Linking environmental activities with concrete local values

Starting from closest, most familiar things

For many ethnic boarding schools, environmental education is not just a supplementary activity but is closely linked to students’ living conditions, daily routines, and cultural characteristics. At Dam San High School for Ethnic Boarding Students (Ea Drong Commune, Dak Lak Province) - a newly established school, these challenges are more visible than ever.

According to Mr. Ngo Minh Tuan, Secretary of the school’s Youth Union, the school currently has students from 16 different ethnic groups, with ethnic Kinh students making up only a small proportion. Each group brings its own customs and daily practices, while awareness of environmental protection in many remote villages remains limited. Many students have grown up in environments where waste sorting, hygiene maintenance, and landscape preservation have not yet become everyday habits.

In addition to cultural factors, students’ material conditions and starting points are also significant barriers. Many are encountering information technology for the first time when entering the boarding school; their study schedules are packed, and harsh natural conditions, especially the long dry season, make planting trees and maintaining green spaces challenging due to water shortages. "There are many things we want to do, but we cannot rush. Environmental education here is a long journey, not something that happens overnight," Mr. Tuan shared.

In this context, the school has chosen to start with activities closest to students’ daily boarding life. Learning tools and daily supplies are made from plastic bottles, cardboard, and recycled newspapers; a “zero-cost stall” model is organized so students can practice waste sorting immediately after meals; recyclable waste is sold to raise funds or reused for collective activities. For organic waste, the school combines it with school farming activities, using leftover food for livestock.

Notably, each class is assigned a small plot of land to grow vegetables, plant trees, or raise poultry. Students come up with ideas, care for the plot, and harvest the produce, which the school buys back and incorporates into daily meals. Through this process, students not only learn how to protect the environment but also understand the value of labor, the importance of saving, and the principles of ecological cycles.

According to Mr. Tuan, the ultimate goal goes beyond simply beautifying the school campus. “What’s important is to help students develop a reflex in their minds: whether at school or at home, in the village or in society, they are conscious of protecting the environment in many different ways,” he said. For a newly established school, this mission is closely linked with the goal of training human resources for ethnic minority who will return to serve their own communities.

Le Hong Phong primary school: 'To do and to spread'

Unlike schools in remote areas, where environmental education often begins with the need to adapt to living conditions, in urban schools the challenge lies in the very sense of familiarity. As material life becomes increasingly comfortable, waste especially plastic waste easily becomes taken for granted and is rarely connected to long-term environmental and future concerns. In this context, Le Hong Phong Primary School (Nui Thanh Commune, Da Nang City) has chosen to approach environmental education not through slogans, but by changing students’ behaviors from the root of their awareness.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, the school principal, environmental protection has long been integrated into the primary school curriculum. However, in practice, when this content only appears sporadically in lessons or short-term campaigns, students find it difficult to develop deep awareness, let alone turn it into lasting habits. “Plastic waste used to be mentioned only in passing, not enough for students to understand and change their behavior,” Ms. Tam shared.

From this understanding, the school decided to focus on developing an Eco-School model as a continuous thematic program, in which students not only “listen” but also actively “do” and “spread” environmental practices. Environmental education activities are designed to be diverse and age-appropriate: from role-playing and dramatization for awareness campaigns, creating videos and media products, to sharing messages on the school’s social media platforms such as Facebook and Zalo. Through these activities, students not only acquire knowledge but also become messengers, conveying environmental messages to their friends and families.

A notable highlight is linking environmental activities with concrete social values. Recycled products and plastic waste collection efforts go beyond educational purposes, the entire proceeds are used to support students facing difficult circumstances at the school. This helps students understand that protecting the environment is not an isolated action, but is tied to the spirit of sharing and community responsibility.

According to Ms. Thanh Tam, it is the students’ proactive participation that has created noticeable changes. When they directly recycle, sort waste, and learn about the life cycle of plastic products and the harm of single-use plastics, their understanding moves beyond theory. “When they realize that plastic can persist in the environment for hundreds of years, they naturally adjust their own behavior, from limiting single-use plastics to reminding those around them,” she said.

At the same time, the school has established “junior” environmental clubs, bringing together students who are interested and capable of spreading awareness. The roles of homeroom teachers, the team leader of the Youth Union, and dedicated teachers are maximized in guiding and sustaining these activities. However, according to the principal of Le Hong Phong Primary School, the decisive factor remains the leadership. “The principal must first be aware and integrate this content into the school’s resolutions and action plans for environmental education to avoid becoming merely a trend,” she emphasized.

She added that environmental education in urban schools does not aim for immediate results. The larger goal is to form green living habits in students from primary school. When these habits are repeated consistently within the school environment, they carry over to family life, neighborhoods, and gradually spread throughout the community.

Effective environmental education is not about scale or form, but about the persistent change in awareness that leads to behavior change. This is also the important link connecting environmental education from disadvantaged regions to urban areas: each place has its own approach, but all aim toward long-term sustainable goals.

Ministry of Agriculture and Environment tasked VAN News to collaborate with the International Cooperation Department and the Green Future Fund to organize the 2025 ASEAN Eco-Schools Vietnam Awards. For more information about the Awards, readers can visit the online newspaper at nongnghiepmoitruong.vn or the Awards website ecoschool.vn.