School on the Beach: Looking after the ocean’s future
School’s out for the summer after another successful year teaching Bangka’s children the importance of looking after their environment. This past academic year has been the biggest and best year for our environmental education programme so far. Launched in 2019, School on the Beach has developed into an engaging series of lessons that students love, all delivered by local teachers who are passionate about marine conservation.
We have big ambitions for our education programme. We have created a comprehensive syllabus which is relevant to communities throughout the Coral Triangle and aim to create a replicable model. This idea of creating scalable solutions applies to all that we do but we firmly believe that education is one of our most important pillars when it comes to safeguarding the future of our marine environment.
This year we were able to expand our programme to a brand new school in Kahuku, another village on Bangka island. This was in addition to Lihunu Junior High School where we’ve been working for a number of years.We taught a younger group of children at Kahuku Elementary School and tweaked the syllabus to make it suitable for a new, but just as enthusiastic, audience! This expansion was thanks in part to Raiffeisen Capital Management who generously funded our education programme this year.
38 students completed the course this year, and they received their certificates marking the occasion this week. Covering the three main marine habitats on Bangka - the coral reef, seagrass beds and the mangroves, the students learned about the role these habitats play in the local ecosystem. Through a series of classroom based lessons and hands on experience and activities, the children were able to see these habitats up close. We of course covered the importance of keeping the ocean clean and carried out a couple of beach clean ups that the wider community got involved in too. Learning through participation meant that the students had plenty of fun along the way.
The impact of School on the Beach goes far beyond the students in the classroom. On such a close knit island community, small actions speak volumes and the children are spreading the word with their friends and family.
Teaching the next generation about the importance of their actions when it comes to keeping our oceans healthy is a fundamental part of our approach.
Jeren, Kahuku Elementary School
“Since joining School on the Beach, I hardly ever litter anymore. Now I remind my friends not to litter, tell my family to do the same and I’m even learning how to recycle properly!”
Nolan, Lihunu Junior High School
“I loved exploring the coral reefs up close while snorkelling the most. And planting mangroves for the first time! It’s like playing but we also learned a lot because our teacher made learning on the beach so fun!”
Giva, Lihunu Junior High School
“Keeping our environment clean is crucial so our beaches remain beautiful, marine life thrives without eating trash and we all stay healthy and breathe clean air. Let’s preserve our ocean for generations to come and keep the environment cool!”