By: L.N. Reklai
November 2, 2017 (Koror, Palau) Minister Umiich Sengebau of MNRET signed an MOA with Minister Sinton Soalablai of MOE to fund Ministry of Education’s efforts to develop a Palau-specific biodiversity and island ecosystem topics into national curriculum standards. [restrict]
$25,000 dollars will come from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) System of Transparent Allocation (STAR) project to support MOE’s curriculum development efforts.
The Ministry of Education’s work with its local and regional partners to develop Palau-specific biodiversity curriculum is in line with the objectives of the GEF R2R STAR Project under the Protected Areas Network, according to the MOA.
“We are pleased that we can work with Ministry of Education achieve the same objectives and not have to create any new programs from scratch. We expect to work more closely with Ministry of Education in the future as many of the projects we implement have education program components,” stated Minister Umiich Sengebau.
MOE Minister Soalablai expressed that implementation of this science curriculum is very important and the teachers need to be well versed and trained in order to deliver successfully to the students and the assistance coming from the MNRET through GEF is certainly needed.
The new science curriculum being developed for schools is Palau-specific meaning that the curriculum is based on Palau’s environment.
“It was developed with local scientists from local and regional agencies so the content is locally-based. The kids learn first about mangroves, coral reefs and other localized ecosystems before they study snows and other ecosystems outside of Palau,” stated Minister Soalablai.
The funding from GEF R2R STAR project will help fund the implementation of this new curriculum. [restrict]