Caring about the environment: Another school signs up for Green School Programme

Students to take part in environment friendly activities.

LAHORE:

Lahore Grammar School Paragon on Bukri Road has signed up for the World Wide Fund’s Green School Programme. This makes it the 12th school in the city to sign up for the programme.

On October 23, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between WWF Pakistan Senior Director (Operations) Anwar Naseem and LGS Paragon principal Salman Yasin.

Yasin said O and A levels students had been participating in eco-internships for the last four years. “Through this partnership, we want to extend green activities with the WWF to elementary and primary grades too. Our administration made a formal request and the WWF has been kind enough to certify us,” he said.

Various activities like the Blind Dolphin projects and a two-day camping activity, in which students are taken in the wild and taught about indigenous tree species, will be organised. “This will enable students to understand the environment and the environmental issues from an earlier age, Yasin said.

The programme is designed to encourage students of schools with a focus on environment management studies to participate in environment activities, the WWF-Pakistan Green Schools programme officer Mehwish Ilyas Azeem said. “We hold 10 to 14 activities a year with students of certified schools,” she said.

These activities include Spellathon, a spelling quiz designed for grade one to grade nine students. A Nature Carnival is held each year in which students of all certified schools participate.

Tree plantation campaigns are held between February and April, during which students plant indigenous tree species across the city.

Workshops are held to teach students (grade eight to A-levels) about documentary and photography techniques to document forests and animals. “It’s a step by step mechanism to hone the photography skills of students and to encourage them to make documentaries,” Azeem said. Field trips are arranged as community service initiatives. Students have also adopted zoo animals, raised funds to help students of underprivileged schools and planted trees, she said.

WWF officials also assist students at certified schools to run at least three selected annual environmental campaigns. These have included ‘Say No to ‘Plastic Bags’ – to ban the use of plastic bags on school campuses, ‘Plant Trees’ - planting a specific number of trees multiple times a year and ‘Water Conservation’ – arranging talks to encourage water conservation as well as arranging activities for primary grade students on annual sports day and Save Water day.

Schools certified under the Green School Programme in Punjab are: LGS Gulberg, American School of International academics, five branches of Beacon House School System - Garden Town, Defence, Canal Side Campus, Johar Town, and in Multan; Ravi Campus of City School and Jadeed Dastigir Ideal High School in Gujranwala. The Forman Christian College is the first university to be certified under the programme. About 40 schools in Karachi and Islamabad are also certified by the WWF.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.