The Office of Climate Change (OCC) of the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) on Friday visited three schools in East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six) to continue its countrywide Climate Change sessions.
It did this in collaboration with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN). A release from MoTP said that the team comprising staff from the OCC and volunteers from the CYEN, delivered 90-minute sessions at the All Saints Primary, the New Amsterdam Multilateral and the Manchester Secondary Schools.
The release said that short videos detailing the effects of rising sea levels and importance of water management among other related areas, were shown to the students.
Yasmin Bowman, Communications Specialist at the OCC, said that the outreach to the region is one in a series which have been planned by Department for the first quarter of 2017. A total of 20 schools were targeted and thus far, 14 have been completed.
Bowman added that the sessions are also aimed at promoting behaviour change with regard to the treatment of the environment especially at a time when Guyana has embarked on a ‘green’ development plan.
Elon McCurdie, National Coordinator for CYEN, said in the release that the organisation wants to focus primarily on climate change and its impacts and to identify actions that youths can take within the communities, schools and homes so that they can help in the process. “With them being children now and them taking on actions, whether it is at school or at home, they are now heading into a more sustainable lifestyle so that as they get older, these are things that they can use to help Guyana and themselves,” she said.
Head Master of the All Saints Primary, Bassant Jagdeo, who sat in on the session facilitated at his school, said that the initiative is commendable and must be taken across the country so that behaviour changes can be achieved for the good of the environment and the country as a whole.
