The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now accepting nominations for the most environment-friendly and sustainable schools in the country.
Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Director Atty. Jonas Leones announced on Friday the “2015 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools” is open to all public and private elementary and high schools, colleges and universities.
Posted By: Lynne Pingoy
“The competition seeks to encourage schools to become more actively involved in environmental issues at the local level. It recognizes academic institutions with best eco-friendly programs and activities,” Leones said.
The deadline for submission of nominations is April 10, 2015 and the winners will be announced in November.
“This is to give schools more time to prepare and enhance their existing eco-friendly programs,” Leones explained. “We are hoping to encourage more schools to participate and take part in heightening environmental awareness among our youth.”
The national search is organized by DENR-EMB, in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and private sector partners.
Smart Communications Inc. joins the activity as part of its corporate social responsibility and community service program Kabalikat. Other program partners from the private sector are Nestle Philippines Inc. and One Meralco Foundation Inc.
Launched in 2009, the competition was a direct response to Republic Act No. 9512 or the Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008. It is also the country’s initiative in support of the declaration of 2012 as ASEAN Environment Year and the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, from 2005-2014.
Participating schools must register on-line at www.sustainableschools.ph and submit their entry in three hard copies to their respective DepEd Division Offices for public elementary and high school categories, and to EMB Regional Offices for private elementary and high school entries, including higher education/college category. The minimum requirement for judging will be the hard copies.
Entries can likewise be submitted online in JPEG format with a resolution of 300 dots per inch, a minimum size of 1536 x 2048 pixels, and a maximum file size of 1MB. Entries may be emailed to ecofriendlyschools@gmail.com.
The top entry per category for every region will be forwarded to the EMB Central Office in Quezon City for national judging.
Entries should reflect the theme “Sustainable and Eco-friendly Initiatives.” Participating schools should include a brief description of their entry.
Nominees will be judged according to the following criteria: Sustainability Aspects of the School’s Policy (10 points); Environment-friendly School Operations and Presence of Environmental Programs (25 pts.); Environment-related Features of the School Curriculum (25 pts.); Presence of Vibrant Eco Organizations in Campus (10 pts.); Presence of Partners and Linkages in Environment Programs/Projects (10 pts.); Socio-Cultural Sustainability (10 pts.) and Economic Sustainability (10 pts.). Only one entry per school will be accepted.
There will be three major winners in each level – elementary, high school and college. Each first place winner will receive a cash prize of P50, 000 and a plaque of recognition. The second and third place winners will each get P40, 000 and P30, 000, respectively, and plaques. Regional winners will each receive P15, 000.
For further details, please contact the National Program Secretariat at the Environmental Education and Information Division of the Environmental Management Bureau-DENR. Telefax Nos.: (02) 9284674 and (02) 3765610; E-mail: ecofriendlyschools@gmail.com. Websites: http://www.emb.gov.ph and http://www.sustainableschools.ph#
