Three Sikkim schools in top-5 of Green Schools of India list

DENTAM SSS, DEORALI GIRLS SSS AND TINGLEY SS CONFERRED 1ST, 2ND AND 4TH POSITIONS

GANGTOK, 06 April: Three government schools from Sikkim have risen to the top from a pool of 30,000 participating schools from across the country to figure in the top-5 of the Gobar Times Green Schools National Award 2011-12. What is more, the top two positions have also gone to Sikkim schools with Dentam Senior Secondary School of West Sikkim bagging the first position and Deorali Girls Senior Secondary School of Gangtok taking the second slot. Tingley Secondary School of South Sikkim has been ranked fourth in this prestigious rating undertaken by the reputed Centre for Science and Environment.
A press communiqué received from PCCF-cum-Additional CS, Manjit Singh, informs that the award is based on the performance of these schools in the Green Schools Programme (GSP) and come in recognition for having brought about “positive change” in the schools environment in terms of practices followed to improve the quality, usage and sustainability of land, air, water, energy and waste resources.
The schools were presented with certificates and Green Leaf trophies by the Chief Minister of New Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, at an awards ceremony held in New Delhi on 28 March.
The Green Schools Programme is being implemented in Sikkim by 182 schools since the year 2009 and Sikkim schools have been doing consistently well in it. In previous years schools from Daramdin, Reshi, Middle Camp and Lower Samdong have been awarded by CSE. “This continued acknowledgement and recognition of Sikkim schools at the national level through the Green Schools Programme is a matter of great pride and honor for the state,” Mr. Singh conveys.
To facilitate the programme, the ENVIS Center under the Forests Department here has been providing resources to the schools like Green Teacher’s training, environment kits, green school manuals, permanent flex banners, environment calendars, waste segregation bins, environmental information support and so on, he adds. The programme is now being extended to 197 Junior High Schools of the state. Thus far, only Senior Secondary and Secondary schools were participating.
The Green School Programme complies with the State Government’s aim of achieving “100% Environment Conscious Citizens” by 2015, the PCCF adds. With the main focus of this mission being on school children, the State Government has instituted its own award scheme on this effort as well with the Chief Minister’s Green School Rolling Trophy which includes handsome cash prizes of up to Rs. 5 lakh. This is a first of its kind initiative in the country and the award is presented to the meritorious schools on the occasion of the World Environment Day.