Save the planet? This is a job for... school kids

Schools are stepping up efforts to raise environmental awareness among students
Grace Chua & Jalelah Abu Baker, Straits Times 6 Apr 09;

HOME owners are not the only ones poring over their electricity bills any more - their children are, too.

For science and social studies classes, some schools are asking their students to bring electricity bills from home to track their month-to-month energy use and are teaching them to save energy.

Lakeside Primary School, for instance, aims to have at least half its 600 Primary 4 and 5 pupils take part in such an exercise.

Primary 4 pupil Nicholas Chee, 10, is tracking his electricity bills this term. Meanwhile, his sister, 11-year-old Sabrina, a Primary 6 pupil, learns about energy and the environment in her science lessons.

The exercise is already having a knock-on effect at home.

Their mother, Mrs Cynthia Chee, 47, said: 'The kids reminded me to turn off the television set when I forgot one day. It's great. I don't have to nag them any more.'

Bill tracking is also part of a competition called Project Carbon Zero, organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) to get students to reduce their home energy use.

When it was held for the first time last year, more than 1,300 students from 56 schools took part.

Schools, however, are themselves stepping up emphasis on issues like energy conservation and climate change.

While the Ministry of Education (MOE) has designated two schools as centres of excellence for environmental education, many others have their own Save-the-Earth programmes.

The emphasis on environment education is 'timely, given the growing awareness of environmental issues around the world', Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said last year at the opening of Commonwealth Secondary School, one of the two centres.

The ministry said environment education has always been a part of its geography, science and social studies curricula.

But it is gaining new currency as the effects of climate change begin to be felt all around.

The SEC's Schools' Green Audit programme, which measures how 'green' a school is, has blossomed from just 28 schools receiving awards in 2000 to 170 schools this year.

For its environment-education efforts, Lakeside Primary received a Lotus Award - the highest possible certification - from the council.

'We believe that to make environmental efforts sustainable, we need to start them young,' said Lakeside's department head for science, Mrs Naseema Ansar.

Some primary schools have taken that to heart.

Pupils of Elias Park Primary contribute fruit peels to the school's three compost bins. Once a month, Primary 3 pupils bring fruit from home as part of a healthy-eating exercise.

They then get to throw fruit waste into the worm compost bins, which convert food waste into fertilisers.

At the early age of nine, the school's pupils learn about recyclable materials as part of a science lesson.

Madam Sally Ong, 39, said her daughter Calleen, who took part in the exercise last year, 'used to come home and ask for vegetable peels and eggshells to compost every day. She told me it was to save the Earth'.

At the Commonwealth and Marsiling Secondary schools, both MOE centres of excellence for environment education, saving the Earth is definitely a hands-on experience.

Commonwealth Secondary has its own wetland which treats grey water from bathroom sinks. Students test how clean the treated water is and study the wetland's plants and animals.

At Marsiling Secondary, all lower secondary students take an environment-

education module. For two hours a week, they do experiments like testing the air quality in their school.

'Through these lessons, I've learnt how the Earth has been harmed, and that the worst is yet to come if it is not taken care of,' said Mohamed Iqbal, a Secondary 4 student.

He said he does not leave electronics on standby mode any more, and instead switches them off when not in use.

Secondary 4 students have the option of taking a term-long elective on clean energy at Singapore Polytechnic or waste management at Republic Polytechnic - and the popular course is filled up straight away.

At another secondary school, students decided that cardboard takeaway boxes in the canteen should be banned.

The pilot project by the Green Club in Nanyang Girls' High School was so successful that the school decided to continue with the ban.

Students and teachers bring their own boxes to pack their food instead.

Club member Germaine Tan, 16, said: 'I have become a naggy person. When I see my friends or brother wasting anything, I nag. But it actually works! They listen and pick up the habit.'

At the district level, initiatives like the South West Community Development Council's Junior Environment Ambassador programme trains students who are interested in the environment to serve as peer advisers, encouraging their schoolmates to recycle, keep the classrooms clean, and turn off lights and fans.

Some believe Singapore still has a long way to go, especially when compared to other developed countries.

Fuhua Secondary School student and Junior Environment Ambassador Muhammad Fajar Abdul Rahim, 13, agreed that convincing his schoolmates was an uphill task, but it had to be done.

'I just talk to my classmates and try to start small,' he said.

Providing a greener path for schools
Straits Times 6 Apr 09;

THE Singapore Environment Council (SEC), the Education Ministry (MOE) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) have come up with a host of initiatives for schools to go green. Here are some:

Curriculum

Schools' geography, science and social studies syllabi include environmental education, an MOE spokesman said.

For instance, in geography, students explore environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion.

In primary schools, pupils learn in social studies how to track and reduce their electricity use.

Centres of excellence

Marsiling Secondary and Commonwealth Secondary schools are the two MOE-designated centres of excellence for environment education.

They were picked for their prior green accomplishments and are expected to share their knowledge with others.

Schools' Green Audit Awards

The SEC measures how environmentally- friendly a school is through a Green Audit programme started in 2000.

The awards are based on schools' self-report and an SEC visit, taking into account indicators like the number of trees and plants in a school and the amount of paper it uses each year.

Out of 181 schools which applied for the award this year, 170 received awards for completing an audit manual, taking part in environment competitions and projects, and 'showing a high level of environmental concern', or maintained that level of achievement.

Training 'environment advisers'

Last month, the NEA introduced a training workshop for teachers to help them identify and implement environmental initiatives in their schools. So far, 50 teachers have been trained. And in the last year, the agency trained about 850 student Environment Champions from primary to pre-university levels. These students serve as peer advisers, imparting what they have learnt to their schoolmates.