֍stoɾiesoftm

SJK(T) Sungai Ara in Bayan Lepas, Penang, received a special award during the 2018 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award ceremony in Thailand.

The school’s project titled ‘Applying Local Wisdom for Environmental Conservation’ was adjudged the best programme carried out in small schools of fewer than 250 students.

School principal Sangga Sinanyah said they felt honoured and blessed to receive the award for their report which took more than three months to complete last year.

“We prepared a 13-page report on how Malaysian culture helped in environmental conservation and sustainability, with the help of our mentor,” he said.

Sangga said that although the school was small with limited resources, they were able to win the award with support from the community.

Supt Anbalagan also received a certificate of appreciation as mentor of the school.

“I am very proud to receive the certificate from SEAMEO and the Japan Education Ministry,” he said when contacted.

“This international recognition will motivate our district police headquarters (Balik Pulau district) to do more for the community.

“Our noble effort was aimed at forging closer ties between the police and the community,” he added.

Besides mentoring pupils on projects, Supt Anbalagan said 30 police officers also helped to paint schools.

The school was among 94 schools from South-east Asian countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand which attended the 2018 SEAMEO – Japan ESD Award event.

It was organised by SEAMEO Secretariat and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT) with Unesco Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.