December 17, 2007
Press Release CSE awards schools for their environmental best practices in 2007 |
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| New Delhi, December 17, 2007: A government school in the small hamlet of Boormajra in Punjab’s Ropar district; a rural school in a remote corner of south Sikkim; and two schools from Delhi and Noida respectively have been adjudged the ‘greenest’ in the country by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). These schools were conferred the 2007 Green Schools Awards at a ceremony here today by Professor Krishna Kumar, director, NCERT. The awards, instituted by CSE, are being given out since 2006 under its Green Schools Programme. The top award has gone to the Government School at Boormajra, which is a winner a second time round. In 2006, the school had beaten all other contenders in the fray by presenting remarkably precise audit documents. The data also reflected the effort that the school community -- with limited resources -- had made in managing its water: it was reusing almost 50 per cent of the spillage from taps to irrigate the school grounds. In 2007, the students and teachers of Boormajra have outdone themselves. They have produced minutely detailed information, not only on water, but on land, air and energy, as well. The award has gone to it because the school has been able to grasp the real message that the Green Schools Programme seeks to promote: it is actually practicing sustainable use of natural resources and constantly looking out for new and more innovative ways of managing them. The school has now set up a rainwater harvesting system with the help of funds from the state government. Most importantly, it has been able to motivate a large group of schools in different parts of Punjab to participate in the Programme. Says Sumita Dasgupta, coordinator of CSE’s Green Schools Programme: “It has truly played the role of a model Green School, proving beyond doubt that plentiful resources or elitist status are not the ingredients that make true leaders.” The second position has gone to the Government Secondary School at Daramdin in Sikkim. The school’s environmental audit team has worked with the most basic facilities at its disposal. Every time a package -- carrying documents -- had to be dispatched to Delhi, the teacher concerned had to travel 25 km up the hilly terrain to reach the only post office which offers Speed Post facility in the neighbourhood. What makes this team of auditors exceptional is their zeal to get on with the job. The school has two drinking water taps, and an unused bathroom. To measure per capita consumption of water, the audit team put two 250 ml tumblers near the taps, and made each student count the number of times they drank water from these glasses. It offers mid-day meals to students. Again, the tins used in the kitchen were measured and monitored to arrive at a fairly accurate estimate of the amount of water being used to prepare the meal. All this data has been extremely well tabulated and researched. Schools in the NCR Of the 6 shortlisted schools in Delhi, Apeejay School, Pitampura (New Delhi) has emerged on top: it has got the overall third position as well as top spot in the Best Students’ Team Category. The school’s team has earned the honours for its meticulously prepared biodiversity register -- which is a feat in itself considering the school’s location in extremely crowded west Delhi. The team believes that one can make do with little if the resource is managed prudently -- clearly the most apt mantra for today’s generation. The school has also worked hard on preparing a waste generation data, and now knows exactly how much solid waste is generated on its premises. Another NCR school that has been a winner is the Vishwabharati School in Noida: it has received the Best Teachers’ Team award. The teachers here have scored on many counts — they have worked with their students to turn in immaculate data sheets, and have implemented extremely creative management practices. The school’s transport log book is one of these: it records all the modes of transport being used by the staff and students along with their respective milages, and might form the basis of calculating per capita emissions for the school. Participation has increased since 2006 Under the Green Schools Programme, schools across India carry out rigorous self-audit on environmental practices within their own premises, following a set of guidelines outlined in CSE’s Green Schools Manual. The schools have used the manual in their environmental studies programmes and as an activity in the eco- clubs. From 1,200 schools in 2006, the Programme is now reaching out to and covering 3,500 schools in the country. The rural-urban ratio has tripled. Of the 20 schools shortlisted in 2006, only 3 were rural or semi-urban; in 2007, this number has climbed to 9. Also, more than 50 per cent schools from 2006 have repeated the audit. The 2007 awards initiative has shown that environmental awareness levels in these schools have increased sharply. In 2006, none of the schools had clear data on per capita waste generated -- this year, all the 20 had extensive data. The Top 20 Here’s an alphabetically arranged list of the shortlisted 20, the greenest schools in India. With 8 schools in this list (including 6 from Delhi), the NCR bags the king’s share of the shortlisting votes. The five winners have been selected out of this list…
For more details, please contact Sumita Dasgupta at sumita@cseindia.org 98114 06403 Shankar Musafir at shankar@cseindia.org 98105 47802 Suparna Mukherji at suparna@cseindia.org 98110 80547 | |||||
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