School starts eco-garden to teach life skills

School starts eco-garden to teach life skills
Tenby International School Miri (TISM) is one of the first schools in Malaysia to have successfully started an eco-garden as part of its curriculum.

“TISM is the first Tenby school to have an eco-garden and the plan is to integrate the garden into the curriculum in international and local schools to provide extra-curricular opportunities for students to learn about sustainability, self-sufficiency and practical skills such as planting, maintaining and harvesting from a garden,” a spokesperson said.

The garden is open to the whole school and classes are given the opportunity to plant crops as part of the curriculum or as an enrichment project.

The project was funded by the school with many of the materials donated and recycled – much work on the building was done by a maintenance team.

“After a lot of hard work from teachers, students and the school’s maintenance team, the TISM Eco Garden initiated in October 2016 is flourishing. The area looks amazing and the first batch of ‘test crops’ are a success,” the spokesperson said.

The eco-garden was first initiated in October 2016 through a competition that was open to the whole school. Students were asked to submit their designs for the garden, and the winning design from a Year 8 student was used for the layout, reported the Borneo Post.

Most of the students have been involved in preparing the soil for planting, designing and building the eco-garden, added the spokesperson.

The garden’s produce will be used in the school canteen or given to members of the school community.


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