STUDENTS across Jamaica continue to excel in environmental stewardship, thanks to the Jamaica, Environment Trust’s (JET’s) Schools Environment Programme (SEP).

This is despite the setbacks faced over the years by the island’s largest environmental education initiative, which is now in its 14th year.

The programme — which is being administered in 30 schools for the 2010/2011 academic year, following a relaunch in September last year — was forced to suspend its operations after the Ministry of Education cut its funding in early 2010.

But the programme got a new lease on life when the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica stepped in to fill the gap left by the ministry, becoming its primary donor.

Meanwhile, SEP has been delivered in more than 350 local schools, from the primary to the high school level, in both rural and urban settings. Some 300,000 students and 600 teachers have benefited from the effort.

Begun in the 1997/8 academic year, SEP reached its peak in 2002/3. Now in 2010/11, the programme has had to be scaled down to 30 schools, all of which have distinguished themselves as top performers in the past. Two among them are Mount St Joseph Prep in Manchester and Port Morant Primary and Junior High in St Thomas.

“Even when SEP went into hiatus at the beginning of last year, both Mount St Joseph and Port Morant kept the programme going without the guidance of the JET team,” said Tamoy Singh, JET’s project co-ordinator. “It is really encouraging to see that type of enthusiasm; it lets us know that the programme is working.”

Both schools also excelled at the Totalsponsored Jamaica Environmental Action Awards in 2010. Lorraine Brown-Knight of Mount St Joseph Prep was awarded Champion Environmental Teacher, while Port Morant Primary copped the Trees for the Future and Most Environmentally Aware School awards. Chavel Airey, a student of Port Morant, received the Youth Environmental Leadership award in the under-16 category.

Mount St Joseph Prep has participated in SEP for over nine years, demonstrating a lasting dedication to the programme. They have adopted the ‘whole school’ approach, involving all students, teachers and even parents in environmental projects. They are also heavily involved in outreach, exemplified by their work with neighbouring schools in their community.

The excellent team of teachers, including Lorraine Brown-Knight and principal Gem Stanley, have been credited as helping to maintain the school’s environmental programme.

Port Morant Primary and Junior High has also been involved in the SEP for nearly a decade, winning the FirstCaribbean-sponsored Most Environmentally Aware School Award in both 2008 and 2010. As with Mount St Joseph Prep, the dedication of teachers — the likes of Pansey Murphy, Jermaine Buckley, and principal Marcia Haughton — has played a critical role in the school’s success.

“Throughout the run of the programme, a strong theme has been the dedication of the teachers. In most of the schools that have been very successful in SEP, there is usually a teacher who is the driving force behind the programme. Both Mount St Joseph and Port Morant are prime examples of this,” noted JET boss Diana McCaulay.

The Champion Environment Teacher category of SEP awards was introduced in 2009 in recognition of this fact.

“Although the programme has been scaled down considerably from what it has been in the past, JET recognises the importance of this type of environmental education programme to be included in the Jamaican school curriculum,” said programme director Suzanne Stanley. “JET remains committed to continuing delivery of environmental education in schools.”