ES The Malta Experience

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The EkoSkola

Programme

The EkoSkola

Programme

The Malta experience eight years on…

2003: MRRA sponsors EkoSkola

2005: HSBC joins in as main sponsor

2006: Wasteserv Malta Ltd joins in to assist in the country’s FEE participation fee

2007: MEDC appoints 5 EkoSkola Teachers

The sponsors

Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs

Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport

Running EkoSkola costs €120,000 annually

launched during the scholastic year 2002-2003 as a pilot project aimed to:

– assess the resources needed to set up the organisational framework required to run the programme on a national basis,

– assess the impact of the programme on the curriculum and identify specific curricular needs, and

– promote the programme with other schools.

The beginning …

efforts aimed to support the EkoSkola process in schools by:

— the production of support material for schools,

— offer schools the support needed to initiate/maintain the EkoSkola process

— the organisation of in-school staff development programmes, and

— the promotion of the programme with other schools.

During the following years …

The schools … 1

6

2229

43

54

76

95100

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2002 - 03 2003 - 04 2004 - 05 2005 - 06 2006 - 07 2007 - 08 2008 - 09 2009 - 10

Scholastic Year

Schools participating in the EkoSkola Programme (to date)

Total No. of Green flags

The schools … 2

55.9

60.6

56.9

56.8

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0

Local Councils

Schools

Teachers

Children

Relation to National Numbers (to date)

The schools … 3

63

287

1 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Primary Secondary Prim/Sec Special Needs Post Sec

School by Level (to date)

The schools … 4

86

140

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Malta Gozo

Schools by Region (to date)

The schools … 5

72

28

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

State Non State

Schools by Sector (to date)

Progress in Schools

11

10

3

0123456789

1011

No

. of

sc

ho

ols

re

ce

ivin

g

aw

ard

Green Flags Silver Awards Bronze Awards

EkoSkola Awards (to date)

the National EkoSkola Co-ordinator

regional EkoSkola Officers offering:o support re the 7-steps process

o professional development seminars promoting a whole school approach

o SDP planning sessions to introduce ES and/or integrate the Action Plan

nationally based in-service course: “The EkoSkola Programme: a whole school approach to environmental education”

‘Trends’: “Promoting School Development through Environmental Education”

Support given

resource sheets offering support leading schools through the ES process

enviromental education curriculum packs

networking services with local/foreign schools

electronic local EkoSkola newsletter

electronic international bimonthly newsletter: http:// www.eco-schools.org/new/newsletters.html

local website: http://www.ekoskolamalta.com

international website: http:// www.eco-schools.org/

Support given

Centralized management structures are hard to overcome:

at all levels: • teacher – students; • headteacher – school; • educational authorities – schools

a general belief that children are too young to participate in decision-making fora

‘adult’ imposition and token participation are still visible in certain schools

Main issues to deal with

EkoSkola is not ‘product’ based but ‘process’ based:

Green Flag award is not dependent on how many environmental activities the school does but on whether ALL the 7 Steps of the EkoSkola Process are followed

trying to fit the EkoSkola process onto old structures will not work

Main issues to deal with

Networking between schools is still weak:

schools still work in isolation

tendency to view activities as opportunities to show off and ‘beat the others at it’

Main issues to deal with

EkoSkola teachers’ role is to support schools NOT to run the programme

“EkoSkola” is protected by copyright

Main concern of school should be providing students with a learning experience NOT getting the Green Flag

Main issues to deal with

The programme will surely change the way your school currently functions ...

... but it will be worth it!

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