Jianan Elementary School and The Sacred Heart High School for Girls, both located in New Taipei City, registered March 26 for the global Eco-Schools Program in an effort to deepen the students’ green thinking, the New Taipei City Government has announced.
The participatory contract was signed by Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration Minister Shen Shu-hung, Sacred Heart Principal Shirlane Wei and Jane Nishida, director of the Office of Regional and Bilateral Affairs under the US Environmental Protection Agency.
“Taiwan has been active in curbing carbon emissions and promoting eco-friendly education in schools for the past year,” Shen said.
“By taking part in the program we expect Sacred Heart and Jianan to be role models that other Taiwan educational institutes can learn from and build partnerships with,” the minister said.
According to the city government, participation in the program means a school has to take a series of steps to make it more eco-friendly. These include founding an eco-action committee, formulating practical plans to reduce energy and water consumption, adding eco-protective elements to the curriculum and evaluating progress made.
Studies show that schools that follow these steps are able to reduce their carbon footprint by 71 percent, the city government said, adding that schools are also able to save on equipment expenditures by between 10 and 40 percent.
Schools that meet the program’s requirements will be presented with a Green Flag in recognition of the joint efforts of students, faculty and parents.
Started by Denmark-based Foundation for Environmental Education in 1994, the Eco-Schools Program has been implemented in 53 countries in the world. Up to 690 schools in the US are participants in the program, according to the city government.
