SINGAPORE - Telco StarHub will give a total of $450,000 over three years for a competition to encourage students to save the earth.
It will sponsor the School Green Awards, an initiative of the non-profit Singapore Environment Council (SEC) for three years starting from 2015, it was announced on Thursday.
StarHub will give $150,000 each year for the annual competition that rewards schools for efforts in areas such as waste management and limiting energy use. With the sponsorship, the programme will now be called the SEC-StarHub School Green Awards.
A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between SEC and Starhub on Thursday, at the MINDS Fernvale Gardens School.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, witnessed the ceremony and launched the programme to kickstart the 15th edition of the environmental awards programme for schools.
StarHub chief executive Tan Tong Hai said: "While it is important for adults to preserve our Earth for the youth, it is equally essential that the young learn to maintain their inheritance for future generations.
"Through the School Green Awards, StarHub hopes to empower the youth in Singapore to proactively take care of our planet. After all, it is the only one that we have."
The School Green Awards, usually given out in November, received 344 submissions in 2014 and 327 in 2013, from 28 during its inaugural run in 2001.
Ms Isabella Loh, chairman of the SEC, said: "StarHub's support will enable the School Green Awards to strengthen its outreach and education to students at all levels of education, and this sponsorship clearly highlights StarHub's commitment to the environmental cause in Singapore."
