Eco-Schools students learn more about SDGs |24 August 2017

The sustainable development goals linked with the Seychelles’ Eco-Schools programme is the focus of a three-day training workshop organised by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD) in collaboration with the Indian Ocean Commission based in Mauritius.

This first in-depth workshop is being attended by Eco-Schools students and teachers from five schools -- Glacis, Anse Etoile and Anse Royale primary and Beau Vallon and Plaisance secondary.

The training workshop being held at the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (Site) was launched yesterday morning by the principal secretary for education, Dr Odile Decomarmond. 

The five schools were chosen to follow the training for being top in eco-sustainable projects. There are thirty-five registered eco-schools in Seychelles.

The aim of the workshop is to provide the students and especially the teachers an in-depth knowledge of the United Nation’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and of its implementation for 2030, so that they could include the SDGs programme better in their eco-schools curricula.

It will also serve as a platform to generate ideas, solutions or proposals to help in tackling the SDGs challenges and to put forward SDGs projects that could be funded by international partners if viable.

The participants are being guided through all the 17 SDGs through a mix of activities consisting of video presentations, group work, discussions and evaluations.

The workshop is being facilitated by Shane Emile, environmental education coordinator, MEHRD, and is being funded by the European Union through the Indian Ocean Commission.

The 17 SDGs for 2030 are: end poverty, end hunger, ensure healthy lives, quality education, gender equality, sustainable management of water and sanitation, affordable modern energy, sustainable economic growth, resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrialisation and faster innovation, reduce inequality, safe human settlement, sustainable consumption and production, combat climate change, sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources, sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, promote peaceful and inclusive societies and access to justice for all and to implement and to revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.

Present at the launch of the workshop were the principal secretary for environment Alain Decomarmond, the Indian Ocean Commission’s Island project representative Verginie Torrens, the eco-schools students and their teachers.

IOC representative Torrens is in charge of Education for Sustainable Development in the Indian Ocean region and has designed a sustainable guide book to help teachers with their SDGs work. 

Education PS Dr Decomarmond commended the participants for their presence from their school holidays and said it demonstrated their commitment to ensuring the moving ahead with the sustainable development goals programme so as to improve the environment and the educational system and to ensure sustainability in all that we do.

“A lot of people talk about the progress that Seychelles has made; yes we have come a long way and we need to acknowledge that but we also need to take stock. Where are we? What are the things that we have done right? How do we ensure we maintain the things that we have done right? Are we regressing in some of those elements? Please let us take stock and let us not allow ourselves to regress further,” she said, noting that we have to find ways and means to address the SDGs issues to ensure that we can move forward with pride.

With Seychelles fully committed to the SDGs programme, PS Decomarmond acknowledged that the Ministry of Education is also onboard in all its endeavours with creation of all the very active Eco-Schools and is now reviewing its curricula and is integrating the SDGs in the curricula right from early childhood so that everybody can be sensitised on the SDGs.

She thanked the Indian Ocean Commission for its presence and thanked the European Union for funding the workshop.

The training workshop will end tomorrow.