Toyota Eco Rangers Programme Concludes First Year
Last year, UMW Toyota Motor, in collaboration with Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam (YAWA), embarked on a three-year Corporate Social Responsibility programme themed at preserving the environment, called the Toyota Eco Rangers Programme (TER). Supported by the Ministry of Education, the TER programme is an extension of the highly publicized Toyota Eco Youth programme.
A total of 22 schools throughout the Klang Valley were selected to participate in this programme, where they are required to plant a total of 100 trees in the span of three years. Aimed at developing and raising awareness of the environment among school children, the three year programme puts participating pupils through a workshop, concept paper presentation, on-site activity, school visits by UMW & YAWA, and finally, an annual recognition programme.
Nominated by the Ministry of Education as the pilot schools for the programme, each the 22 schools then dispatched a teacher and two students from Form 1 or Form 2 to attend a three-day workshop at an Eco camp during the start of the programme. There, they were exposed not just to various trees and plants indigenous to Malaysia, but also on how to care for them. On top of that, they also participated in various activities that helped them develop team-work, presentation and debating skills.
Yesterday, Autoworld was invited to attend the Toyota Eco Rangers Year One Awards Presentation Ceremony held at SMK (P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya. Officiating the ceremony was Y.B. Dato’ Hajah Noor Rezan bt Bapoo Hashim, the Deputy Director General of the Educational Operation Sector, Ministry of Education.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dato’ Noor Rezan remarked that, “The Toyota Eco Rangers Programme, a partnership between UMW Toyota Motor and Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam, offers an avenue to counter the challenges in encouraging the holistic development of students in schools through caring and cultivation of the environment while at the same time raising their environmental awareness.”
Also present at the event was UMW’s Executive Director Tn Haji Aminar Rashid Salleh, who noted that, “As we end the first year of Toyota Eco Rangers Programme last month, a total of 755 indigenous trees have been planted in the 22 participating schools, by the students who have successfully applied the knowledge acquired from the Eco Camp with the help of their teachers.”
Concluding the first year of the programme, the participating schools were then judged and had their progress evaluated, with the outstanding schools receiving appropriate cash rewards.
Three categories were considered, namely ‘Best Tree Planting’, ‘Best Nurturing and Environmental Practices’, and ‘Best Reporting’, with the winner of each category receiving a cash prize of RM1,000. Winners of these categories were SMK Bangsar, SMK (P) Sri Aman, and SMK SS 17 Subang Jaya respectively.
The top three schools that made the best overall progress were also appropriately rewarded. SMK Setapak Indah and SMK Putrajaya took third and second placing, with their school coffers boosted by RM1,000 and RM2,000 respectively.
Winner of the overall award was none other than SMK (P) Sri Aman, who received a cash prize of RM3,000 for their excellent progress. The school also had the opportunity to show off their impressive work by taking Dato Noor Rezan on a tour around their premises.
Speaking on the future of the TER program, Haji Aminar said, “We are going to invite the Toyota Eco Rangers participants to a Tree Planting event, to be held in November this year, together with our Toyota Staff Volunteers. In March 2010, the 2nd year Eco camp will be held to further sustain the Toyota Eco Rangers Programme. The final awards presentation will be held in June 2011 to complete the three year Toyota Eco Rangers Programme.”
