Tawau school wins int'l award for 'End Plastic Pollution' campaign

 By Olivia Miwil - February 7, 2021 @ 3:07pm

Sekolah Menengah St. Patrick Tawau won the first place for 2020 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award under the theme ‘Addressing Plastic Problems for Transforming Communities’. - NSTP/ courtesy of SEAMEO

TAWAU: Sekolah Menengah (SM) St. Patrick here won an international award for implementing green practices at school.

The competition was jointly organised by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (Seameo); Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Japan; in cooperation with the Unesco Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (Uneso Bangkok).

On Jan 30, on the secretariat's website, the school's "Five Greens Programme" project was selected as the first winner of the 2020 Seameo-Japan ESD Award (International Environmental Competition) under the theme "Addressing Plastic Problems for Transforming Communities".

SM St. Patrick is one of 181 schools from eight Southeast Asian countries, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which took part in the 2020 Seameo Japan ESD Award.

"(It is the) first International victory for SM St. Patrick, Tawau, Sabah in the field of environmental preservation and conservation under the leadership of the school's excellent principal, Lee Ken Voon and coordinating teacher Wong Fui Lin.

"The school principal would like to express his appreciation to the active participation of our school's dedicated teachers, students and non-teaching staff in this Five Greens Programme," read the school's blog.

SM St Patrick's programme, through the "End Plastic Pollution" campaign, included five actions that are being practiced in their daily lives.

"One of them is the use of 'Plastic, Sustainability & You' Module in Classroom Teaching to equip teachers and students with the right information about plastics.

"There is also a 'green corridor' project in our school. The purpose is to disseminate the messages of environmental education and awareness about 'End Plastic Pollution' to the school and local communities," it added.

"Other activities are 'Creative and Innovative Sustainable Corner' in every classroom at our school, innovating plastic waste project, ecobrick, no plastic bags campaign at the canteen, creating a plastic waste collecting and recycling centre, as well as a clean-up, among others."

Another school from Sabah, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaaan Kunak, won the second prize for its "Small Acts, Big Impact" project.