Laguna school among 3 winners of SE Asian awards

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Three elementary schools in as many Southeast Asian countries, among them the Philippines, will receive awards on Nov. 29 for their exemplary achievements in education and sustainable development (ESD).

The Labuin Elementary School in Pila, Laguna won the third prize in the 2017 SEAMEO-Japan ESD award conferred by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT), with the cooperation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Asia Pacific Regional Bureau of Education.

An elementary school in Malaysia won the award’s first prize while a school in Myanmar garnered the second prize.

The three schools will receive the awards at the opening ceremony of the 40th High Officials Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 29.

SEAMEO is an inter-government treaty body founded in 1965 to promote cooperation in education, science, and culture among Southeast Asian nations.

Theme of the award is “Improving Health and Nutrition.” The award recognizes the efforts of schools in the Southeast Asian region to implement programs “to improve health and nutrition of students that also transform schools into a healthy learning environment.”

The Labuin Elementary School is one of five elementary and one high school that served as pilot sites of a program dubbed “School and Home Gardens.”

‘It is one of the pilot schools that SEARCA and UPLB assisted to try out the old concept of school gardens with a twist as it focuses on education, nutrition and poverty alleviation,” SEARCA Director Gil Saguiguit Jr. said.

During the program’s first 18 months, the participating school children gained more weight and grew taller from consuming the fresh, green leafy vegetables produced.

The program also churned out 30 recipes through the pupil-parent tandems that participated in cooking contests it sponsored.