Vincent Girls’ High School, Batticaloa emerged overall winner in the final round of the ‘Friends of the Planet’ project conducted by Double A in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Central Environmental Authority. 

Mayurapada Central College, Narammala and Pallivasalthurai Muslim Maha Vidyalayam, Kalpitiya clinched second and third place respectively.

The awards ceremony was held recently at the Ministry of Education Auditorium. Chief Guest on the occasion was Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam. Also present were Prof. Lal Mervin Dharmasiri from the Central Environmental Authority and Mr. Thirawit Leetavorn, Senior Executive Vice President of the Double A (1991) Public Company Limited. Members of the Vincent Girls’ High School, Batticaloa were given tablets and will be sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to Thailand where they will see the award-winning KHAN-NA sustainability project carried out by Double A. The Paper from KHAN-NA project is a landmark effort to make optimum use of vacant space between rice fields in Thailand, owned by local farmers. During the process, the KHAN-NA project’s previous unproductive land is transformed into a productive resource, which provides additional income to over 1.5 million farmers when they sell the sustainable fibre-source back to Double A.

The teams from Mayurapada Central College, Narammala and Pallivasalthurai Muslim Maha Vidyalayam, Kalpitiya received valuable tablets and certificates.

Double A ‘Friends of the Planet’ is a CSR project which was initiated in February 2016 to promote and educate school children island-wide on environmental protection. Seven schools were selected to implement their innovative projects under the guidance of Ministry of Education Director of Education (Agriculture and Environmental Studies) and Central Environmental Authority. This project was monitored by Director of Education (Agriculture and Environmental Studies) and Central Environmental Authority. 

According to the campaign guidelines, the competing schools selected a team of five students above the age of 15 to come up with a cost-effective and ground-breaking solution to an environmental problem. Under the guidance of a teacher, each team developed and implemented a project within a period of three months. On completing the project each team compiled a detailed report which they presented to the expert panel of judges from Double A for evaluation.