By Grace Chua

GREENRIDGE Secondary School is a neighbourhood school with about 1,000 students in Bukit Panjang.

But it hosts a $170,000 centre, sponsored by energy company PowerSeraya, where its students and those from schools in the area can learn about energy, the environment and climate change.

Greenridge Secondary is among the growing ranks of schools that have teamed up with companies to work on environmental learning projects.

The number of such tie-ups has quadrupled since 2004, when the National Environment Agency (NEA) first set up its Adopt-a-School Programme.

Then, there were just 43 such partnerships; this year, there are almost 200.

Under the programme, schools get the chance to send their students on field trips and to workshops, and obtain funding for school projects and teacher training.

Greenridge's head of aesthetics and special projects, Mr Lee Sze Chuin, said: 'For a neighbourhood school like us...corporate partners can come in very handy.'

The scheme augments existing funds, such as the NEA's own Environment Club Fund, which gives primary, secondary and tertiary institutions between $500 and $1,500 for environment-related activities.

As for companies such as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and chemical multinational Chevron Phillips, they gain public exposure and contribute to the community.

For example, Hitachi earlier this year contributed $80,000 to set up an environment education fund at Marsiling Secondary School, picked for its strong track record in environmental education.

Mr Ichio Iwai, deputy general manager of Hitachi Asia, said: 'We want to nurture an interest in and concern for the environment among Singaporean youths to realise a sustainable future.'

Some of these partnerships last more than just a year - over the past three years, for instance, Chevron Phillips has sponsored Lakeside Primary School's solar panels and mini-wind turbine, which power some lights and appliances.

This allowed students to learn how wind power and solar energy get converted into electrical and light energy.

The downside: Amid the economic downturn, some tie-ups have been affected.

In May, Mrs Naseema Ansar, Lakeside's science department head, said its continued partnership looked doubtful. But by last month, Chevron Phillips had agreed to support the latest project, which turns fruit scraps into detergents and compost.

NEA said there was still strong support from companies, which continued to work with their partner schools on various environmental projects.

In fact, at least one company is expanding its school tie-ups despite the downturn - local biodiesel company Alpha Biofuels, which helps schools with waste cooking oil collection programmes.

The company gets both the waste oil - which it processes into biodiesel - and a student-driven boost to its branding, said Alpha Biofuels chief executive Allan Lim.

'It'll pay off when Singaporeans are more conscious of what they do with their waste cooking oil, and more conscious of sustainability,' he added.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.