Benefits and Stakeholders’ Role in School Greening: Case of SESE Primary School in Rural Botswana

This paper explores the greening of SESE Primary School, a change project aimed at promoting education for sustainable development. It is based on study carried out on a sample of learners, teachers, and auxiliary staff of the institution. The research was basically qualitative in approach although it utilised quantitative methodology in some instances. Semi-structured interviews were applied to determine the elements that constituted ‘greening’ the school, investigate the role played by stakeholders in greening the environment, delineate the perceived benefits of the venture and institute an inquest on the interventions employed to sustain the greened school environment. Greening the school essentially embraces a garden, orchard, indigenous trees park, grass lawns, and flowers. Also embraced are water management strategies, waste control, and environmental walls. The study reveals that quite a wide cross-section of stakeholders are involved in the program fulfilling diverse roles in its life and that numerous academic, economic, health, social and environmental benefits attend the undertaking. Collaborative and individual measures addressed to specific elements of the program are being employed to sustain the greened school environment.