• Footsteps Preschool and Thema Collection collaborate on recycling project

Sri Lanka’s majestic giants are very much part of the island’s identity, appearing in arts and crafts, creative writing, decorative elements, and promotional material. However, in 2023 alone, the country recorded over 450 elephant deaths, with Wildlife Conservation Department officials quoted as saying 200 of the 470 deaths were due to human activities.

While environmentalists and conservationists shed light on issues related to the safety of elephants and the human-elephant conflict, Footsteps Preschool is taking jumbo strides in teaching Sri Lanka’s youngest generations about the importance of protecting our elephants through a sustainability project in collaboration with Thema Collection.

The project, themed ‘Protect Our Elephants’, was carried out in commemoration of Independence Day on 4 February. It involved the collection of 7.5 kg of paper waste from classrooms, which was sent to Thema Collection’s paper recycle centre at the Aliya Resorts and Spa, Sigiriya, where the paper waste was turned into papier-mâché elephants.

The students, who were part of the paper collection phase as well, then had the opportunity to paint the elephants as they pleased and take home their sustainability token. The children were also educated on the importance of protecting our elephants, with the Footsteps Preschool staff sharing facts about elephant deaths in Sri Lanka, as well as the recycling process, and how the paper the children collected was turned into the elephants.

Out-of-the-box thinking

A visit last year to Aliya Resorts and Spa and its paper recycle centre is what formed the roots of the project, with Footsteps Preschool Director Fazra Irfan saying that the idea was inspired after she saw the elephants made out of recycled paper being sold at the property. Tourists, especially foreigners, were drawn to these and were seen admiring them.

“By the end of the year, we throw away a lot of paper from the school, which we realised was a lot of waste. So we decided to collect paper for a year and then speak to Thema Collection and see if we can collaborate to make these elephants out of the paper we collected,” Irfan shared.

They also wanted to do something out of the box for Independence Day. “For Independence Day, all schools do is have the children wave or colour a flag, which has been done for generations. My grandmother did it, my mother did it, and I also did it. We wanted to make a difference and educate children in a different way using the natural resources that we have.”

The school carries out at least two recycling projects each year and has an entire unit on recycling in the curriculum. This also aligns with the Global Schools Programme, of which Footsteps Preschool is a part of, which encourages sustainable education. The efforts by Footsteps Preschool, this project in particular, are thus not just significant locally, but also globally.

Learning environment

Going into more detail about the learning environment fostered at Footsteps Preschool, Irfan shared that learning was very single-sided during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why learning is now very collaborative. This allows children to work with each other in groups, and also boosts their confidence.

“When our children leave the school, they are very confident. They are able to understand concepts well, more than the academic side,” Irfan said.

Footsteps Preschool Director and Principal Razana Muzni shared that this confidence is built through the children being given exposure to the outside world and an understanding of the world around them.

“At Footsteps, we give them a lot of real life connections and home-school connection. When children of that age can connect things with what they have experienced or seen, it makes more sense than telling them ‘this is what’s in the book’ or ‘this is how you have to read’, which doesn’t make a connection for them to remember. Education is something where you have to like to learn; and not be forced to learn,” Muzni explained.

She added that these connections build up curiosity, and with that, any amount of learning can take place at any age.

The most challenging part, she said, is related to the parents, as parents tend to focus more on academic learning and when a child will learn how to write, for instance. This makes parents overlook the amount of knowledge or information a child possesses.

Thankfully, the parents of Footsteps Preschool students respond to the school’s approach and projects positively, noticing the confidence and other positive traits in their children. The parents are also involved in their child’s life and school activities, Muzni added.

“As educators, there are many changes that we can make and as preschools, we can get collaborators and do such projects. We are talking about the next generation of Sri Lanka. The youngest generation. So it’s not just one person coming up. All of us must be on the same platform,” she said.

Starting young

When asked about the importance of teaching children about sustainability when they are still very young, Muzni said: “It has to be incorporated at a very young stage for them to even understand what we are talking about.”

They also explained that projects such as this bring out children’s creativity, as some children used paint brushes and others used sponges; some added glitter and others argued that the elephants shouldn’t be painted as they are grey in colour.

“At Footsteps, we believe in preparing them for life. We also know that their little minds absorb things so well; whatever is put at the earliest is something they will remember even when they are older. So it’s basically about giving them those experiences in their formative years,” Irfan said.

Muzni added that this becomes their lifelong learning. The school also gives the students choices. “There are a lot of choices in the curriculum. Since we say it’s a play-based school, everything is in the child’s interest. It’s not only painting; it can be different modes of art that they want to incorporate. It’s their choice and it’s not time restricted,” she added.

The duo went on to say that they wish to continue this project and were happy with the response from Thema Collection. They also shared that such sustainability projects were important, especially since Footsteps Preschool is still a very new school, but has been growing very quickly. They currently have 250 students at their two locations and also run corporate crèches.

Sustainable hospitality

Joining the conversation was Thema Collection Senior Manager of Sustainability and Product Development Ashan Karunananda who spoke about the hotel chain’s involvement in the project.

“Thema Collection is a unique thematic and environment-friendly hotel chain in Sri Lanka. At each of our hotels, we have a specific sustainability project. At Aliya Resort and Spa, we have a paper recycle centre, where all the paper generated throughout our resorts and head office is turned into drip mats, baggage tags, as well as souvenirs, specifically elephants, as the resort name Aliya means elephant,” he shared.

When Footsteps Preschool reached out to them, they were happy to collaborate on the project as a focus of their sustainable initiatives is the future generation and educating the youth and children.

“In this project, we also featured elephants, drawing attention to the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka. So the children benefitted through the project, painting the elephants, but we also turned it into a platform to educate them so that when they grow up, they will understand the importance of recycling and protecting our nature,” he added.

Karunananda went on to say that Thema Collection carries out several signature projects, like the BERI Biodiversity and Research Initiatives, which gives local and foreign university students the opportunity to visit their properties and study the biodiversity found on the properties, and R.e.V Computing and Language School Centres, through which over 6,000 children from local communities have gained English and IT knowledge.

In terms of sustainability, Karunananda shared that Thema Collection doesn’t believe that one can shift to a sustainable path overnight. Change takes time, he said, adding: “You can’t take a U-turn and be sustainable in no time. Our main goal is changing mindsets, at least one person at a time. We also feel we should implement practical projects.”

“There are many challenges, but one step at a time we are trying to take our initiatives forward,” he said, inviting other schools and preschools to reach out to them for similar projects and initiatives.

“It’s a very good initiative, and I would like to thank the staff and management at Footsteps Preschool for taking this step. It’s vital. We had the time to discuss it and carry it out in a very creative way. It was well planned and both parties wanted to give the best for the students, making it easy to do this event in this manner. I wish the school the best in doing such projects in future, and we would definitely like to support them in future projects as well,” he added.