Teachers fight Med’s great marine pollution problem in school with educational kit

An educational pack for children aged three to 16 will offer educational experiences about marine habitats and the dangers threatening the environment, and is being disseminated among all schools.

BeMed (Beyond Plastic Med) commissioned Nature Trust’s EkoSkola Programme to launch the educational resource to raise students’ awareness on sustainable living, responsible consumption, care for marine biodiversity, and the reduction of litter.

“This recurrent theme at the COP 26 meeting is the need for a change in mindsets that enables the effective decisions needed to change the way we live and the choices we make,” said Nature Trust executive president Vincent Attard.

“However, a change in mindset is dependent on a well-planned educational process that does not focus only on the acquisition of knowledge, but more importantly on the development of skills, attitudes and values. This enables the learner – irrespective of the age – to develop the ability to take effective actions and become an active citizen bringing about change first in his or her behaviour and then in the community.”

As a closed sea and a hub of land and sea based economic activities, the Mediterranean Sea is the most polluted sea in the world.

One of the greatest culprits is plastic pollution, which takes ages to decompose, but is also responsible for the death of millions of creatures which ingest plastic objects by mistaking it for food, or by getting entangled and suffocating in drifting waste.

“However, the damage doesn’t end there: the sun breaks down plastic into tiny fragments called micro-plastics that find their way into food-chains gradually unleashing poison in the bodies of the fish that ingest them … and finally ending up on our plates,” Attard said.

The educational pack was developed by teachers for teachers and is therefore sensitive to the needs and resources available at the grassroots hence improving the pack’s chances of implementation. The pack is being disseminated among all schools in Malta and Gozo and through the Eco-Schools global network.