Four students represent Seychelles in international sustainability debate |06 July 2021
Noela Bettey Namukose (left) and Thara Andre during the online debate yesterday (Photos: Louis Toussaint)
Four students from school institutions in Seychelles are representing the country in the Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL) 2021 International Schools Debate, which kicked off yesterday and is set to conclude this afternoon.
Noela Bettey Namukose from the International School Seychelles (ISS) and Thara Andre from Beau Vallon primary both partook in yesterday’s online debate event aimed at primary school students, after having been selected by TSL based on their performance in the International TSL essay competition held earlier this year.
According to International Education Manager at TSL, Kirsty Shakespeare, this year, the trust received a record number of essays from which to choose, and received over 1300 essays from both primary and secondary level, from 59 different countries.
For the event, students debated on the topic ‘Global biodiversity is in crisis – What can we do to help prevent the sixth mass extinction?’, which saw around 32 top-performing students aged 7 to 11 collaborating together in four assigned groups to discuss to one of four thematic groups, representing different sectors in society, namely, governments, scientists, businesses and citizens. The emphasis for the debates was collaboration and team work, and teams were expected to develop a shared vision for a sustainable future.
Among the points raised by the students were for better waste management, for governments to start thinking about growing food and trees in cities and adopting technologies to protect the environment. They also proposed that education and sensitisation campaigns be amplified and rules and laws enforced towards encouraging the three R’s – reduce, re-use and recycle.
The panel also addressed topics such as organic food, access to renewable energy sources for poorer countries, and solutions to reduce poverty in the long-run.
Noela Betty Namukose presented on the business team, and centred her presentation on wastewater management and the promotion of the blue economy, while Thara Andre presented on the scientist group and addressed the means by which communication between the public can be improved.
The debate is set to continue today with students from secondary schools, to be followed by an online awards ceremony. Dorianne Bristol of Mont Fleuri school and Vanshika Parikh from ISS will be representing Seychelles during today’s competition.
Prior to commencing the debates, executive director of TSL Karl Hansen introduced a video by Andrea Nathan from the ISS, which was selected as the top two in the sustainability video challenge. Andrea wowed judges as she successfully expressed in less than a minute a message to world leaders whereby she spoke of the impact of deforestation on biodiversity in the Seychelles, and called for world leaders and governments to protect the forests and ecosystem, and to strictly enforce rules and regulations in place relating to the preservation and conservation of the environment.
Organiser TSL is a charity working to help achieve a sustainable future through global education and empowerment. The Trust runs the annual TSL International School’s Essay Competition and Debate, the Sustainability Challenge video competition, and Partner Power Summit, involving over 12,000 schoolchildren and teachers in 80 countries.
The Trust also runs The Living Rainforest visitor and education centre in Berkshire, United Kingdom (UK), featuring over 850 tropical plant and animal species to bring the rainforest to life and explore global sustainability challenges. The centre receives more than 100,000 visitors annually, including 25,000 children on school trips.
Laura Pillay
