Bathinda: Punjab clinched the Best State award for the third consecutive year under the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) Green School Programme (GSP), leading the country in audit registrations and report submissions. As many as 6,264 schools from the state submitted their audit reports, of which 237 were rated ‘green’. Hoshiarpur also retained the Best District title for the second straight year, recording 947 report submissions.A total of 7,407 schools from 28 states and union territories participated in the GSP Audit 2025–26, with Punjab alone accounting for over 84% of the submissions. Overall, 6% of the participating schools were rated ‘green’, up from 4% last year, reflecting a gradual improvement in performance. Of the 433 schools awarded the green rating nationwide, 237 (over 54%) were from Punjab.Of all the schools that participated in the audit, govt schools led the way, accounting for 86% of all submissions, followed by private schools at 12% and govt-aided schools at 1%. Over 81% of the participating institutions are based in rural areas across India.The GSP audit dashboard revealed that 56% of the schools used non-polluting modes of transport. Over 34% used energy-efficient lighting, while 73% had well-ventilated classrooms. More than 75% used chemical-free fertilisers, and over 31% practised rainwater harvesting. GSP helps schools assess their use of resources and map their consumption and wastage across six key subject areas: air, energy, food, land, water and waste.433 schools honouredThe Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Friday honoured 433 schools from across India as the country’s ‘greenest’ institutions at the Green School Awards 2025–26, recognising their commitment to sustainable campus practices and environmental learning.The awards are conferred annually under CSE’s Green Schools Programme (GSP), an environmental education initiative that enables students to conduct a rigorous, on-campus environmental audit of their own schools to measure the efficacy of resource management and green practices in the school. Schools take ownership of their green journey through self-conducted audits with CSE’s guidance.CSE director general Sunita Narain said, “Over the years, many generations of students went through the GSP’s process of learning how to audit their own environmental footprint — to measure it, benchmark it, and then work deliberately to make a difference. GSP allows us to measure change; it is visible and it can and must be celebrated.”Among those who handed out the awards, besides Narain, were conservation biologist Brawin Kumar; ecologist and conservation practitioner Tiasa Adhya; and senior program officer, Wildlife Crime Control Division, Wildlife Trust of India, Apurva Bandal.Tushita Rawat, programme manager, environment education, CSE, said, “Our analysis finds that schools are demonstrating a clear tendency towards lower per capita resource use, limited reliance on environmentally harmful practices, and growing adoption of conservation measures.”Souparno Banerjee, senior director, environment education, CSE, said, “A school that follows sustainable practices is not simply reducing its environmental footprints; it is normalising ways of thinking and action for its students, who carry them beyond the campus, into their homes and communities.”Satya Bharti School, Tungaheri, Ludhiana, Punjab, bagged the award for Changemaker in the Primary Category, while Vidya Pratishthan’s New English Medium School, Pune, Maharashtra, bagged it in the Secondary Category. The Changemaker Awards are given to schools which improve their sustainability rating to green by monitoring and improving their practices over the year.Schools that sustained their green rating for 10 consecutive years since 2015, while continually monitoring and improving their practices, got the Sterling Schools Award, which included Bal Bharati Public School IMT Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana, and Motilal Nehru School of Sports Rai, Sonipat, Haryana.Shivalik Valley School in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, is among the schools that have secured a ‘green’ rating for five consecutive years.According to the GSP criteria, a Green School is one that actively embraces sustainable transportation practices, is well ventilated and energy efficient, manages all its resources (water, waste, land) sustainably, has a ‘green’ environment featuring native plant species, prioritises healthy food consumption, implements water conservation through rainwater harvesting, enforces responsible waste management by segregating and composting waste, and prohibits its burning. MSID:: 127799368 413 |
