Project Life Through Children's Education

The Davao Gulf Management Council (DGMC) and World Wildlife Fund for Nature Phils. established partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) in embedding the Project LCE (Life through Children Education) into the curriculum and lesson plans of science subjects for both elementary and high school.  The LCE is an off-shoot of the Project L.I.F.E  (Learning Interdependently for the Environment), an environmental conservation campaign whose primary goal is to protect Davao Gulf, a major resource for eco-tourism, an important source of food, and provider of jobs for many coastal communities.  The Gulf also supports the fishing industry of Davao provinces thus contributing to the economic development of cities and municipalities surrounding it.

DGMC, DepEd and WWF aim to heighten the awareness of the youth on environmental conservation and protection of Davao Gulf, and to mobilize coastal communities towards conservation efforts. This is operationalized through Project LIFE which was being conducted in the schools, showing films on the environment, providing interactive lectures and group presentations, holding skits and environmental games that entertain and educate the children. Part of the project delivery is through a mobile interactive van which has toured around the coastal communities sharing the Gulf area, and held the various education activities to the communities’ public schools. This roving education van was outfitted with audio-visual and concerns equipments and exhibit materials that feature basic conservation issues and concerns of the Philippine Marine Environment.

Since it was first launched on January 13 up to its culmination on March 16 2006, Project LIFE has toured Davao City, Davao del Sur, Compostele Valley, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte. Over all, it has covered 4 cities and 18 municipalities around Davao Gulf, has presented to 92 elementary and secondary schools, and has reached out to 13,278 students.

Project LIFE was carried out in the communities by the so-called Sea Scouts composing of 2nd to 4th year high school students who opted to join Sea Scouts as an alternative to the Citizen’s Military Training program in the school. The DepEd is greatly appreciated for their generous support to this cause. Public Teachers and Sea Scouts were trained by the DGMC and WWF to give child-friendly presentation to coastal public schools about the features and marine resources of Davao Gulf and the importance of their protection. The coastal communities and school children play a vital role in preserving Davao Gulf. Public Teachers and Sea Scouts, with their idealism and enthusiasm, helped spread the mission of disseminating to the school children the biodiversity in Davao Gulf and their importance. They were facilitated by the educational roving van in giving demonstration, employing multi-media presentation such as audio-visual productions, exhibits and interactive media.

Project LIFE has so far reached out to elementary and high school students during its first phase of implementation. At present there is a clamor from private schools, not only in the coastal areas but also from the uplands, to have the Project LIFE expanded. To be able to sustain this undertaking, there is a need to train more public teachers and to embed the Project LCE in the curriculum and lesson plans of science teachers in the DepEd.

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