Environment subject for Bantayan students

CEBU, Philippines - Starting June this year, grade six pupils in Bantayan Island will be made to undergo a subject on environmental education.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro and Law of Nature Foundation President Antonio Oposa Jr. signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the drafting of the module to be used for the subject. The project is being undertaken with the help of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.

Oposa said that on April and May, 64 teachers handling grade six pupils will be made to undergo a capacity building workshop on environmental education, both on the theoretical and experiential aspects of the subject.

“You teach by example and experience, the two most powerful teaching methods,” Oposa said.

Oposa said that teachers must understand first what environment really means before imparting the same to children. Environment, Oposa emphasized, means “land, air and water” as the source of life.

Oposa said it is best fitting to teach the said group to understand how to care for the environment than the old ones who are already used to their way of life.

“Grade six kay katapusan na sa ilang pagkabata una pa mahimong ulitawhay, bayong-bayong,” he said.

Included in the said agreement is the crafting of learning modules by the Law of Nature Foundation and RAFI.

Oposa said the learning modules will be adopted throughout the country.

Around 1,500 grade six pupils in Bantayan Island are the target for the pilot project envisioning the new generation to be aware of protecting the environment, Oposa said.

Oposa is among the world’s leading authorities in environmental law enforcement. In the Philippines, he is Chairman of the National Environmental Action Team of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and founder of the Law of Nature Foundation, a non-profit organization that, among others, runs a training camp for coastal law enforcement and environmental conservation in his native Bantayan Island.

Oposa is also the team leader of the Visayan Sea Squadron, an outreach group of the Law of Nature Foundation. The “squadron” hopes to preserve the threatened waters of the Visayan Sea. (FREEMAN)