Penang 1 st Eco-Schools Camp – Empowering students to make a difference

Penang 1 st Eco-Schools Camp organised by SJK(C) Union, co-organised by SJK(C) Eok Hua, SMK Datuk Onn Butterworth and WWF-Malaysia with the support from Penang State Education Department and Penang State Exco for Welfare, Caring Society and Environment. It was also our honour to have Penang Green Council as our supporting partner. Penang Green Council has been a State organisation which encourages activities as such to enable and empower more individuals with the knowledge in environmental exponential as well as instilling the ‘doing’ for a better world for us to live in. Their valuable assistance in providing inputs for the overall planning of activities, contents and discussion issues for our workshop has greatly contributed to the overall success of this camp.

This camp was organised with the aim to empower students - the leaders of tomorrow by developing their systematic and effective planning skills to carry out eco-friendly projects with the guidelines of 7 Steps Methodology shared through Eco-Schools Programme. Besides that, this camp also aimed to provide more opportunities for Penang Green Schools to move towards International Award, known as Green Flag. This camp had also successfully built a strong bond between the participating schools to work together as a team to exchange ideas and provide different supports between schools. It was held in PLKN White Resort, Balik Pulau from 21 st to 23 rd February 2020. A total of 75 secondary and primary children accompanied by 25 teachers from 25 schools in Penang participated in this camp.

There were several interesting activities carried out during this camp such as 7 Steps Methodology Workshop, Eco-Craft Workshop, Open Cafe, Station Games, Roundtable of Environmental Issues and Teachers Collaboration Meeting. In 7 Steps Methodology Workshop, students learnt about the 7 Steps, which are Step 1 Forming a Committee, Step 2 Environmental Review, Step 3 Action Plan, Step 4 Monitoring and Evaluation, Step 5 Linking to Curriculum, Step 6 Informing and Involving and Step 7 Eco-Code. This methodology will be very helpful for schools to plan their project in a systematic manner.

Furthermore, students also learnt about Soap Making with used cooking oil (by SJKC Eng Chuan), Recycled Bag Making with old t-shirt (by SMK Convent Butterworth), Sachet Bag (by Han Chiang High School), Air Cooler (by SMK Convent Lebuh Light), Eco-Schools Badge (by Water Watch Penang), Hanging Pot (by SMK Convent Pulau Tikus), Upcycling Tempurung (by SMK Datuk Onn Butterworth) and New Clothes Making from old clothes (by SMK Berapit) during the Eco-craft workshop. These activities helped to provide more exposure and ideas for students to learn and teach their friends and families.

On the other hand, Green Smith conducted 10 interesting station games, aiming to aware the students about the disadvantages of using single-use plastics. Apart from that, a roundtable discussion session was held to get the students to discuss about different environmental topics guided by experts from WWF-Malaysia, Penang Green Council, Riiicycle, Green Hero, Water Watch Penang, Green Smith and Universiti Sains Malaya. The roundtable discussion topics were “No Single Use Plastic”, “Beat Plastic Pollution”, “Waste Segregation At Source”, “Climate Reality”, “Appreciate Food, Don’t Waste”, “Zero Waste”, “Marine pollution”, “Wildlife Conservation”, “Save Energy” and “Save Water”. After their discussion, the students were required to make a pledge on what they will do to contribute in solving those issues.

Lastly, the camp ended with a closing ceremony attended