Cape Town - A newly opened ocean school in Hout Bay will help educate underprivileged youth from Imizamo Yethu on ocean-based opportunities and environmental education.
The Parley Ocean School promises to take an immersive approach to environmental education with the goal of inspiring marine conservation and empowering the next generation of ocean guardians.
Big wave surfer and founder Frank Solomon said the youth programmes would simplify complex marine threats through engaging materials developed with a global network of teachers.
“I grew up in Hout Bay and in the oceans and learnt everything I know in the ocean. I wanted to help the community where I live to learn more about the environment and why we need to protect the ocean. There is not enough education on this, all you have to do is to have a look at our township and see how dirty it is because of lack of education on keeping the environment clean.
“People don’t really know how to dispose of their waste properly which ends up in oceans and kills marine animals. So by this we want to create young activists within the communities,” he said.
Solomon said the school was not just for surfers and lifeguards and that there were plenty of opportunities in the oceans economy.
“I am going to approach local restaurants and offer to get their staff to go through the programme as well. This will help them understand more about pollution and littering and what these things do to the environment. If you're not from an ocean environment, you might not know how to access the ocean economy. So the school is first teaching every kid to swim, to give them a possible entry into the ocean economy,” he said.
Parley for the Oceans director Mike Long said they were committed to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of ocean guardians by providing access to the tools and equipment necessary to learn and the skills and inspiration to act on their learnings, to help them use their power to create change.
Cape Argus