Political Support

Support for education about the environment at the political level has been slow in coming. This has been a contributing factor to environmental education not being firmly entrenched in formal education. However, some recent initiatives suggest that there is reason to be hopeful.

A workshop for teachers convened jointly by the Caribbean Conservation Association and CARICOM in Trinidad (November 1991) made a number of recommendations for the implementation of regional programs in Environmental Education, and the establishment of a Caribbean Association of Environmental Educators. These recommendations received official ratification by the CARICOM Standing Committee of Ministers Responsible for Education at a meeting in St. Kitts in May 1992.

The decision of the CARICOM Standing Committee to officially recognize environmental education inputs into the curricula is a significant breakthrough for environmental education in the region. Specifically, the Standing Committee agreed to:

• Support the implementation of regional programs for Environmental Education by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the Caribbean Conservation Association;
• Facilitate the establishment of a mechanism to coordinate a program of information and education about the environment;
• Support the development and implementation of innovative teacher training programs and regional efforts to access resources for financing Environmental Education programs.