Fostering a more sustainable environment in Selangor

12 February 2022, Kuala Lumpur – In partnership with Pertubuhan Pendidikan Pembangunan Lestari Selangor, Amanah Lestari Alam is working together to facilitate and foster a more sustainable environment and ecosystem in the country.

This strategic collaboration will entail a nationwide study to determine the status of Environmental Education/Education for Sustainable Development (EE/ESD) infusion and integration into the formal education system (curriculum and co-curriculum) in Malaysian schools, to be fully funded by ALAM.

Aimed at engaging approximately 1,022 schools nationwide – including Sabah and Sarawak, the year-long research will involve students and teachers at all levels from primary up until form six students from various backgrounds, along with the school management comprising headmasters and state education department officers.

The study will be conducted in collaboration with researchers from Universiti Malaya – WWF Malaysia Living Planet Centre, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaya together with support from the team at WWF Malaysia.

Concurrently, the study will also look at the positive environmental behaviours among its subjects in their years of exposure to environmental activities and campaigns. This initiative is indeed timely and much needed in line with the recent announcement by our Prime Minister, Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on the Government’s intention to introduce Climate Change as a core syllabus in the country’s education system, following the country’s series of unprecedented natural disasters.

ALAM, an entity aimed at championing the preservation of the environment certainly welcomes and applauds the Government for this proactive measure in our continuous efforts to ignite a behavioural change amongst the youths in Malaysia.

This certainly is a strong reflection of the Government’s commitment towards a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable nation as outlined in the 12th Malaysia Plan and the global commitment towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Commenting on this strategic collaboration, ALAM’s CEO, Wan Faizah Che Din says, “It’s essential to encourage learners to make informed decisions and actions on global issues such as climate change through ESD. It is, after all, recognised as a model to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

“We are pleased to receive the support from the Ministry of Education (MOE). We hope the findings will help MOE to re-evaluate relevant sections of the education system to be in line with the SDGs and to build a generation of young leaders who understand that humanity’s health depends on nature’s well-being. This is also a reflection of a whole nation approach where the private, public and civil societies collaborate together for a common interest,” she adds.

PPPLS’ Co-Chairman, Thiagarajan Nadeson says, “As determined planetary health is everyone’s responsibility, we need to understand the Ministry of Education’s effort better and to support them where help is required based on this research. In addition, the study is a baseline to determine how the EE/ESD elements embedded in the curriculum and textbooks are being implemented in the classrooms and extracurricular programmes.”

“We are honoured to be involved in this high-impact research since our association has reputable researchers with many years of experience. We hope the findings will also benefit NGOs running many environmental initiatives with students. They will be able to plan more focused non-formal EE/ESD educational activities in collaboration with the MOE and other government and non-governmental agencies,” he elaborated.