Environmental activism in schools receives StarHub boost

- Info-communications provider to title-sponsor SEC's School Green Awards with S$450k -

Singapore, 12 February 2015-The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) marked its 20th anniversary with the signing of one of its largest sponsorship deals in its 20 years of establishment. The deal inked today with StarHub will see the info-communications company title-sponsor the SEC's annual School Green Awards (SGA) for three years starting from 2015.

StarHub has been collaborating with the SEC on the SGA since 2014 and will provide $150,000 annually in cash for the duration of their title-sponsorship of the SGA.

A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the two parties today in conjunction with the launch of the SGA 2015 at MINDS Fernvale Gardens School. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, witnessed the ceremony and also launched the programme to kick-start the annual environmental awards programme for schools. Please refer to Annex A for the list of various award categories.

"The Singapore Environment Council is pleased to welcome StarHub as the title sponsor of our annual School Green Awards. StarHub's support will enable the SGA to strengthen its outreach and education to students at all levels of education, and this sponsorship clearly highlights StarHub's commitment to the environmental cause in Singapore. We are also pleased to welcome back Paseo as a sponsor of the SGA, and I am confident that the involvement of StarHub and Paseo will help elevate the significance of the SGA as a key platform to educate, encourage and engage young Singaporeans to take personal responsibility for Singapore's environmental future, and is a prime example of how private organisations can work with us to play a part in advocating environmentalism in Singapore, said Ms Isabella Loh, Chairman of the Singapore Environment Council.

The SEC received 344 submissions last year from schools for the annual School Green Awards programme, an increase from the 327 submissions in 2013-an impressive growth compared to the mere 28 submissions received in its pilot year in 2001, when SGA was originally introduced as How Green Is Your School?' programme.

The preservation of our environment is everyone's responsibility, stated Mr Tan Tong Hai, Chief Executive Officer, StarHub. While it is important for adults to preserve our earth for the youth, it is equally essential that the young learn to maintain their inheritance for future generations. Through the School Green Awards, StarHub hopes to empower the youth in Singapore to proactively take care of our planet. After all, it is the only one that we have.

To encourage more school-going youths in Singapore to take on environmental stewardship, the awards programme was extended to pre-schoolers in 2013, and to tertiary students in institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in 2014. This extended outreach to students in Singapore ensures that environmental awareness can be inculcated among students throughout their entire time spent in schools, from pre-school up to tertiary education. This year, the SEC targets to reach out to all schools in Singapore through its SGA programme.

And with a submission received from an overseas school, the DAV Public School in Sahibabad, India, in 2014, "the outreach and recognition of the programme transcends local boundaries to schools overseas. It is a reflection of how environmental stewardship among school students is gaining momentum in other parts of Asia, where environmental protection and conservation takes a backseat as many countries push for economic growth, added Ms Loh.

"We want to nurture, inspire and encourage students to take on greater ownership of the environment they live and play in, and in doing so, advancing the cause of environmental protection. It is important not just to inculcate environmental awareness at a young age, but to sustain it through a period of time. This is where the SGA comes in and which is in line with SEC's ENVision campaign launched last year to drive home the message of Care, Ownership and Responsibility to our home, community and environment said Ms Loh.

LINK:	http://www.starhub.com/about-us/newsroom/2015/february/environmental-a...
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