School’s Environment Programme needs money
THE Schools’ Environment Programme (SEP), according to operators, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), is facing a hole in its budget that threatens to undermine the quality of its offerings this academic year.
The budget shortfall comes in the wake of a recent loss of funding support from certain key sponsors, including the Ministry of Education and Youth. JET’s programme director, Carlette Falloon, noted that the ministry usually contributes about $3 million annually to the programme.
In a June 15 letter to JET, the ministry said that the HEART Trust/NTA, which normally provided funding for the SEP, had not provided any money for the 2006/2007 academic year. No explanation was given for the withdrawal of funding.
But the crisis now facing the programme has been years in the making, according to Falloon.
“Over the years, our main donors have been decreasing or pulling their funds,” she explained.
However, the programme continues to receive sponsorship from several private sector companies, among them FirstCaribbean International Bank, which has been contributing since the programme began a decade ago. The other sponsors are Jamaica Energy Partners, the Jamaica Producers Group, WINDALCO, Industrial Gases Limited and Nestlé.
“We do receive from about five or six private sector companies but that money is not enough to carry a programme of this magnitude,” said Falloon. “At the programme’s largest, we had 353 schools participating, which is approximately 30 per cent of Jamaican schools. Over the life of the programme, we have trained over 600 teachers in various environmental issues and the programme has reached over 300,000 students.”
The SEP, run as a competition, has, over the years, been implemented in more than 300 schools annually, reaching an estimated 280,000 students and teachers in the 2003/2004 academic year alone. It requires participating schools to carry out activities in four areas – managing garbage, greening of the school grounds, the operation of an environmental club, and the conduct of environmental research.
The programme also accommodates affiliated, enrolled and advanced schools. Affiliated schools do not implement the entire programme and do not form part of the competition; enrolled schools take part in all activities and are judged for prizes; while advanced schools are selected on the basis of having been in the programme for at least two years and having demonstrated “excellent work”. Advanced schools do not participate in the competition.
Falloon is fearful that without the required funding, the quality of the programme delivered and the number of students and teachers reached will be reduced if they are unable to finance their estimated $12-million budget.
“This year. we have only secured enough to do teachers’ training workshops,” she said. “So we will not be able to implement the comprehensive programme.”
JET has, in the interim, submitted applications for funding from alternative sources in a bid to shore up the programme offerings for this school year.
“We have submitted proposals to other donor agencies and we are now awaiting their response,” Falloon said, adding that she would prefer a commitment for long-term funding in light of the struggle involved in sourcing money.
“It takes time to get them to commit their funds to the environment programmes,” she said of the firms approached. “One of the things we would like to see happen is to get a commitment from as many sectors of corporate Jamaica so that we can implement this programme in more schools across the island and not have to shift our focus from the schools to raising funds,” she said.
“So if we know that we have secured enough funds to run the programme over a number of years, we can now put our attention where it really matters. And that is on training teachers, interacting with the children to help them appreciate nature and produce materials that will complement the environment component of the environment curricula,” she said.
Among the partners in the programme are the Portland Environmental Protection Agency, St Thomas Environmental Protection Agency, Northern Jamaica Conservation Authority, International School of Jamaica in St Mary, Southern Trelawny Environmental Association, Dolphin Head Trust, Western Society for the Upliftment of Children in St James and the Natural History Society of Jamaica.
The Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust, the Association of Science Teachers of Jamaica, Children First in St Catherine, the Kiwanis Club of Kingston, the Jamaica 4-H movement, and the Negril Environment Protection Trust have also been partners in the programme.
“One of the things we want to impress on people is that it is a dynamic programme,” said Falloon. “Children move through the school system, teachers move from school to school. We are not talking to the same children, the same teachers year after year. So we can’t say that we have done enough because each year we are dealing with different sets of people, therefore the programme has to go in each time to bring different people on board.”
Beyond that, she said that there was just no discounting the education value of the programme.
“You cannot avoid interacting with your natural environment,” said Falloon. “Some of the mistakes made, the damage caused now are caused by a lack of knowledge. Sometimes people don’t know that what they are doing is harmful.
So we feel that what we are doing is making a positive impact on what happens with nature. We are making persons realise that the natural environment is very important to us and to our livelihood and existence and that certain things are harmful but can be avoided if persons are aware of the consequences of their actions.”
williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com