The SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award is an award program co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). The program promotes Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) initiatives in the region by recognizing the good practices of ESD in elementary, junior high and senior high schools in SEAMEO member countries *1.
The winning school in 2023 was the Al-Ya’lu Superior Elementary School, of Malang City in Indonesia. Taking as its theme < Environmentally Friendly Behavioral Innovation>, the school has worked on a number of initiatives, including using the fallen leaves from a nearby bamboo forest and bagasse to make pellets that can be used as fuel for cooking school lunches, and building a pulverizer to turn the organic waste from school lunches into livestock feed and compost. Points that were rated highly were that pupils learned, both in the classroom and in their everyday actions, the value of organic waste as a source of energy; that the approach to solving problems in the school made use of readily-available materials; and that pupils were given the opportunity to consider close-to-home solutions to environmental problems.
As a supplementary prize, the winning school is offered the chance of a trip to Japan. From the 9th to the 13th September 2024, four pupils of the school, the principal, the coordinating teacher and SEAMEO staff came to Japan and, in addition to paying courtesy calls on the Embassy of Indonesia in Japan and on the parliamentary vice minister of MEXT, they visited the Central Breakwater Outer Landfill Site in Tokyo and the Tokyo Sewerage Museum ‘Rainbow’, a public relations facility of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Waterworks, which gave them a deeper understanding of how waste and sewage are managed in Japan.
On the 11th September, the group paid a visit to Shimo-Fukuda Elementary School in Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The pupils of Al-Ya’lu Superior Elementary School talked to the pupils of Class 5-3 about their
When they first arrived at Shimo-Fukuda Elementary School, the Indonesian children looked nervous, but they seemed to relax completely as the pupils of Class 5-3 spoke to them using Indonesian phrases they had learned in advance, and also used translation software to communicate, and children from other classes and years they passed in the corridor greeted them warmly. Although their time together was limited, the children of both countries were able to enjoy the experience of coming into contact with a different language and culture, the experience of trying to convey one’s thoughts to others, and the experience of running together and throwing balls to each other as children of the same age, regardless of their being from different countries.
The Principal of Al-Ya’lu Superior Elementary School noted that “In the near future some of our children may well come to study in Japan”. At Shimo-Fukuda Elementary School too, apparently pupils are turning their attention to other countries, not only Indonesia, and have been heard to make positive remarks regarding involvement with foreign countries. It was a day that made a small but definite difference to the children of both countries.
(*1) ASEAN member states plus East Timor, a total of 11 countries.
-
Introducing themselves to Class 5-3 -
An introduction to Japanese food culture
-
Having a go at calligraphy -
Saying Goodbye
