Jerome de Silva,
Dharhsana Ranatunga,
Rohan Wirasekara,
Asanka Eriyawa,
Sri Lanka Scout Association
In a population of 22 millions of habitants, there are 75 000+ scouts in Sri Lanka. Here scouting is 95% school-based and 5% community-based. The straight cooperation between government, Ministry of Education and Sri Lanka Scout Association brings along effective impact as well as interesting opportunities. Besides leadership, team work and resource management, environmental education is also a topic included in the pedagogical programme, featuring workshops to teach scouts from all over the country about the impact of plastic on ecosystems, or water consumption and its reduction. For others, mostly from urban areas, it includes lessons on how to build gardens in apartment balconies.
After the enriching talks and sharing of experiences, I found relevant to highlight three initiatives to share with you now:
- Since 2015, in Sri Lanka, scouts have already planted 10 000 trees through several activities;
- In Kurunegala, during two months, scouts at the “Rovers” stage, talked to the population about zero waste practices and taught them how to dispose waste. This local initiative had such an impact that a national programme with similar basis will be launched soon.
- In the Royal College, in Colombo 07, scouts were pioneering with recycling habits at school and are now doing a campaign about plastic reuse.
Scouting has been key when educating the next generation and this sharing of practices enables us to understand and evaluate what we are doing right and what we can do better. Baden-Powell would be proud of your association. Thank you for welcoming me in your country.