by Laurel Stowell laurel.stowell@wanganuichronicle.co.nz laurel.stowell@wanganuichronicle.co.nz Government cuts to environmental education are sending the wrong messages, teachers say. The National-led government has ditched funding for the enviroschools programme, which went nationwide in 2001. There are three enviroschools in Rangitikei, six in Ruapehu and nine in Wanganui. At St John's Hill School the programmehas been going for five years. Lead Education for Sustainability (EfS) teacher Kevin Booth said it was slack to disregard environmental education. Government has said it wants to focus education spending on the basics of reading, writing and maths.
TELL US: What do you think? Click href=http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/info/letters/>http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/info/letters/ to send a letter to the editor or email href=mailto:letters@wanganuichronicle.co.nz>letters@wanganuichronicle.co.nz.
South Makirikiri enviroschool teacher Julie Rowe's comment was: "So as long as we can read and write, it won't matter if the world falls apart around us?" And Mr Booth is certain the environmental focus helps with teaching basic skills, rather than distracting from it. "Learning in and about our environment is just such a rounded approach. It's something that turns kids on, and you use that to develop your studies. "There are so many links to the curriculum - thinking skills, using language, science, social studies." St John's Hill School had taken environmental education outdoors, with practical steps like keeping chickens to eat discarded sandwich crusts, and planting gardens. At South Makirikiri there was an environment assembly every week, and children were responsible for cleaning up different parts of the school. Both schools said they would carry on with the programme without government help. "We're lucky that we've got very supportive parents, so it certainly wouldn't mean that it would stop," Ms Rowe said. Mr Booth said it would be good to have government support with teacher training though. The facilitators that worked in schools were funded by local and regional councils. Most of them would be able to continue. Enviroschools funding was one percent of the total education budget, Enviroschools Foundation director Heidi Mardon said. The programme had been taken up by 700 New Zealand schools, and was spreading overseas. The foundation would carry on doing the same job for less money if it lost government funding. "The programme is too well embedded to fold now. We've got commitments here and internationally." The foundation is to meet the Education Ministry on Monday, and try to negotiate. LoveThisPaper on Twitter
