Prof. H.G.van Rooyen