The Ministry of Education, in cooperation with Shell, held its annual Better Environment Awards’ ceremony (BEA) at Al Nahda Women’s Association in Dubai as part of its Shell BEA Program 2009-2010, a coordinated initiative designed to enable schools across the UAE to implement environmental, health and safety projects among their students. Under the patronage of Mr. Ali Meihad Al Suwaidi, General Manager of the Ministry of Education, 28 schools were announced winners in programs that addressed various topics, including environment, health, fitness and safety in schools, home and on the road.
The ceremony is the final event to take place following a series of workshops and evaluations hosted in schools across the UAE the past three months, set up to provide participants with the opportunity to showcase and discuss what they have accomplished since the beginning of their respective programs. In addition to a fair-style set up, the ceremony included speeches given by the Ministry of Environment and Shell, in addition to videos and interactive demonstrations.
As a cap to the annual program, the awards ceremony highlights the most successful school projects based on several criteria, including their ability to actively engage students, team work and presentation skills Decisions were made by a board of representatives from educational, environmental and health authorities across the UAE, including Dr. Osama Alalla, Head of Student Activities, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Mariam Al Matroushi, Director of School Health, Dubai Health Authority and Dr. Shatha Ismail from the Environment Authority-Abu Dhabi
The BEA partnership between Shell and the Ministry of Education encourages school students to actively take up the cause of protecting and preserving their environment as well as their own health and safety, in both the short and long term and has been running since 1996. On a larger scale, the program also familiarizes students and the public with the environmental and safety issues at hand within the community, and suggests ways in which to address them.
