CONSERVATION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Presented By
Mohd Khairul Effendi Bin Che Wan
Muhammad Fazrel Ashraf Bin Azizan
Som Jud a/l Muniandy
At 3rd World ENO Scifest Conference, Joensuu University , Finland
OUR SCHOOL , SMK TELOI KANAN
PROJECTS DONE BY OUR NATURE CLUB GREEN SCHOOL GARDEN
Water Monitoring
Tree Planting
Rose Garden
Orchid Garden
Hibiscus Garden
Wetland Project
WE WORK WITH MANY INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
UNITED KINGDOM
GERMANY
NETHERLAND
ENO ENVIRONMENT FINLAND
ENO ENVIRONMENT FINLAND
LIFE- LINK FRIENDSHIP- SCHOOL SWEDEN
Water For Life Conservation Through Environmental Education
WATER FOR LIFE
1. Malaysia is a country rich with rivers and there is abundant rainfall – we receive about 2500 to 5000mm of rainfall annually.
2. To date, there are 189 river basins with some 1,800 rivers all over the country. And these rivers are the source of 97% of our drinking water.
3. We find ourselves facing water shortages, water supply disruptions and even water rationing during times of drought.
4. Unfortunately we have not been taking care of our rivers and they have become polluted with solid waste and sewage being the main culprits.
5. Without proper river management, sooner or later, our drinking source will become scarce and finally disappear.
RIVER RANGER
Global Environment Centre, a non-profit environment NGO has initiated a River Ranger Programme and our school has been chosen to be the pilot school in Malaysia with funding assistant from DANIDA amounting RM 10 thousand. (Danish International Development Agency) through River Care Fund under GEC in 2005.
Global Environment Centre, a non-profit environment NGO has initiated a River Ranger Programme and our school has been chosen to be the pilot school in Malaysia with funding assistant from DANIDA amounting RM 10 thousand. (Danish International Development Agency) through River Care Fund under GEC in 2005.
The aim of this River Ranger Programme is to create awareness and educate schools and students on river issues and the importance of managing our rivers. In return , it is hoped that students will get a better understanding of the river systems and care and appreciate the value of a river.
28 students and 4 teachers were selected and trained by the officers of Global Environment Centre according to the programme’s module on how to be a River Ranger.
Using a training module , the students covered topics on river and river issues , river basin problems , integrated river basin management and hands on training. In the hands-on training , the students will be taken to the rivers to carry out water quality testing using physical , chemical and biological monitoring using living animals in the river. The students are taught to carry out river mapping and river health check activities to assess the health of the river.
Using a training module , the students covered topics on river and river issues , river basin problems , integrated river basin management and hands on training. In the hands-on training , the students will be taken to the rivers to carry out water quality testing using physical , chemical and biological monitoring using living animals in the river. The students are taught to carry out river mapping and river health check activities to assess the health of the river.
Upon completing the modules , they would be given a certificate of recognition and they would be a fully certified as River Ranger to carry out river monitoring in their area. Our school also were the first one to set up a ‘Guru River Ranger’ group which consists of trained River Ranger teachers whom now have trained other school groups whom are interested in starting their own River Ranger group. To date , we have helped to train over 50 schools in Kedah State and 200 teachers.
A One Stop River Education Centre has been established by the school with help of many partners. The centre is being used as a resource centre for information materials related to rivers and water management. It was a really a successful project.
Students of our school are taught to love their rivers as an awareness programme created by the school to teach them to preserve the environment. Through this programme we hope that the students when they grew up will be more committed in protecting their surroundings.
Our participation in this project started as a simple geography, science and moral lesson but somehow the focus got shifted to rivers. We noticed the student’s interest in their environmental issue and decided to introduce the programme instead.
We made a compulsory for the pupils and teachers to be involved in the programme. We conducted water samplings and carried out checks on micro-organism found in the river to understand it eco-system. As a result of this , the school has adopted Sungai Telok Nyior as part of the projects
Through the ‘Love Our River Campaign’ by the Drainage and Irrigation Department , the school has benefited a lot from funding provided for training the students , conducting regular water monitoring and also many river camps since 2006 till today.
All our school activities are contributing for the UN decades 2005-2014 on ESD, Education for Sustainability Development and UN decades 2005 -2015 on Water for Life and providing access to water for achieving the 7th goal of Millennium Development Goals which is agreed by all 191 United Nations Member States at the Millennium Summit in 2000. (Ensuring environmental sustainability).
The International Decade for Water for Life was adopted by United Nations General Assembly at its 78th plenary meeting on 23 December 2003. World Water Day on 22 March 2005 marks the start of the International Decade for Action on Water for Life.
We made a compulsory for the pupils and teachers to be involved in the programme. We conducted water samplings and carried out checks on micro-organism found in the river to understand it eco-system. As a result of this , the school has adopted Sungai Telok Nyior as part of the projects
Through the ‘Love Our River Campaign’ by the Drainage and Irrigation Department , the school has benefited a lot from funding provided for training the students , conducting regular water monitoring and also many river camps since 2006 till today.
The Drainage and Irrigation Department has started promoting River Ranger programme in all states in Malaysia and now some 200 schools have benefited from this project. Some community based groups also have benefited from our project and more than 10 of these groups have started River Ranger programmes in their residential area.
Since 2005 , we have been participating in the World Water Monitoring Day from 18 September to 18 October every year.
And for 2008, our school was the host for the launch of World Water Monitoring Day for Malaysia. We have received 300 free water monitoring kits from Water Environment Federation and International Water Association.
The water kits have been distributed to some 100 schools and 30 scout groups in Malaysia . This event is part of a month-long monitoring and provides opportunities to educate the students about the importance of water quality monitoring and personal stewardship of our water resources.
More students are leading the efforts to protect their local environment and they would have better understanding of the interdependence of the importance of natural resources in a larger global setting.
The monitoring activities would help students to gain first-hand experience in assessing the health of their local watershed in which they live, how watersheds work and how to protect their waters which have downstream impact.
Our River Ranger Programme has managed to grab the media’s attention where they have covered numerous practical training sessions that were carried out with schools and communities. It highlights the fact that the programme is seen as an import education tool for people to learn about river conservation. Two of our River Rangers have presented papers on Community Participation in River Management - A Knowledge Sharing in 2006.
And for 2008, our school was the host for the launch of World Water Monitoring Day for Malaysia. We have received 300 free water monitoring kits from Water Environment Federation and International Water Association.
The water kits have been distributed to some 100 schools and 30 scout groups in Malaysia . This event is part of a month-long monitoring and provides opportunities to educate the students about the importance of water quality monitoring and personal stewardship of our water resources.
More students are leading the efforts to protect their local environment and they would have better understanding of the interdependence of the importance of natural resources in a larger global setting.
The monitoring activities would help students to gain first-hand experience in assessing the health of their local watershed in which they live, how watersheds work and how to protect their waters which have downstream impact.
Our River Ranger Programme has managed to grab the media’s attention where they have covered numerous practical training sessions that were carried out with schools and communities. It highlights the fact that the programme is seen as an import education tool for people to learn about river conservation. Two of our River Rangers have presented papers on Community Participation in River Management - A Knowledge Sharing in 2006.
The teacher in charge for this project, Mr Kalaimani Supramaniam has presented paper on Bio-Indicators in Environments Education Programmes in 2006.
He was also been invited by ENO Environment Online based in Finland to give talk and presentation on Water Monitoring Activities and River Watch Programmes during their International ENO Scifest in Joenssu University in April 2008 which were attended by more that 50 countries from every corner of the world.
And later , Life-Link Friendship School based in Sweden has also invited Mr Kalaimani Supramaniam to give a talk on Water for Life during the Life-Link XIV International Youth & Schools Conference from 10 to 17 August 2008 at Rosario San Lorenzo , Argentina.
The best education practice of our active rural school in Northern part of Malaysia with more than 500 students and 50 teachers were discussed in details and shared among the participating countries.
He was also been invited by ENO Environment Online based in Finland to give talk and presentation on Water Monitoring Activities and River Watch Programmes during their International ENO Scifest in Joenssu University in April 2008 which were attended by more that 50 countries from every corner of the world.
And later , Life-Link Friendship School based in Sweden has also invited Mr Kalaimani Supramaniam to give a talk on Water for Life during the Life-Link XIV International Youth & Schools Conference from 10 to 17 August 2008 at Rosario San Lorenzo , Argentina.
The best education practice of our active rural school in Northern part of Malaysia with more than 500 students and 50 teachers were discussed in details and shared among the participating countries.
Our school has been invited by Life-Link to join UNESCO Associated Schools Program and UNESCO/UN Decade campaigns on Culture of Peace, Water for Life and Education for Sustainable Development for 2009 to 2011.
The International Decade for Water for Life was adopted by United Nations General Assembly at its 78th plenary meeting on 23 December 2003. World Water Day on 22 March 2005 marks the start of the International Decade for Action on Water for Life.
(Our school will try to compete in Stockholm Junior Water Prize which is organized by Sweden from 16 to 22nd August )
Students test four basic indicators of water quality; sampling for dissolved oxygen (DO), acidity (pH), temperature and turbidity (clarity) are important, yet basic indicators of the water quality. The monitoring activities help the students to gain first-hand experience in assessing the health of their local watershed in which they live, how watersheds work and how protecting their waters can have beneficial impacts downstream.
We hope our projects and programmes would give everyone a better understanding about the importance of our rivers and appreciate the value of them.
Only then our rivers would be taken care of and our source of water be safeguarded for the future generations.
We are happy to introduce the concept of ‘Civic Science’ as a way to approach school students and community participation in river management and also as the protectors of our rivers.
It means giving the people the awareness , knowledge and most importantly is the skill to take action on environmental matters.
Students regardless of race, gender and religion have benefited from our project and we are proud that our project is recognised globally.
Only then our rivers would be taken care of and our source of water be safeguarded for the future generations.
We are happy to introduce the concept of ‘Civic Science’ as a way to approach school students and community participation in river management and also as the protectors of our rivers.
It means giving the people the awareness , knowledge and most importantly is the skill to take action on environmental matters.
Students regardless of race, gender and religion have benefited from our project and we are proud that our project is recognised globally.
International Leaders in World Water Monitoring Day 2008
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