Speech by Minister for Education Mr Desmond Lee at the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) Roots & Shoots Youth Summit of Hope

Dr Andie Ang, President of the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore),
Youth leaders of the JGIS Roots and Shoots movement,
Colleagues from JTC,
Teachers, students, and parents
Good afternoon.

1. I am delighted to join you once again at the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) Roots & Shoots Youth Summit of Hope. Today, we celebrate the achievements of our students who have completed their Roots & Shoots learning journeys.

Remembering Dr Jane Goodall

2. This year's celebration is particularly poignant, as we remember Dr Jane Goodall, who passed away last month, at the age of 91.

3. She was a close friend of Singapore, and for many of you here. She first visited in December 2004, where she was the keynote speaker of the Biology in Asia International Conference. There, she met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who was then Minister for Education. That meeting established the collaborative and meaningful relationship between JGIS, MOE, and our schools that continues today.

4. Over the many years that followed, we had the privilege of welcoming Dr Jane to Singapore on several occasions in 2015, 2017, and 2019. In 2021, she was to come to Singapore, but could not due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and joined us virtually instead. Most recently during her 90th Birthday Tour last year, she launched the NParks' 100K Corals Initiative and planted corals. We also listened to students as they shared their learning journeys at the 2024 Roots & Shoots Youth Summit.

5. I was always inspired by Dr Jane's warmth and genuine desire to connect with people and nature. Busy as she is, she made an effort to connect with everybody. She made time to engage with young people, care and respect for every living creature she came across, and tended to the saplings she had planted. She approached everyone and everything with the same gentle attention, kindness, and respect.

6. Her work spanned more than half a century. From her groundbreaking chimpanzee research in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to her advocacy as a UN Messenger of Peace, she witnessed a world that sometimes felt bleak. But more often than not, she found reasons for hope in the faces of young people that she met all around the world, including in Singapore.

Roots & Shoots

7. Driven by her care for the planet, Dr Jane started Roots & Shoots in 1991. Her goal was simple – to encourage our youth to learn about global issues, and empower them to create practical solutions. I understand that Roots & Shoots has since grown into a global programme with groups in over 100 countries, and that more than 50 projects have taken root just in Singapore alone.

8. This is very encouraging, and I hope you can continue to grow and sprout. The programme is particularly relevant for Singapore today, as we grapple with greater complexity and new challenges:

1. A world that is in great flux, rapid technological advances like AI that offer opportunity and threaten disruption, and the impact of climate change becoming increasingly apparent, to name just a few.
2. To be ready for this unpredictability and changing world, our young people don't just need academic knowledge, but also important skills and competencies, like critical thinking, collaboration, teamwork, empathy, social responsibility, and a deep heart for nature and the community.
3. We want to cultivate these values and 21st Century Competencies in all our students, for example through our Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum.

9. By giving young people the chance to be actively engaged with the world, Roots & Shoots is strongly aligned with our holistic development efforts.

1. Indeed, some of our schools conduct their Values in Action (VIA) programmes through Roots & Shoots, and I want to encourage you to continue to do so. Beyond the projects' direct impact, such VIA programmes also allow students to reflect on their experiences, the values they have practised, and how they can continue to contribute meaningfully.
2. Roots & Shoots projects are a meaningful part of our schools' Eco Stewardship Programme, to nurture our students as environmental stewards with the mindset, determination and skills to advocate and take action for a sustainable future.

10. I am very glad to hear that many of this year's projects address Singapore's unique challenges for sustainable development. These include balancing the needs of our people with conserving and protecting our rich native biodiversity, and mitigating human-wildlife incidents. For example:

1. Secondary 3 students from North Vista Secondary School role-played as different stakeholders – across residents, nature groups, and Government – to explore the complexities of human-wildlife encounters.
2. A team from St Joseph's Institution designed a macaque-proof litter bin to prevent monkeys from accessing garbage, a common issue for residents living near nature reserves and nature parks.
3. Other projects curated nature experiences to raise awareness of Singapore's biodiversity. These include the wildlife learning and ecotherapy walks in Thomson Nature Park organised by a team of students from Hwa Chong Institution.

11. So to our project participants here today, from primary school children to university students, congratulations on your achievements!

1. By taking part in these projects, you are taking steps to make this world a better place for Animals, People, and the Environment.
2. I encourage all of you to continue your efforts: whether by conserving our native flora and fauna, stewarding our green and blue spaces, or contributing to our society in meaningful ways.

12. To our teachers, thank you for inspiring your students to care for the environment, going over and beyond to use nature as an opportunity to nurture our students, and empowering them to turn their passion into action. What they learn in school today will turn into action in years to come.

1. As we seek to build a more sustainable Singapore, it is important to inculcate a mindset of environmental stewardship, by starting young. Your work to bring environmental education to your students helps mould the next generation of environmentally conscious Singaporeans.
2. So I encourage you to continue your efforts, too – to foster understanding and appreciation of nature. And to do so not just through lessons in the classroom, but beyond, so our students can appreciate the richness of our biodiversity with their very own eyes and ears.

Conclusion

13. While Dr Jane may not be here to join our Roots & Shoots students, we celebrate her legacy. Her commitment to foster respect for all living things, promote understanding across cultures, and inspire action for a better world will leave a lasting imprint on future generations.

14. I hope your collective engagement in this global conservation and humanitarian movement continues to take root and grow, just like the saplings and corals Dr Jane planted and propagated.

15. Let's remember her through our everyday actions. Thank you.