Progress Check on Materials Development for Values-Based Water Education

The SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Center (SEAMOLEC) hosted a follow up workshop on the development of teaching and learning materials for integrating human values-based water, sanitation, and hygiene education (HVBWSHE) at the Wisma I Universitas Terbuka in Southern Jakarta, Indonesia from 31 January to 2 February 2007.

The regional review meeting was meant to check on the progress of the development of the prototype instructional materials on VBWSHE tailor-made for Southeast Asian primary and secondary schools. The materials were drafted during the workshop facilitated by SEAMEO INNOTECH in December 2006. These were based on four thematic strands—(1) water and environmentally sustainable development; (2) water for health, sanitation and recreation; (3) water, human dignity and social equity; and (4) water in culture, traditions and religious practices.

Dr. Paulina Pannen, SEAMOLEC Center Director, reported that since the initial workshop, a total of sixty-four (64) lesson plans have been submitted for review. Dr. Chin Heng Yeap of the SEAMEO Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand, declared that while only a number of these instructional materials would see publication, not a single effort of the materials developers would be wasted. It was decided that for each identified stream, nine lesson plans would be selected, making a total of thirty-six (36) instructional materials integrated with human values on water, sanitation, and hygiene.

During the workshop proper, the concepts involved in teaching and integrating values-based water, sanitation and hygiene education were reviewed.  Representatives from Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines, each presented sample lesson plans for the microteaching session. The lesson plans were subjected to critique and were revised based on the comments and suggestions given.

The instructional materials collected during the regional review meeting would be submitted for review to the resource persons from the UN-HABITAT. It is expected that the published material of the selected lesson plans would be used during the training of trainers in May 2007 at the SEAMEO Regional Center for Science and Math (RECSAM) in Penang, Malaysia.

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