Environment a priority for UAE schools

'It's our duty to protect our country ... it is a national cause,' says Amina al Murran, director of the institutional excellence department.

Students admire creations made with waste metal at the environmental art competition at the Emirates Heritage Club in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI // The environment is rapidly becoming a key element of the school curriculum across the UAE, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Education. "We have a responsibility to teach the children about the importance of the environment" said Amina al Murran, director of the institutional excellence department. "It's our duty to protect our country and our culture and it is a national cause."

Ms Murran was speaking at yesterday's environment competition, a joint venture between the Ministry of Education and the Emirates Heritage Club. More than 190 children from 58 schools entered works of art using recycled metal waste, the theme of this year's competition. This is the fourth year of the competition, and previous themes have been recycled plastic, paper and general waste. "This competition is about raising awareness, which is a prominent goal for us now," Ms al Murran said. "We consider the students smart enough to think about environmental issues and be creative and inventive in this area."

The entries, by pupils from grades six to nine, included jewellery boxes, city models, flower arrangements and collages, all using items such as soft drink cans and tins. The winners, a group of four girls from Al Bateen Scientific School in Abu Dhabi, created three large plant pot stands using metal waste that included old biscuit tins. The girls won a cash prize of Dh5,000 (US$1,360). Their teacher, Sakina Ahmed, said: "The girls understand and care about the environment. We recycle everything at school and now it is the students who bring me things which they see could have a use in the art room."

The competition's success has triggered a larger campaign by the Emirates Heritage Club, which plans to launch more such initiatives targeting children around the country. "We'd like to see much more of an emphasis on the environment in the curriculum," said Saeed Naser al Wahedi, the head of environmental awareness and training. "The children really enjoy these initiatives. The main goal is to make these children more aware of their environment."

Part of the club's education plan is to teach children about the "3 Rs" of the environment: reduce, recycle and reuse. Mr al Wahedi says that since the competition began, it has become more and more popular among students around the country, and the entries are from a mix of government and private schools.
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