The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance has urged Education CS George Magoha to integrate practical lessons on climate change in the competency-based curriculum.
Advocates said learners need to be taught modern ways to combat climate change.
The alliance said the current education system presents the best way to transfer knowledge and skills to learners.
In a statement, Mithika Mwenda, the executive director, urged the Education Ministry to include in the curriculum Article 6 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
It seeks to reduce the impact of climate change by enabling society to be a part of the solution.
According to the United Nations, African countries are already struggling to adapt to the reality of a changing climate.
In September last year, Save the Children organisation released a study showing Kenyan children born over the past year will on average face 4.6 times more droughts during their lives than their grandparents.
It said some children might be hit by several disasters simultaneously or in quick succession, such as drought, floods and fires, exacerbating the effects even further.
“Yet, action towards mainstreaming climate change into education are still moving at a slow pace,” Mithika said.
He said as Africa's largest coalition of civil societies clamouring for climate justice, they will push for studies on climate change in schools.
“Curriculum developers and implementers must coordinate efforts towards having climate change in the education curricula,” he said.
Mithika said the Kenyan education system has lagged in imparting skills, attitudes, values and behaviours necessary for climate action at individual or society-wide levels.
“Our country and Zimbabwe among others have high literacy levels that could have facilitated the integration easily,” he said.
However, Mithika said universities in Africa are fully integrating climate change.
He said Pacja has partnered with Kenyatta University to initiate the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice.
“Plans are afoot to extend this partnership to other universities around Africa as well,” Mithika said.
The Kenya National Climate Change Action Plan does not mention including studies on global warming in the curriculum.
The plan shows climate change has significant adverse effects on the Kenyan economy.
The economic cost of floods and droughts is estimated to create a long-term fiscal liability equivalent to two per cent-2.8 per cent of GDP each year.
Specifically, the estimated costs of floods are about 5.5 per cent of GDP every seven years, while droughts account for 8 per cent of GDP every five years.
“The 2018 floods wiped out resources worth billions. Roads and infrastructure were damaged, seasonal crops across an estimated 8,500 hectares were destroyed and over 20,000 livestock drowned,” it says.
The government allocated over Sh75 billion in 2018 to combat floods and fix roads destroyed by rains.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
