DepEd revives schools inside gardens program
Published Dec 5, 2018 10:40 am
By Merlina Malipot
In line with its efforts to support the national government’s initiatives in protecting and conserving the environment, the Department of Education (DepEd) revived a program establishing schools inside gardens.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones
Issuing DepEd Memorandum 187 series of 2018, Education Secretary Leonor Briones announced the revival of the School Inside a Garden (SIGA) program through a pilot implementation last November. Under DepEd’s core value “Makakakalikasan,” she noted that the department fully supports the government’s National Greening Program.
Briones said that DepEd has two programs that work side-by-side to be implemented in schools: the Gulayan sa Paaralan program which was established in 2007 and the SIGA which was launched by then Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) in 1995.
The SIGA program, Briones noted, “focuses primarily on establishing schools inside gardens featuring mostly indigenous and endemic trees and flowering plants” to make “campuses nationwide green and beautiful.”
By reviving the program, DepEd hopes to “promote the creation of nurseries for indigenous and endemic trees in specific campuses that will serve as a laboratory for learners” and to “strengthen the integration of environmental education in the elementary and high school curriculum.”
The SIGA program also aims to “sustain environmental consciousness and action among learners and the community, instill in them the values of unity, teamwork, volunteerism, nationalism, and community service for environmental protection and conservation” and to “highlight the importance of schools to rehabilitate a heavily-challenged natural environment.”
Briones said that the Young for Environment in Schools Organization (YES-O), Supreme Pupil and Government (SPG) and Supreme Student Government (SSG) included planting of native and endemic flowering tree and plant species in their campuses as part of their activities in the celebration of Environmental Awareness Month in November.
She said the revised SIGA program focuses primarily on “making school campuses throughout the Philippines green and colorful by planting trees and flowering plants, prioritizing but not limited to indigenous and endemic species to the Philippines.”
She added that the identified species “will not only provide shade and color to the campus but serve as a laboratory for student learning and reinforce DepEd’s advocacy for the environment.”
The pilot implementation of the SIGA covers 442 public elementary and secondary schools nationwide or two selected schools per division through the student organizations.
For the program’s private implementation, each selected school receives P50, 000.00 to fund their planting activities and were utilized for the nursery materials and supplies, landscaping, and beautification, construction materials and planting tools, program support funds and office supplies and logistical arrangements such as site preparation.
Briones said schools should also beef up their advocacy campaign and environmental education. “The concept of the role and value of trees and other natural resources in maintaining the ecosystem shall be taught to students through integration in appropriate subject areas and during the actual planting activities,” she explained.
The schools were also allowed to partner with other organizations and government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Agriculture (DA) which are DepEd’s partners in implementing the SIGA program.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones
Issuing DepEd Memorandum 187 series of 2018, Education Secretary Leonor Briones announced the revival of the School Inside a Garden (SIGA) program through a pilot implementation last November. Under DepEd’s core value “Makakakalikasan,” she noted that the department fully supports the government’s National Greening Program.
Briones said that DepEd has two programs that work side-by-side to be implemented in schools: the Gulayan sa Paaralan program which was established in 2007 and the SIGA which was launched by then Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) in 1995.
The SIGA program, Briones noted, “focuses primarily on establishing schools inside gardens featuring mostly indigenous and endemic trees and flowering plants” to make “campuses nationwide green and beautiful.”
By reviving the program, DepEd hopes to “promote the creation of nurseries for indigenous and endemic trees in specific campuses that will serve as a laboratory for learners” and to “strengthen the integration of environmental education in the elementary and high school curriculum.”
The SIGA program also aims to “sustain environmental consciousness and action among learners and the community, instill in them the values of unity, teamwork, volunteerism, nationalism, and community service for environmental protection and conservation” and to “highlight the importance of schools to rehabilitate a heavily-challenged natural environment.”
Briones said that the Young for Environment in Schools Organization (YES-O), Supreme Pupil and Government (SPG) and Supreme Student Government (SSG) included planting of native and endemic flowering tree and plant species in their campuses as part of their activities in the celebration of Environmental Awareness Month in November.
She said the revised SIGA program focuses primarily on “making school campuses throughout the Philippines green and colorful by planting trees and flowering plants, prioritizing but not limited to indigenous and endemic species to the Philippines.”
She added that the identified species “will not only provide shade and color to the campus but serve as a laboratory for student learning and reinforce DepEd’s advocacy for the environment.”
The pilot implementation of the SIGA covers 442 public elementary and secondary schools nationwide or two selected schools per division through the student organizations.
For the program’s private implementation, each selected school receives P50, 000.00 to fund their planting activities and were utilized for the nursery materials and supplies, landscaping, and beautification, construction materials and planting tools, program support funds and office supplies and logistical arrangements such as site preparation.
Briones said schools should also beef up their advocacy campaign and environmental education. “The concept of the role and value of trees and other natural resources in maintaining the ecosystem shall be taught to students through integration in appropriate subject areas and during the actual planting activities,” she explained.
The schools were also allowed to partner with other organizations and government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Agriculture (DA) which are DepEd’s partners in implementing the SIGA program.