In a bid to make schools environment-friendly spaces, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has launched the country’s first Green School Guidelines in Kathmandu on Monday.

The eight-part guidelines highlight the concept of ‘One Garden, One School’ among other standards to be followed by schools to become environment friendly.

It envisions transforming community schools into "living laboratories" where children could engage in various environment conservation activities.

The guidelines encourage schools to have a garden of medicinal herbs and varieties of fruits and bio-fence.

Speaking at the guidelines launching ceremony, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokhrel  said the guidelines were essential for promoting safe and clean environment in community schools around the country.

 “The right of children and young people to live in a clean environment needs to be upheld. Through a quick coordination and implementation of the guidelines from the federal to the local levels, we will need to look at this as a broader campaign,” he added.

According to Green School Guidelines, schools should conduct plantation programmes on empty lands, establish eco-library and bio-museum and keep aquarium on their premises.  

All three levels of government will coordinate while implementing the guidelines by engaging school management committees and development and conservation agencies.

Ghana S Gurung, country representative of WWF Nepal, said the guidelines were launched with an aim to promote conservation education in government schools across the country, and build awareness and engagement of school-level children in conservation.

 “We had launched conservation education program in 1994 with the establishment of its first eco-club in Bardiya. The Green School Guidelines is one such effort to bring conservation education to children from a young age,” said Gurung.

“The programme has grown further to engage young people through the Generation Green Campaign that aims to build a generation of youth committed to conservation and sustainable development in Nepal.”

The guidelines have been prepared by Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) in partnership with the WWF.