MGC shines at Envirofest 2012

Tharindu WEERASINGHE

Presenting a token

Wetland Education Club (WEC) of Mahamaya Girls' College (MGC) Kandy, is doing an excellent service by grooming environmental ambassadors armed with the knowledge of constructed wetlands and water resource conservation with a vision of become the pioneering school in environmental education in Sri Lanka.

The efforts of Mahamaya students were rewarded as they got an opportunity to participate in an environmental exhibition, Envirofest 2012, which was organized by the Commonwealth Secondary School (CSS). CSS is the center of excellence for environmental education in Singapore, which won the President's Award for environmental education in 2009. Therefore, Envirofest was a great opportunity for MGC students in receiving an international exposure.

Club members of WEC prepared three posters for the exhibition. The first poster was based on the pollution of the Kandy Lake and the formation of WEC as an awareness raising programme about the pollution in the Kandy Lake. Structure of the club was the focus of the second poster. The current status of the club was described through the third poster.

The exhibition was held on August 28. The team of MGC consisted of the Principal of MGC, Mrs. Withanachchi,the leader of WEC, Anushi Rathnayake, and an undergraduate at the University of Peradeniya (UoP),Ishanka Wimalaweera. Twenty two groups participated at Envirofest 2012, competing under secondary and primary section project competition, the environmental game designing competition and photographic competition for the primary section. MGC participated in the secondary section project competition and Rathnayake presented the posters representing MGC.

envirofest 2012 team with the members of Css

Projects were judged under creativity, scientific reasoning, clarity, thoroughness and team work. Representatives from some of the national water agencies in Singapore and general public visited the exhibition. At the end of the exhibition Rathnayake had few minutes to describe the environmental education programme of MGC to the participants. MGC won a merit award for their project at the awards ceremony. A token of appreciation was given to the Principal of MGC by the Vice Principal of CSS.

The team visited the CSS and Jurong Primary School during this tour, which helped them to understand the structure of environmental education in Singapore and get an idea about the improvements that can be implemented at WEC in MGC. WEC programme was launched together with the Department Civil Engineering at the UoP. The team appreciates the support given by Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWR), Singapore for their guidance on the programme and they are grateful towards Dynamic AV Technologies (PVT) LTD for their financial support.