School the right place to nurture love for nature

1st ANNIVERSARY OF NEW STRAITS TIMES NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

By Chan Cheng Tuan 

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —The school is the right breeding ground to inculcate love for the environment in the younger generation so that they will grow up realising that man and nature can co-exist in harmony.

Education Ministry deputy director-general Datuk Dr Wan Mohamad Zahid Mohamad Noordin said this was why the Ministry had incorporated various environmental education features into the integrated curriculum.

For example. environmental aspects are not only included in the Alam dan Manusia (Man and Environment) subject but also in other subjects such as Bahasa Melayu, English and Geography.

"We are convinced that continuous awareness of the importance of the environment can be achieved through environmental education from pre-school to higher learning institutions,’ he said at the New Straits Times National Environmental Education first anniversary celebration held at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah here.

Wan Mohamad Zahid hoped that teachers would spare no effort to ensure that the love for the environment would be instilled among the younger generation.

He said there were still people who were not aware of the importance of conserving the environment and were still polluting it.

This further showed the importance of inculcating the right attitude among the younger generation.

Wan Mohamad Zahid said he was proud that in this country a newspaper organization was playing a major role at national level in increasing environmental awareness.

He congratulated The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad for its efforts and hoped that the company would further expand the facilities for the project.

He said the Ministry fully supported the NST project as its objectives were in line with that of the Ministry’s in instilling a love for the environment among students through systematic and continuous environmental education.

The NST National Environmental Education was launched a year ago by Education Minister Datuk Amar

Dr Sulaiman Daud at Sekolah Menengah Taman Tun Dr Ismail here. The Minister is the patron of the project.

The project’s main objectives are instilling environmental awareness and appreciation, and laying the foundation for raising a society which will have the knowledge and the capability to care for and act responsibly to protect the environment.

Among those present at today’s ceremony were NSTP managing director Mohamad Noor Mutalib, New Straits Times Sdn Bhd group editor and project chairman A. Kadir Jasin, Federal Territory education director’s representative Abdul Rahman Bulang and SRK Sultan Hishamudin Alam Shah’s headmaster Masrol Talib.

Accompanied by the pulsating beat of the kompang, Wan Mohamad Zahid, Mohamad Noor, Kadir, Abdul Rahman and Masrol later cut a cake donated by the Ming Court hotel to mark the anniversary.

SRK Sultan Hishamudin Alam Shah also had a surprise for NSTP when the school’s headboy Ahmad Naim Aminuddin and his assistant Azami Omar presented a giant anniversary card signed by teachers and students to Kadir. The card was made by the teachers and students of the school.

At today’s ceremony, Mohamad Noor also presented some books contributed by Berita Publishing Group for the school library to Masrol.

SRK Sultan Hishamuddin also helped to start off the second year of the NST project on the right note by collecting 640kg of old newspapers for recycling.

Overwhelming response since the launch

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —The New Straits Times National Environmental Education project has received overwhelming response from schools in the short period since its launching a year ago.

New Straits Times Sdn Bhd (NSTSB) group editor A. Kadir Jasin said since the project was launched, 564,000kg of old newspapers had been collected from schools and colleges for recycling.

The revenue from the sale of the old newspapers totalled RM45,000.

Half this amount was used for the supply of New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad’s publications while the rest was used to finance the schools’ environmental activities.

Kadir said 150 schools and colleges were actively involved in the project.

"The pupils, students and teachers, who have shown spontaneous and continuous support for the project, should be praised.

"Only our own limitations in providing facilities for areas outside Kuala Lumpur have prevented a bigger success and I would like to suggest that special attention be given to expanding the project to rural areas this year," he said.

Kadir was speaking at the New Straits Times National Environmental Education project’s first anniversary celebration at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah here.

He said that by participating in the project, students not only contributed towards maintaining the environment by collecting old newspapers but also generated revenue to buy newspapers and for their environmental projects.

"More than that, they directly help to reduce the need to cut down trees to make paper.

"The old newspapers collected by them will be reprocessed into newsprint and various other recycled paper," he said.

Kadir added that most newsprint used today contained recycled paper and many recycled paper factories were being developed.

He said this activity might be a reality in this country in the near future and this would increase the value of old newspapers.

"Thus, it is good if we can continue and expand on this project," he added.

Kadir expressed the company’s gratitude to the Education Ministry which bad given its full support for the project.

He added that an interesting offshoot of the project was the participation of foreign missions, hotels and private companies which bad adopted schools and colleges for the programme.

Kadir said it was noteworthy that a private education institution, the SAL Group of Colleges, had teamed up with nine hotels and embassies to organize collections of old newspapers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. —The oldest school in the Federal Territory helped commemorate the first anniversary of the New Straits Times National Environmental Education project today.

The ceremony was held at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah. The school was started in 1888, more than 100 years ago.

Deputy Director General of Education Datuk Dr Wan Zahid Mohamad Noordin opened the ceremony amid the lush greenery around the school.

The greenery is a result of the school’s environment awareness programme, which included beautification of the school compound and the continuing education of the students on the environment.

Teacher Saherah Mustakim said it was important to make the school green, as it was located in the city centre. The plants and greenery helped in the fight against pollution, she said.

The school planted shrubs and trees around the grounds and was adopted by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, which provided the school with plants and seedlings.

The school’s environment-awareness activities were part of the activities of the Tourism Club, said S.K. Kumar, another teacher. The school had not had enough time to form an Environment Club but was planning to do so.

The education programmes have raised the consciousness of many students and teachers involved in environmental activities, he said.

The "adoption" of plants made them aware of the importance of greenery in the ecology and helped students relate what they learned in class to what they saw in their environmental projects, Kumar added.

The school also organised visits by groups like the Malayan Nature Society, which gave a talk in October.

Head prefect Ahmad Naim Aminuddin, a Standard Six pupil, said it was good that such a programme existed at the school. It had made him more conscious of the damage Man does to Nature, like the felling of trees for logs.

He hoped that this effort to educate the public would help conserve nature and encourage more people to recycle.

Naim also put into practice at home what he learnt in school. "At home, I plant trees and help with the garden," said the 12-year-old. He also collects old newspapers to be recycled.

Two of his schoolmates also believe that conserving Nature is important.

Sermini Ramanathan and Kamelia Mobamnmad Salin, both Standard Six prefects, enjoy outdoor activities. They have gone on school camping trips to Templer’s Park and Bukit Cherakah.

They are interested to learn more about the environment through newspapers and watching television documentaries.

"I like learning about biology and watching documentaries on Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia," said Kamelia.

Sermini said she liked watching programmes on animals and that she and’ her family went on many nature activities such as those organised by Kuntum and the Malayan Nature Society.

The school plans more environmental activities for the future, including a school trip to Sungai Congkak in Ulu Langat.

Source :  February 23 1993

Back to Archive Page

Recycling Point Dot Com

(C) 2000 All Rights Reserved