Twelve students from the Enid Bennett High School in Bog Walk, St Catherine have been appointed Water Monitors as part of the recently established Water IQ initiative (WIQI).
The initiative seeks to ensure that students develop proper water conservation strategies while simultaneously developing initiatives to raise awareness within the school.
In his remarks at the Rainwater Harvesting Commissioning ceremony at the Enid Bennet High School on Tuesday (October 8), Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Pearnel Charles Jr, said the students now have a huge responsibility, not just for their schools, but for their homes and for the future of our country.
“If change is to come, it must be preceded by a change in our outlook and in the way we treat our resources”, Minister Charles Jr. said.
Principal of the Enid Bennett High School Patrick Phillips said the school gladly welcomes the rainwater harvesting infrastructure as well as the appointment of the 12 students as Water Monitors.
“The school system is to socialize students to learn to solve problems and so having the Water Monitors and Rainwater Harvesting System is addressing some of the issues we have with water conservation”, Mr. Phillips said.
Mr. Phillips added that having students as part of the process will enable them to influence their peers as well as relatives at home to conserve water.
The appointment of these high school students come on the heels of a similar appointment of 12 students at the Rock Hall All-Age School in Red Hills, St Andrew, last week, where a similar rainwater harvesting infrastructure was commissioned to the tune of $9 million.
WIQI is a collaborative initiative involving the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), the National Water Commission (NWC), Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) and the Water Resources Authority (WRA).
The initiative is being carried in conjunction with the RWSL Rainwater Harvesting School programme and targets schools as one of the critical institutions in our society that has the responsibility of moulding the mindset and the direction of our future by promoting behavioural change.
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