Working to foster environmental ng nursery, primary-level students

To foster a greater appreciation for the protection of the environment among Guyana’s nursery and primary level schoolchildren, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is partnering with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to help advance the implementation of an environmental education programme.

To this end, the EPA last week held a one-week camp and seminar for teachers from across the country at Camp Alpha, which is located along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

The participants were drawn from six Cyril Potter College of Education Centres; Anna Regina; Vreed-en-Hoop; New Amsterdam; Linden; Georgetown (In-service); and Turkeyen (pre-service). “I think it is an extremely great initiative in terms of inculcating the culture of protection of the environment through the school programme and having that done when kids are young. You are starting from the very young on teaching them about protecting the environment,” EPA Executive Director Dr. Vincent Adams said, while pointing to similar programmes in the United States where he lived for decades.

“This here has been a very good session. I stopped by to see firsthand how it was going and I was impressed about the enthusiasm of the teachers and participation overall. If we are going to put going green as policy, and especially having the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS), we have much work. With the GSDS, it is not going to happen overnight and there is no better place to start than the young,” he added. Adams said that as teachers are equipped to effectively engage in environmental education, there can be a push for the promotion of the use of a curriculum supplement to increase the integration of environmental education and awareness.

EPA representative Candace Thompson, who led the agency’s delegation and facilitated the workshop, further emphasised why the camp was held. “Our future generations should be equipped with such knowledge to make informed decisions and adopt sustainable lifestyles,” she said.

All presentations, Adams said, featured hands-on activities and where possible utilised the natural environment as he noted that such a programme could not be done in a classroom. “With this here, you know we can even help with the changing or modifying of the curricula where the environmental protection starts from very young, in kindergarten and grade school. So, by the time they are at secondary, it has become a part of the actual culture. This here is very good for developing such a culture,” he said.

Adams is confident that the nation’s educators will, with the assistance of the MoE, develop a programme that would see environmental education in every classroom in a few years. “We have had the full cooperation of the ministry and they should be lauded. But this is not the only initiative that they are looking at because we participate in other workshops and training sessions teaching across the country. This here is just a part of it. We can get there but we have to work and that is what we are doing. The environment affects all of us, it is why we have a duty to protect it,” he said.

“We thank the ministry and minister and [are] glad that they understand this important aspect of our lives and are helping with the developing and implementing of this strategy,” he added.