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ogi Samuel, 10, rushed home from school to check on the tree tomatoes he planted on the house's yard in Sumber Brantas village, Bumiaji district of Batu municipality.

The fourth grader of SDN Tulungrejo 3 public elementary school had planted the seedlings since September 2007 as a school assignment. The two trees he planted at home were now about three-meter high.

"The teacher gave us the seedlings to plant at home. She said we had to plant it for our environmental curriculum. It's our saving for earth conservation in the future she said," Yogi told The Jakarta Post while visiting the house recently.

In August 2007, more than 400 students of the elementary school were given avocado, tree tomatoes and red cedar seedlings to plant and to attend until they graduate schools.

The program, called earth conservation saving, is the school's special which aim is to educate a generation who are aware of clean, green, and hygiene environment.

The program derives from the Environmental Education curriculum applied by the Batu municipality since November 2008.

The municipality's education agency is currently the only one applying an independent school subject on environmental issues.

The National Education Ministry had introduced the learning material in 2003 but in most schools was attached in other subject such as science or geography.

Batu pushed its way on the concern over the deteriorating environment around the 320-kilometer Brantas River, the longest waterway in East Java.

The river spring is located in Bumiaji district, which is between 800 and 1,200 meters above the sea.

Whatever condition of the river will affect rice production in East Java province, because 60 percent of rice production comes from the riverbanks area.

The river waters 83,000 hectares of agricultural land and produces 274.88 megawatt of electricity at Brantas power plant.

It also provides water for households for 206 million meter cubic water per year, and another 129 million meter cubic for industry. At least 15,000 hectares fish ponds also rely on the river for water supply.

The exploitation of the river has reduced water debit and caused sedimentation, thus made it no longer fit for water transportation.

The early education on environmental conservation is expected to help restore the water catchment area at the foot of Mt. Arjuna and Mt. Anjasmara, improving the water quality and debit of the river.

The paramount importance of the river drew international agency USAID with its Environmental Services Program to hold integrated program in Batu.

"The integrated program includes the public behavioral change, watershed and waste management, sanitation and public access to clean water," said Bintoro W. Prabowo, public outreach and communication specialist for ESP-USAID in East Java.

The agency helped in accelerating the application of the new school curriculum.

"Our research in 2005 and 2006 on public behavioral change found that elementary students have effectively influenced their parents and other community members to improve life quality," said Meytha Nurani, health communications specialist of ESP-USAID.

Head of Batu education agency, Mistin, concurred to the research, saying that since the curriculum applied in 89 public and private elementary schools there was a significant behavioral change among the students.

"The curriculum encourages students to interact directly with what should be the problem," she said.

The elementary students brought home what they had learned at school.

"My father got angry when I told him to wash his hands with soap before eating. I told him that's what the school taught me," said Syaiful Andi, 11, a fourth grader of SDN Tulungrejo 3.

The education agency had prepared 15 learning modules for elementary schools. According to Sukistono, who leads the team preparing for the learning modules, the team was currently preparing modules for 26 junior high schools and 22 high schools in the municipality."

"The modules for junior high and high schools would be ready for the new curriculum year. The learning material for elementary school student focuses on self hygiene and some facts about environmental problems. Junior high school students will learn about more facts concerning environmental issues and their impacts, while the material for high school students will more on problem analysis," Sukistono said.

In the long run, according to Bintoro, the curriculum would help in the conservation of Brantas River.

The Batu municipality initiative fits to the observation of World Water Day on March 22, this year themed Save Water Save Opportunity.

"The water belongs to all of us, meaning that we have to work together to improve access to water. All of us, the government, industries and communities have to take part in sustaining the quality, quantity and sustainability of water," Bintoro said.

Sukistono hoped that the new curriculum could make the com-munity be more aware on the environment.

"We expect the curriculum to develop well. We need public support to increase the quality of the program by sending the teachers to trainings and the provision of learning tools," he said.