Stars and STEM Stories
Madagascar Celebrates 15 Years with GLOBE
Madagascar recently celebrated its 15th Anniversary with the GLOBE Program at a national teacher training event. Organized by the national environmental organization, "National Action for Education for Sustainable Development" (ANEDD), 25 participants attended the event. In addition to the celebration, the day was comprised of various presentations and brainstorming for ideas to help increase student involvement in environmental studies.
The theme of the event was "How to Integrate GLOBE Activities into Education for a Sustainable Development." Participants discussed how to increase student interest in environmental sciences using GLOBE inquiry-based instruction. Since GLOBE encourages hands-on learning, the participants discussed the need to adapt teaching styles; they concluded that properly training the teachers to be actively involved outside the classroom will help increase students' interest level in the activities.
On 5 June 2012, the day began with an opening speech and an exhibition of projects addressing environmental issues. The exhibition was followed by a set of presentations that integrated GLOBE atmosphere, hydrology, and Earth as a system protocols into topics such as living space, waste management, and renewable energy. Participants joined in to propose rational solutions to environmental threats and proper management for each one. They also suggested the integration of these solutions and management techniques into the educational curriculum of GLOBE schools in Madagascar.
The second set of presentations featured the first three of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDG): 1) End Poverty and Hunger, 2) Universal Education, and 3) Gender Equality. There are a total of eight MDG, ranging from the eradication of hunger and poverty to creating global partnerships and fighting HIV/AIDs—all with the intent to reach their goals by 2015. The workshop focused on taking part in efforts to cut hunger and poverty in half and increase decent and productive employment. An important goal of the UN is to help balance the inequalities of gender in the education system, ensuring that both girls and boys have access to a good education and are able to complete primary schooling.
Other environmental organizations present at the event included World Wildlife Madagascar (WWF), UNESCO, and SCOUTS Association of Madagascar. Dr. Robert Razafy and Dr. Ramanitra Narisoa, professors of the University of Antananarivo, were also present.
According to GLOBE Country Coordinator Paul Randrianarisoa, "All who attended had experience in educating students and GLOBE Madagascar benefited from their advice. Celebrating Madagascar's 15th Anniversary with GLOBE was such as success that we look forward to holding another workshop to train more teachers in December 2012."
Read more GLOBE Stars from Madagascar:
Madagascar Team Paves the way for New Teachers to Implement GLOBE
Madagascar Project Forges New Alliances By Tackling Malaria
19 December 2012