Early one morning in April, preschoolers collecting trash from a street along the east bank of the Han River in Ngu Hanh Son District left a good impression on local residents and tourists. This activity is a part of activities of the Tue Duc Green Preschool in response to the Earth Day (April 22).

Tue Duc Green preschoolers actively get involved in collecting trash from a street along the east bank of the Han River in Ngu Hanh Son District. Photo: NGOC HA

Ms. Dinh Thi Thoa, the school’s Principal said that special attention has been paid to educating preschoolers on a green lifestyle and environmental protection with a focus on encouraging their active participation in doing the simple things to protect the environment. In particular, the school has launched a campaign to encourage its students to plant trees.

Under this campaign, kids has spent about 1 month growing plants from seed, and caring for them. In addition, kids and their teachers have worked together to create beautiful and attractive products such as plant pots, toys, and decorative accessories from such recyclable materials as milk cartons, cardboard, and paper. Heed has been paid to encouraging kids to recycle old clothes. The intention is to educate kids on reducing waste and helping the environment.

"We hope to build a sense of environmental responsibility and instilling sustainable habits into children in an attempt to build an eco-responsible generation to protect the environment and protect green spaces," Ms. Thoa remarked.

Meanwhile, the Be Van Dan Primary School which has been chosen to pilot the plastic-free school model in Thanh Khe District, has frequently organized extracurricular activities to educate its students on the harmful effects of plastic on the environment while teaching them to classify and manage waste, as well as develop and improve their recycling habits. 

In the 2023-2024 academic year, the school created rules and posters themed ‘the plastic-free school model’ with easy-to-read and easy-to-understand content along with intuitive, eye-catching illustrations in an effort to draw students’ attention to these objects during their break time. Furthermore, the school also organized gift exchanges using recycled products or things found in home. The school’s students exchanged their recyclables such as paper, plastic bottles, cardboard, cans for school supplies like pens, erasers, and funny stickers.

Active coordination between functional bodies and environmental organizations has helped promote environmental education for school pupils.

Mrs. Le Thi Hoang Chinh, the Head of the Thanh Khe District Office of Education and Training, said that the unit has recently worked with the District Office of Natural Resources and Environment, and World Wide Fund For Nature in Viet Nam (WWF Viet Nam) to launch the ‘Plastic-free school model’ program. To date, this model has been adopted in 6 schools in Thanh Khe District, namely Phan Dinh Phung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Chu Van An and Nguyen Trai junior high schools, along with Le Van Tam and Be Van Dan primary schools.

“Currently, the recognition of Nguyen Trung Truc, Tran Cao Van, Hoa Lu primary schools as ‘Green Schools’ is under assessment. If these schools succeed at assessments, Thanh Khe District’s recognized schools will reach 100%", Ms. Hoang Chinh said.

In 2023, Mai Dang Chon, Nguyen Duy Trinh, Le Van Hien, Pham Hong Thai primary schools in Ngu Hanh Son District were chosen to implement the Green-Schools program which helps schools reduce waste on trial basis under the ‘Clean Cities, Blue Ocean’ program funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Clean Cities, Blue Ocean is USAID's flagship program to combat ocean plastic pollution.

After more than one year of implementing the program, the four schools have organized 12 events and competitions about green schools. Included were ‘Small plan’ which encourages children do small good deeds, the most popular one being collecting and sorting out discarded papers for recycling, ‘Ring the golden bell - Green Ambassadors’, ‘Let's go green together’, and ‘Club activities for a green community’. These schools have yielded positive results from waste classification and management while a combined total of nearly 300 kilograms of trash have been collected from schools on a trial basis.

Mrs. Tran Thi Nguyen, the Deputy Head of the Ngu Hanh Son District Office of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the ‘Green Schools’ program has seen the active participation of teachers and their pupils. They have been active in practicing green at their schools, home and residential areas through taking practical actions to help the environment.

Ngu Hanh Son District authority will continue to ask local schools to promote environmental education for their pupils. Heed will be paid to striving to reach 100% of the district’s schools to implement effectively waste classification and management by 2025.

Reporting by NGOC HA - Translating by M.DUNG