Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Batu, East Java | Tue, 12/29/2009 9:20 AM
The implementation of an environment-based curriculum in schools in Batu, East Java, is proving beneficial in raising awareness among students of the importance of preserving nature and in creating business alternatives for low-paid teachers.
At state elementary school No. 4 in Tulungrejo district, students and teachers grow a variety of vegetables in the school’s back yard.
“The activity serves as a practical for the students,” headmaster Soepi’i told The Jakarta Post earlier this month.
“At the end of it, the vegetables are harvested and sold, and the proceeds given over to the school’s operational fund and distributed among the teachers.”
The school boasts an entire hectare of carrot plants that can be harvested every four-and-a-half months, raising Rp 4 million to Rp 6.5 million (US$420 to $680) per harvest.
Soepi’i said 60 percent of the money was allocated for the maintenance of school facilities, while the rest was split up among the teachers.
“Their welfare deserves our attention, and we can’t just wait for funding from the government,” he said.
“We have to be creative in seeking out a legitimate additional income to improve the quality of educators, and by extension, education.”
Students and teachers also grow cabbage here, following the implementation of the environment-based curriculum in Batu’s 124 schools, all the way from elementary to senior high, since July 2008.
Over at state elementary school No. 01 in Punten district, students and teachers sell handicrafts made of recycled plastic and paper waste, and briquettes made of manure and organic fertilizers.
Headmaster Prihastutik said no additional fee was levied from students’ parents in implementing the environment-based curriculum, thanks to fund from the school operational aid program (BOS) provided by the central, provincial and municipal administrations.
“We’ve also received funding from other parties, including USAID’s Environmental Services Program (ESP), to help print the curriculum modules for the teachers,” Prihastutik said.
However, the BOS is not widely embraced by all administrations.
East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf said only 13 of the province’s 38 regencies and municipalities were committed to funding the BOS, while the remainder had opted out because of budget limitations.
“We need a total of Rp 958 billion to share between the provincial and municipal and regency budgets in a 50:50 scheme,” he said.
“But some regencies and municipalities are refusing to chip in because of their budget constraints.”
Sukistono, the head of Batu Education Agency’s environment-based curriculum development and education unit, said despite the limited funding for the BOS, and hence for schools, the implementation of the green curriculum had brought out the best in students.
He claimed they were leading healthier lives and no longer littering.
“We’re now obliging all schools in Batu to plant apple trees, as apples have long been an icon of the city,” he said, adding students were being taught how to plant quality apples.
USAID-ESP East Java public outreach and communications specialist Bintoro W. Prabowo said an evaluation of the program had shown it was very effective in helping the residents of Batu become more aware of living clean, green and hygienic lifestyles.
Batu Education Agency head Mistin said his office was considering including the grades from the environmental education in the students’ graduation certificates, and proposing that a bylaw be made to enforce the curriculum.
