School campuses to become 'greener'
By Shao Xiaoyi (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-07-30 02:14

China will establish the world's largest network of green schools, senior officials said Thursday.

With the opening of the China green schools' website, the system aims to promote the quality of campus environmental management and share experiences to develop green schools.

Green schools, or Eco-Schools, first started in Europe in 1994 encouraged by need to involve young people in finding grassroots solutions to environmental and sustainable development challenges.

The programme aims to raise students' awareness of environmental and related sustainable development issues and get everyone in the school community involved in making the school environment better through classroom study and school and community action.

The China green schools programme, started in 2000, was initiated by Ministry of Education and State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and has seen fast development in recent years.

Official statistics show that the number of green schools at different levels topped 16,000 by June, 2004, which surpasses the total number of European green schools but only accounts for 2.5 per cent of the total schools in China.

"The green schools programme has become an effective strategy to create ideas of sustainability among the young generation and an important part of the whole country's environmental education," said Pan Yue, vice-director of SEPA.

The vice-director made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the International Seminar on Green Schools in China and Teenagers Forum on the Environment Thursday in Taizhou, a coastal city in East China's Zhejiang Province.

More than 300 educators, school headmasters, experts and project managers, including more than 100 children, from 12 countries and regions took part in the event focused on the exchange of experience to develop green schools and enhance relationships between green schools in different countries.

The main target groups of the China Green Schools Programme are primary schools and middle schools as well as some kindergartens and vocational schools, said Zeng Hongying, the project Manager of China Green Schools Programme.

The programme incorporates thirteen elements designed to be the core evaluation criteria for schools to follow but the structure is flexible enough for schools at different levels, said Zeng.

There are national, provincial and city level standards for green schools.

For example, schools must set up a green school committee and have effective approaches of environmental management as well as organize curriculum around environmental themes, concepts and projects, said Zeng. Even numbers of water or power saved monthly through energy-saving activities are required.

By 2008, China plans to have 76,000 green schools, accounting for 11.4 per cent of the total amount of schools, said Zeng.

"Students do learn a lot about local nature and environment through their direct personal experience and first hand investigation in the field studies, which is one part of green schools programme," said Shao Wenqi, headmaster of Jiaojiang No 1 High School, which was awarded the "Green School" title in 2002.

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