Yes to Enviroschools grant

The Manukau City Council has stepped in to fill the funding gap in one of the city’s highly successful environmental education programmes.

The council’s policy and activities committee voted this week to provide a $40,000 grant this year and $80,000 next year in support of the Enviroschools programme.

Councillors also agreed to look for funding options to allow more schools to take part in the programme in 2010.

The programme has been running in the city since 2002 but its continuity was put into question when the government, as part of its realignment of funding priorities for education, cut its grant to the Enviroschools Foundation and Team Solutions which facilitate the programme in the Auckland region.

Of the 32 Manukau schools active in the programme, 13 are directly affected by the funding cut, including Favona Primary School, Reremoana School and Kedgley Intermediate.

The others were not put on the line because Auckland Regional Council, the region’s main financial supporter of the programme outside the government, continued its funding support.

Councillor Anne Candy says the programme encourages school-age children to become responsible New Zealand citizens.

"We have a fabulous programme that expands the minds of children and encourages them to care for the environment.

"Instead of cutting its funding we should allow it to expand. Fantastic things happen when they think about the environment," Ms Candy says.

Councillor Daniel Newman says Enviroschools is "core business" for local government.

"Environmental stewardship is a core role of local government.

"We can spend all the money in the world on enforce-ment officers and rubbish collection but we stand to benefit in the long-run if we also teach children to conserve and sustain the local environment."

- © Fairfax NZ News