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The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:
The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) held the presentation ceremony of the 8th Hong Kong Green School Award (HKGSA) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (September 21).
Officiating at today's ceremony were the Permanent Secretary for the Environment Ms Anissa Wong, Vice-chairman of the ECC Ms Elizabeth Law, Deputy Secretary for Education Dr Catherine Chan, Convenor of the ECC Education Working Group Mr George Tam, Chairman of the Final Adjudicating Panel of the 8th HKGSA (pre-school category) Mr Lui Tung-ming, and representatives from the co-organisers, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and Vocational Training Council (VTC).
The theme of the 8th HKGSA was "Low-carbon Living" with the goal of encouraging teachers, non-teaching staff, students and their families to take a positive step towards a greener lifestyle and promoting carbon reduction efforts in daily life.
Launched in 2000, the HKGSA is jointly organised by the ECC, the Environmental Protection Department and the Education Bureau, co-organised by the HKIEd, the HKPC and the VTC, and sponsored by the Environment and Conservation Fund.
It aims to encourage schools to formulate a school environmental policy and implement an environmental management plan towards a green school; and to enhance environmental awareness, develop an environmentally friendly attitude and promote green practices among school managers, teachers, non-teaching staff, students and their families. From the 8th HKGSA, the award scheme has been restructured to forge a partnership between the HKGSA and the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE).
The HKGSA is divided into pre-school, primary school and secondary school categories for the participation of all schools in Hong Kong. "The award scheme was well-received in all three categories of schools," a spokesman for the ECC said.
In the pre-school category, there were 94 entries. The Final Adjudicating Panel chaired by ECC member Mr Lui Tung-ming selected three pre-schools in each of the four assessment criteria, namely "environmental infrastructure", "environmental management", "environmental education" and "parents' participation in environmental activities" for the Outstanding Award. This year, the 12 Outstanding Awards went to seven schools, one of which won the award under three criteria and another three of which won the award under two criteria. The recipient of each Outstanding Award was presented with a cash prize of $5,000.
In the primary school and secondary school categories, there were 91 entries, which underwent assessment under four criteria, namely "environmental policy and campus environment", "environmental management measures", "environmental education plan and implementation" and "environmental education effectiveness". Schools meeting the benchmark scores in all of the four assessment criteria qualified as a "Hong Kong Green School". This year, four primary schools, i.e. Buddhist Wing Yan School (A.M.), Buddhist Wong Cheuk Um Primary School, Pui Ching Primary School and St Antonius Primary School, and seven secondary schools, i.e. Christian & Missionary Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School, Chung Sing Benevolent Society Mrs Aw Boon Haw Secondary School, CMA Secondary School, Hon Wah Middle School, Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School (West Kowloon), S.K.H. Li Fook Hing Secondary School and Tsuen Wan Government Secondary School, received the title of "Hong Kong Green School". These "green schools" have been referred to the 2010 HKAEE to compete for the sectoral awards under the schools sector, and the results will be tentatively announced in April 2011.
Under the partnership between the HKGSA and HKAEE, the winning schools from the primary school and secondary school categories of the 1st to 7th HKGSA were invited to participate in the 2009 HKAEE Sectoral Awards - School Sector. Winners of the school sector of the 2009 HKAEE were already announced in May 2010. To honour their achievement, the winning schools of the 2009 HKAEE Sectoral Awards - School Sector were presented with cash prizes at the ceremony today. Cash prizes for the gold, silver and bronze awards as well as merit awards under the primary school sub-sector were $50,000, $40,000, $30,000 and $2,000 respectively, and those for the secondary school sub-sector were $60,000, $50,000, $40,000 and $2,000 respectively.
In the primary school sub-sector, St Bonaventure Catholic Primary School, Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove) and Hong Kong Red Cross Margaret Trench School were the winning schools of the gold, silver and bronze awards respectively; while winners in the secondary school sub-sector were Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School, Queen Elizabeth School Old Students' Association Secondary School and Baptist Wing Lung Secondary School respectively.
For enquiries, please call the secretary to the ECC, Ms Eunice Chan, at 2835 1212.
Ends/Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:31
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