Students get green insight with new media program

Jakarta, NU Online
Coverage of environmental issues in the media has greatly boosted students’ awareness of the topic, teachers have said.

“The media has a good influence in promoting green issues to the students,” Rini Silvana, a teacher from State Senior High School (SMAN) No. 1 in Tangerang, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.&l<>t;br />
SMAN 1 Tangerang is one of about 100 schools taking part in the Student Globe, a media project aimed at familiarizing both teachers and students with environmental issues as well as the role of the media in society.

Rini said students at SMAN 1 had planted trees and started a waste separation system at the school as part of the program.

Ireng Ambarsari, science coordinator at Ipeka International Christian School, said her students had also become more familiar with environmental issues as a result of the program.

“We have paper recycling activities in our junior high school, and it is one of the programs in the Boys Brigade, our scout program,” she said.

“We are adopting a new lifestyle and still trying to practice it day by day.”

Both schools will be sending their delegates — one student and one teacher — to participate in the Business for Environment Global Summit, which is to be held in Jakarta from Apr. 27-29. The international conference aims to spur dialogue and business-driven action for the environment.

Select students will also have the chance to become junior reporters and cover the summit, as well as meet prominent environmentalists like former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and Indonesian model Nadya Hutagalung.

The Student Globe will be published as a 16‑page, full-color monthly supplement in the Jakarta Globe, starting on March 28. The publication aims to present a youth perspective on topical issues and engage both students and teachers.

“It is also to improve students’ English language, and that is our commitment because English gives us a global competitive advantage,” Sachin Gopalan, chief operating officer at Globe Media Group, told the teachers.

As part of the Student Globe program, students from participating schools will submit English-language articles online. Students will then vote for the best articles from April 19-28, with the top 20 writers being given the chance to report on the summit and write for the Student Globe.

The student with the most votes will also be accompanied by a teacher to take part in the Business for Environment Global Summit in London next academic year. (jg/dar)