Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar gave away the Green Schools Awards, instituted by the New Delhi-based research and advocacy body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday.
The awards are given every year after a rigorous audit of how schools are walking the talk with respect to environmental good practices and natural resource management. Every year, the audit and the awards focus on one aspect / issue of resource management – this year, the subject in the crosshairs was water and sanitation.
The Green Schools Programme (GSP) audit of 2016 received more than 2,500 registrations from across India. About 700 schools successfully completed the audit.
The top there were Mount Litera Zee School , Moga, Punjab, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Hebbal, Karnataka and Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Sonepat, Haryana.
In the category awards, the schools that topped were Satya Bharti Government Primary School, Salgawali, Achrol, Jaipur (Land); Raley Junior High School, Gangtok, Sikkim (Air); Hayde Heritage Academy, Kotdwara, Uttarakhand (Food); Government Senior Secondary School, Hee Yangthnag, Sikkim (Energy);
and Kendriya Vidyalaya Rail Wheel Factory, Bengaluru, Karnataka (Waste).
Father Agnel Senior Secondary School, Gautum Nagar, Delhi topped among the five schools from Delhi who were also awarded for their contribution to environment on the basis of parameters such as awareness activities involving students and community, basic infrastructure such as composting pit, rainwater harvesting structure and solid waste collection points for waste segregation and their participation in GSP Audit.
National Capital Territory of Delhi had the 'maximum number of green schools'.
Amarendra Maurya of Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT Kanpur, was adjudged the 'Green Warrior'.
Giving away the awards, Javadekar commended CSE for taking environment beyond trees, tigers and textbooks and introducing school children to the real issues through its audit.
Speaking on the occasion, CSE director general Sunita Narain said, “These schools and their students and teachers come from different parts of the country -- Sikkim, Punjab, Karnataka, Jharkhand etc. But they have one thing in common: a capacity to drive change by their sheer grit, perseverance and commitment to do something for the environment.”
Ranjita Menon, programme director of CSE’s environment education unit, said, “In line with the emphasis that the country is putting on sanitation, GSP has made an effort this year to involve children and teachers in auditing the performance of their schools with respect to sanitation and sustainable management of water.”
