Benefits
A number of benefits can arise from implementing this strategy, both to schools and the wider community.
- The school gets help such as teaching-learning materials for example teachers’ guides pupils’ booklets, fact sheets and work sheets to carry out teaching about environmental issues.
- Improved school environment by developing positive attitudes and commitment to the environment, active participation on resolving environmental and sustainability problems.
- Through localized curricula, the opportunity for addressing local environmental and sustainability issues across subjects through field studies and the use of school grounds is provided.
- Micro projects set up with in the Eco community School programme act as demonstrations and learning resources for pupils and communities surrounding the school gives first hand experiences on for both the school and the community surrounding it. The pupils/students get first hand experiences on basic scientific skills like observation, experimentation, recording facts, analyzing records and drawing conclusions and inferences.
Generation of income from school micro projects.
- School- Community partnerships are established that can enhance the sharing of resources, knowledge, and skills.
International Contacts. Local and international networks developed through the Eco-Community School programme can provide access to support agencies. Through these networks, opportunities for local and national information sharing are created.
- Development of action competence.
- Increased awareness and knowledge about environment.
- Prestigious Eco-school awards given to participating schools.
- Savings in consumption and conservation of resources through best practices as per the environmental audit and social policy.
- Reduction in pollution and land degradation through best practices as per the school environmental policy/Eco-code.
- The opportunity to make environmental and sustainability issues an intrinsic part of the life of the school.
- The opportunity to help develop young people's decision-making skills.
- Opportunities for local and national publicity
- Access to a network of support agencies locally, nationally and internationally.
- Links with other schools locally, nationally and internationally
- Curriculum resource materials
- Ideas for micro-projects and events.
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7 Steps to become an Eco School
Implementation of the Eco Community School Programme involves the following (8) steps: When these steps are clearly implemented, then the school qualifies to be an Eco School.
- Formation of an Eco School Committee
- Environmental Audit / Review
- School Action Plan and Micro Projects
- Curriculum Work
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Informing and Involving the School and the Wide Community
- School Environmental Policy / Eco-code
What does the Eco-School require to succed?
- Active involvement of staff and the wider school community
- The blessings and support of the head teacher, school board of governors and school management.
- The involvement of the pupils in a democratic decision- making process and action at every stage
- A willingness to take action to instigate long-term, positive sustainable change.
How to be awarded
When the school has passed through all the steps to conserve the environment, then it qualifies to be an Eco – school. A green flag which is an international Eco Label for good environmental practice is awarded to the school as recognition and certification for high environmental standards and fulfillment of criteria.
Checklist of the Eco-School Profile
- Preliminary pages
- Table of content
- Should be put in sections
- Each section be given a title
- Background information
Part A: Background information
- Name of the school
- Include the number of pupils both boys and girls and the total number.
- Number of the teaching and non teaching staff should be included(staff capacity)
- School registration number and EMIS number(Education Management Information Systems)
- Location of the school
- Parish, Sub-County, District etc.
- Status of your school(government Aided or Private
- Year of school foundation and the foundation body
Part B: The Eco-Community School intervention at the school.
- Composition and roles of the eco-school committee
- Environmental audit/review report
- School on going and the future plans
- Reports on the school micro-projects(including success, problems/challenges of these projects including photographs
- School Eco-Codes and Eco-rule or guide lines, rules and objectives and penalties
- Eco-clubs activities(including reports , photos and other indicator)
- Curriculum work(examples of schemes of work and lesson plans showing infusion and integration of EE, out door lessons activities, study walks, community work and
- Monitoring and evaluation of the eco school activities(photos, reports etc)
- Reports of activities showing the level of involvement and informing others about the thematic areas of focus(examples of community replication of micro project)
Part C:
- Documentation of about special days, weeks & months for environmental education
- Best practices
- Lessons learnt and the challenges
The school profile is an on going activity. It should always be updated as the different eco school activities are done, achievements made, eco school functions held, environmental clubs do any activity, all these should be recorded and filed in the school profile.
The file should always be arranged by the focal point teacher in collaboration with the Head teacher, teacher in charge of environment and other teachers. This file should be kept in the head teacher’s office for easy accessibility of all the stakeholders and the beneficiaries of the programme.
The head teacher and the focal point teacher should take initiative of introducing the file to the rest of the teachers telling them about the importance of the file and then call up on all the teachers to contribute the information gathered through different activities of the programme to be put in the file.
The teacher in charge of the environment is responsible for coordinating the eco club activities and the micro project implementation. And together with the Focal point person coordinate other programmes activities in the school.
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Eco Community School Programme
