Integration of meteorology and environmental education in the certificate of secondary education geography syllabus in Tanzania

The purpose of this study was to explore the certificate of secondary education geography syllabus in order to address the opportunities and challenges regarding the integrated concepts of meteorology and environmental education. The study employed mixed methods approach where by both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The respondents were 480 students and 24 teachers from 12 schools in Morogoro region including also an expert of geography curriculum development. The findings revealed that: The current geography syllabus for secondary schools introduces the basic concepts of meteorology and environmental education including the causes and effects of climate change. But issues of climate change are treated in isolation without linking them with the concepts of human activities. Problems observed during implementation of the geography syllabus were: teachers’ insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge, lack of textual and non- textual resources that address the relevant concepts comprehensively, and presence of some misconceptions in the most utilized school textbooks. Students could relate some aspects of environmental degradation with climate change but they had some misconceptions on the causes of climate change and in relating the same concepts with conservation techniques and power consumption. It was further observed that students from the urban schools were more knowledgeable on the surveyed concepts of meteorology and environmental education than rural students due to limited sources of information in rural areas. Also, boys were more knowledgeable than girls on the same concepts. This could be associated with girls’ negative attitudes towards science subjects. Based on these findings the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training should ensure that, concepts of meteorology and environmental education in both the geography syllabus and school textbooks focus on raising the students’ awareness on the issues of environmental management, vulnerability of the country to the effects of climate change, necessity of utilizing weather and climate information and the relationship between forest destruction and depletion of water resources under the influence of climate change. Also, the ministry should ensure that both in-service and pre-service teachers should be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills so that they can effectively teach the concepts of meteorology and environmental education. However, Tanzania Institute of Education may combine other concepts of environmental management with relevant social-scientific concepts so that they can be more appropriately dealt with in a separate subject.