44 schools receive the internationally-acclaimed Green Flag award

In a ceremony presided over by the President of Malta Dr George Vella a total of 48 schools received recognition for bringing a marked positive change in their school communities. Gozo College Secondary School, Gozo College Xewkija Primary School, Maria Regina College Naxxar Primary School, QSI International School of Malta, St Nicholas College Baħrija Primary School were awarded the prestigious international Green Flag award for the first time. St Joseph Mater Boni Consilii School Paola and St Joseph School Blata l-Bajda received the eighth consecutive Green Flag marking their 16 years of commitment towards sustainability. The ceremony was held at San Anton Palace in a hybrid set-up under strict Covid-19 measures.

The programme, which is locally managed by Nature Trust – FEE Malta, empowers students to adopt an active role in environmental decision-making and action in their school and community. These awarded schools can now boast that they have received international recognition that they are implementing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as outlined in the National Curriculum Framework.

However, as expected, like any other institution, schools were hard hit by the pandemic during the past months. Like their foreign counterparts, EkoSkola students adopted a different strategy to keep the programme running by re-adjusting to the new realities. The new Covid-19 measures ushered practices that are in conflict with the various sustainability practices and progress students had made in various areas particularly in single-usage plastics. The schools’ response was immediate and notwithstanding the fact that schools were closed, work continued via online meetings and campaigns involving all those who were homebound making it even more effective.

Since the onset of the pandemic, several campaigns were launched by EkoSkola spearheaded by FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education), which is the international organisation running the programmes. Among these were EcoSchoolstaysactive, Trash Hack, Wash(Water Sanitation and Hygiene).

In the meantime work continues on all fronts; mostly on climate change mitigation and adaptation, addressing environmental pollution and halting biodiversity reflecting FEE’s strategy for the coming years. This student-led whole-school approach methodology is not only an opportunity to assist in the holistic development of the child, but is also serving to meet international commitments our island nation has as signatories to various treaties and conventions, not least the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). Students investigate issues pertaining to these goals and take informed decisions to try and address these issues in the best way they can at school level, community level and also national. With Malta also being a member of the European Union, EkoSkola students are strengthening their resolve to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent as embodied in the European Green Deal.