Spelling their way to a brighter future

This was the second year running that students of Zuhour Private School participated in the 'fun-learn' programme that is the Enviro-Spellathon.

The little ones posed happily with Ms. Hana Saif Al Swaidi, Manager, Sharjah Natural History Museum, as she presented certificates, flashing these for the camera and even displaying their Enviro-Spellathon booklets. With enthusiasm, they shared with Ms. Hana the contents of the booklets that had taken their fancy - ghaf trees, turtles, coral reefs, gazelles, Arabian leopards and even desalination plants...

The event brought to a close the programme for academic year 2003-2004, one in which 19,000 students of 65 schools in Sharjah emirate, including Al Zuhour, participated - a much higher number than last year, when the same programme had drawn 10,400 students from 40 schools.

"We are very pleased that this year, schools from even remote parts of Sharjah such as Kalba and Khor Fakkan came forward to join in the Enviro-Spellathon. The response from these schools was remarkably enthusiastic, with some having expanded the programme into fortnight-long environmental activities involving families too."

The Enviro-Spellathon is an environmental education programme that has been sponsored by Shell since its introduction into UAE primary schools in 2001-2002. It requires children (6-12 years) to study booklets dealing with the UAE's plants, animals, habitats and conservation. They then write a test and are given gifts commensurate with the scores attained. The best are nominated Enviro-Spellathon Ambassadors.

This country-wide programme which, since its inception, has grown in coverage from 172 schools in just Abu Dhabi emirate to, today, 400 schools in five emirates - Sharjah, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi. Some 125,000 students in these emirates have studied the Enviro-Spellathon this year, 16,000 more than last year. The World Wide Fund for Nature - UAE (WWF- UAE) is an organiser of the programme along with the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA), Abu Dhabi and the leading environmental agency of each participating emirate.

In Sharjah emirate, the Enviroment and Protected Areas Authority, under which the Sharjah Natural History Museum falls, implements the Enviro-Spellathon. "Children simply love the books," says Ms. Hana, "They find the contents interesting; and full of colourful pictures that attract. It's good that they are learning about the biodiversity of the UAE from these booklets."

Not only has Enviro-Spellathon promoted awareness about nature in the UAE, it has spawned several related activities. Some schools have started nature clubs, when there were none. Others initiated recycling programmes. And still more performed plays, put up 'best of waste' exhibitions, participated in spelling bees...