Schools in Kalimantan Add Plastic Pollution Education to Curriculum

On June 2 and 7 2022 the first phase of the two-year project in Hulu Sungai Tengah began, starting with an extensive Educator Training Program for 40 Teachers from 20 different schools. This program was initiated because Mr. Oktafiandi, the head of the Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, having heard of the work of Mudfish No Plastic, an NGO based in Bali, visited our headquarters in Gianyar Regency on March 2022 to learn more about our educational program. This collaboration will implement the Mudfish No Plastic environmental and plastic pollution curriculum it developed in every school in Hulu Sungai Tengah.

Mudfish No Plastic Co-Director Mora Siregar lead the workshop in Hulu Sungai Tengah

One of the workshop participants, Mr Faridi, a teacher at SD It Al Khair Barabai, said, "The information and techniques provided will be beneficial for the future and important for the education of children in my school." After the workshop, Mora Siregar, Co-Director of MUDFISH NO PLASTIC, said, "I am delighted to see the enthusiasm of the teachers attending the workshop, and I am sure they feel the urgency and have the passion for sharing what they learned from MUDFISH NO PLASTIC with his students."

Mudfish No Plastic provides workshop materials to teachers at HST.

The Hulu Sungai Tengah project was designed by MUDFISH NO PLASTIC based on its previous experience of training educators in Bali in collaboration with the East Bali Poverty Project, a non-profit foundation in Padangsambian, Bali, which was implemented on June 21, 2021. The project provided 13 teachers (for elementary, junior high and high school levels) with important environmental information to share with their students. Subjects included single-use plastics and their relationship to health and the environment. In addition, educators were provided with classroom activities to use, including lessons, quizzes, arts and crafts activities, and video screenings.

Taking photos with Hulu Sungai Tengah teachers who attended the Training of Trainers

The collaborations with teachers in Kalimantan and Bali is an essential step toward expanding the education of youth in Indonesia so that they understand the problem of plastic pollution and improper waste disposal, change their own behaviour, and hopefully, that of everyone in their community. MUDFISH NO PLASTIC, which has been organizing workshops since 2018 about pollution for children in Bali, Java, Sumbawa and Lombok, is committed to expanding the reach of teacher training programs to all districts in Indonesia and welcomes inquiries from community leaders who wish to expand their school curriculum to include this much-needed information on plastic pollution and methods to reduce it at the local level.

Written by Suntabisena Kasmirada