Sorong, Ekuatorial – Environment will be officially taught in elementary schools in Raja Ampat district of Papua starting in the new school academic year, said an official.
“For the 2015 academic year, environment education will be able to be taught not only in elementary schools located in conservation areas but the whole schools,” said Martha Sanadi, head of Raja Ampat Education and Teaching agency.
Sanadi said that environment education can be merged with other subjects because of its local content.
Without official learning module, Nikson Watem, teacher at Kampung Awat elementary school said that he had given bigger portion on environmental education for elementary students of Kofiau Islands, Raja Ampat.
Watem would bring his students to the ocean to learn by themselves through drawings. “I have been teaching about environment education, especially about the sea to children of Kofiau since 2011,” he said.
Kofiau district comprises of five villages, — Deer, Pikiran, Awat, Dibalal, and Tolobi –, located in a-170-hectares of conservation
areas since 2011.
He uses self-made module or prepare by other teachers to teach the kids about the environment. It consists of three marine ecosystems, ocean biodiversity, protecting the sea, waste management and its ecosystem. Niken Proboretno