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The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:
The Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) today (September 26) held the 10th Hong Kong Green School Award (HKGSA) prize presentation ceremony in recognition of the efforts of winning schools in promoting environmental protection. The ECC also took the opportunity to launch a new teaching kit entitled "Hong Kong: A Sustainable Future - Teaching Kit for Liberal Studies" for the senior secondary Liberal Studies subject.
The new teaching kit aims to provide teaching resources for secondary school teachers to help students learn more about environmental conservation and adopt green practices.
Speaking at the ceremony, the ECC Chairman, Professor David Lung, said, "While the kit attempts to cover subject areas that the senior secondary curriculum requires, it goes well beyond theoretical concepts of environmental sustainability, focusing on the present environmental problems and crisis that we face through real-life case studies."
The teaching kit will be rolled out in phases. The first phase (Chinese version), launched this month, covers the topics of sustainable development and carbon emission. The English version of the teaching kit will be rolled out soon. Other topics to be covered are energy, air quality, waste management and water resources. The first phase of the teaching kit (Chinese version) is freely accessible on the Internet. The ECC will also organise briefing sessions during this school year for Liberal Studies teachers to learn more about the teaching kit and share teaching experiences.
During the ceremony, the ECC also presented awards to outstanding schools in recognition of their environmental protection efforts under the HKGSA scheme. The theme of this year's HKGSA is "GO GREEN on Waste Management". The award scheme was well-received, with a 7 per cent increase in the number of entries as compared with last year.
The HKGSA has attracted participation from over 700 schools since it was launched 10 years ago. Award-winning schools have set a model as green leaders in the education sector and, more importantly, serve as a base in the community for spreading green messages from students to parents and inducing behavioural change in the next generation.
In the pre-school category, assessment was made according to four criteria, namely Environmental Infrastructure, Environmental Management, Environmental Education and Parents' Participation in Environmental Activities. This year, eight award-winning pre-schools among 92 entries were presented with cash prizes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.
The schools in the primary and secondary school categories underwent assessment according to four criteria, namely Environmental Policy and Campus Environment, Environmental Management Measures, Environmental Education Plan and Implementation, and Environmental Education Effectiveness. Each school meeting the benchmark scores in all four assessment criteria qualified as a Hong Kong Green School. This year, 17 primary schools and 10 secondary schools among a total of 136 entries received the title of Hong Kong Green School.
Under the partnership of the HKGSA and the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE), schools receiving the Hong Kong Green School title will be referred to compete for HKAEE Sectoral Awards under the schools sector. At today's ceremony, winning schools of the 2011 HKAEE were presented with cash prizes ranging from $2,000 to $60,000.
Other officiating guests at today's presentation ceremony held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre were the Deputy Director of Environmental Protection, Mr Benny Wong; the Deputy Secretary for Education, Dr Catherine K K Chan; and the Convenor of the ECC Education Working Group, Mr Hui Yung-chung. Representatives from co-organisers, including the Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, also attended the ceremony.
For more information about "Hong Kong: A Sustainable Future - Teaching Kit for Liberal Studies" and the HKGSA, please visit the ECC's Schools Go Green website at school.ecc.org.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:58
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