7 PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN JOHOR NAMED CHAMPIONS IN ISKANDAR MALAYSIA ECOLIFE CHALLENGE (IMELC) 2023

?SK TAMAN SURIA, JOHOR BAHRU, CROWNED BEST SCHOOL OVERALL

Johor Bahru, 14 December – 7 primary schools in Johor were named as champions in 8 categories in the annual Iskandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge (IMELC) 2023 with SK Taman Suria in Johor Bahru crowned as the overall champion in the ‘Best School Category’.?

SK Kampong Baharu from Pontian won the ‘Special Category: Low Enrolment School’ while SK Pendidikan Khas Princess Elizabeth from Johor Bahru won the ‘Special Category: Special Education School’.?

The ‘Water Savings Category’ went to SJKC Pei Chih from Ulu Tiram while SJKC Foon Yew 1, Johor Bahru took the top spot for the ‘Energy Savings Category’ for their water and electricity saving efforts.?

SJKC Kuo Kuang 2 from Johor Bahru led the ‘Recycling Category’ with a collection of 33,497kg of recyclable waste with SK Taman Suria also leading the ‘Used Cooking Oil Category’ with a collection of 3,579.85kg of cooking oil apart from being the overall school champion.?

Student Nurul Iman Rahmat from SK Kulai won the ‘Student and Family Category’.

A total of 58 awards were given out with the 8 top awards handed over by Yang Berhormat Cik Norlizah binti Noh, Johor State Education, Information and Communication Committee Chairman, during the first day of Iskandar Puteri Rendah Karbon carnival recently.?

“Members of the community play a key part in maintaining a ‘green’ future and their interest and participation in the effort should start when they are still young to develop them into environmental champions. This is no easy feat and IMELC has successfully attracted and educated a growing number of school children primarily due to the attention and support the programme has received from various partners throughout the past 10 years,” said Yang Berhormat Dato’ Dr Badrul Hisham bin Kassim, Chief Executive of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).?

This year’s challenge saw the support of 10 partners from the government and private sectors plus a foundation working together to drive low carbon awareness and education among 100,000 primary school students from around Johor.?

For IMELC 2023, IRDA, Johor State Education Department (JPNJ) and University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) act as the implementation agencies. The main partners are Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP), SWM Environment Sdn. Bhd., Ranhill SAJ Sdn. Bhd. and Sunway Iskandar Sdn. Bhd while Segamat Municipal Council is a supporting partner.?

Yayasan Hasanah also became a partner to provide a grant focusing on enhancing plastic waste collection; introducing single-use plastic module and encouraging more Kuru Kuru set up for schools in Johor while UNICEF provides expertise to ensure that the IMELC modules and methods elevate the programme further and help enhance IMELC outreach, awareness and implementation rate to a wider audience group.?

Iskandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge (IMELC) started as a pilot project in 2013 with only 23 schools aiming to instil awareness and knowledge on Low Carbon Society lifestyle among primary school students in Iskandar Malaysia. 10 years down the road, more than 100,000 students from 900 primary schools from around Johor were involved in the programme.?

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed IMELC to adopt a more digital-based approach both for data collection and engagement activities. At the end of 2020, IRDA, through funding by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), digitalised the IMELC modules through a website, which includes gamification. ?Before that, hardcopy workbook was used for the children to capture their water and electric savings plus recycling data and requires in-person group exercises between the educators and students.?

IMELC was chosen as one of the side events during the Asia Pacific Climate Week (APCW) 2023 in Johor Bahru, recently, and shared its experience in “Shaping Up Future Climate Change Leaders Through Multi Stakeholders’ Collaboration”.