The 2020 SEAMEO-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award is inviting all public and private schools in the 11 Southeast Asian (SEA) countries, which also comprise the member-countries of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), to submit entries to the award with the theme "Addressing Plastic Problems for Transforming Communities."
In its ninth year, the award aims to raise and promote positive human values among teachers and students as well as share best practices in ESD in schools across Southeast Asia.
The winning school will win $1,500 and a fully sponsored study tour to Japan for four to six persons, among others.
In 2017, Labuin Elementary School in Pila, Laguna province won the SEAMEO-Japan ESD third prize for its program "Intensification of the School Garden in Improving Nutrition of the School Children." The school carried out the winning program as a pilot site of the School and Home Gardens project led by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), one of the oldest specialist institutions of SEAMEO.
This year's SEAMEO-Japan ESD theme is aligned with SEARCA's goal to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production as set in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2020-2025).
Headed by Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA is intent on "Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation" in the next five years.
All schools in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam are invited to submit information on their respective programs and activities, particularly on their program or initiative related to plastic waste management practices.
They must indicate how their initiative would transform the community and provide impactful evidence in reducing plastic usage, improving plastic waste management systems and cleaning the ecosystem of the community.
SEAMEO said entries should demonstrate the community engagement with multisectoral partners that create mutual beneficial partnerships, deepen student learning experiences, support student growth, and sustain the society.
"The school should clearly demonstrate the integration of the school initiative in all schools' aspects such as school policy, management plan, curriculum, teaching and learning practices, co-curricular and student activities, partnership efforts, community participation, and so on," SEAMEO added.
Participating schools must ensure that their entries for the 2020 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award are received by the SEAMEO Secretariat based in Bangkok, Thailand by Aug. 14, 2020.
SEAMEO and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan established the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award in support of the "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
For more information on the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award, visit link.seameo.org/2020SEAMEOJapanESDAward.
