The ‘Eco-school’ model blossoming in Hue, Viet Nam’s ancient capital

Educating environmental awareness

Located in the heart of Hue City, Le Loi Primary School in Thuan Hoa Ward won first prize in the Primary School category of the 2024 ASEAN Eco-Schools Award Viet Nam.

Stepping onto the campus, visitors are greeted by a refreshing, tree-filled environment where flowers bloom in every corner. Classrooms are clean, well-organised, and decorated with plants. The school creatively reuses waste materials to make teaching aids and everyday items. Dozens of waste-sorting bins, each paired with an illustrated guide, are placed around the grounds for students to use easily. Pupils bring their own water bottles, avoid plastic straws, and limit the use of plastic bags.

Principal Le Thi Ly Na shared that for many years, the school has been developing the “Eco-School” model to raise environmental awareness and nurture eco-friendly habits and behaviours among students.

Specifically, the school organises an “Environmental Festival” featuring “trash-for-gifts” booths and games that help students learn to collect and sort recyclable materials. It also runs a program to make eco-friendly paper bags and products from rice straw paper, along with drawing contests on environmental protection and plastic waste reduction. A “Green Club” encourages students to practise reducing and recycling plastic in daily life. Other campaigns include “Limiting the use of single-use plastic products,” “Saving electricity and water,” “Biodiversity conservation,” and “Using resources responsibly, respecting nature.” The school also enhances environmental awareness through a rich communication system—radio broadcasts at the start and end of classes, banners, posters, cartoons, slogans, and brochures.

Environmental education and climate change response are integrated across the curriculum through interactive lessons and creative teaching materials. The school also organises activities to mark Earth Hour, Earth Day, World Environment Day, World Oceans Day, International Day for Biological Diversity, National Week for Clean Water and Environmental Hygiene, the “Clean Up the World” campaign, and the “Tree Planting Festival – Forever Grateful to Uncle Ho.”

Fourth-grader Tran Ngoc Uyen Hy said: “By joining activities like planting trees, collecting trash, and recycling bottles into flower pots, I’ve learned to love nature more and discovered many ways to protect our environment. I’ve changed my habits tooI, bring my personal water bottle, avoid plastic straws, and wear a cloth mask. I even remind my parents to bring a basket to the market instead of using plastic bags. I hope not only my school but the whole of Hue City will become greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.”

According to Principal Ly Na, the school’s environmental and plastic-reduction initiatives have created a positive learning environment, inspired students, and encouraged parents to join their children in protecting the planet. This has helped spread the value of a green lifestyle throughout the community while deepening students’ understanding of the harmful effects of plastic waste on health and the environment. It also instills a sense of personal and collective responsibility for environmental protection.

“The school has received many environmental awards, and the ASEAN Eco-School Award Viet Nam is a great source of pride. More importantly, it’s a responsibility for teachers and students to maintain and develop the model. The title isn’t a finish line, it’s a motivation to make every school day a journey of green, safe, and friendly experiences. I believe environmental education must start from small, daily actions. When a student saves a sheet of paper, plants a tree, or refuses a nylon bag, they are sowing the seeds of a sustainable future. I hope the ‘Eco-School’ model will continue to spread, helping to build an education system linked to sustainable development and a generation that lives responsibly with nature,” Principal Ly Na affirmed.

Replicating the “Eco-school” model

Nguyen Chi Dieu Secondary School, located on Dong Da Street in Hue City, also received the 2024 ASEAN Eco-School Award Viet Nam in the Secondary School category.

Principal Hoang Thi Thuy said the school has implemented many practical initiatives in recent years, such as “One Day Without Single-Use Plastic,” held weekly, where all students and teachers use personal water bottles, lunch boxes, and bamboo straws instead of plastic ones. The “Green Corner – Exchange Trash for Gifts” program encourages waste sorting and recycling by allowing students to exchange cans and bottles for small green plants. The school has designed colour-coded recycling bins to make sorting easy and engaging. Art classes include creative recycling projects that transform discarded plastic into artworks and learning models. An “Ecological School Garden” uses compost made from organic waste to grow vegetables and flowers.

Notably, the school has effectively adopted the “Green House” model to separate and collect waste at the source. Students sort plastic, paper, metal, and old batteries into dedicated bins around campus, and the proceeds from selling recyclable waste are used for charitable activities and to support disadvantaged students.

“After winning the ASEAN Eco-School Award, the school expanded its ‘Green Library’, where students can read outdoors amid the gardens, using bookshelves made from recycled materials. We also organise a ‘Recycling Flea Market’ where students and parents exchange old items to reduce new consumption. The Nguyen Chi Dieu Green Student Club carries out small projects such as producing short videos, painting green murals, and using a digital app to record monthly reductions in plastic waste. The app powers a ‘Plastic-Free Classroom’ ranking board that encourages friendly competition. The school has also strengthened cooperation and online exchanges with other green schools in the ASEAN region, sharing experience and replicating effective models,” Principal Thuy said.

Art teacher Nguyen Thi Mai Anh shared that for her, teaching environmental protection is not a duty but a passion. “When students directly plant trees or sort trash, they truly understand the value of environmental protection. No classroom lecture is as effective as real-life experience,” she said.

“As an Art teacher, I want students to see beauty not only in paintings but in life itself. When they turn an old plastic bottle into a flower pot or care for the class greenery, I see them learning more than art, it’s love for nature, a sense of responsibility, and sharing. I always encourage students to turn ideas into action so the school is not only clean and beautiful but also a living lesson every day,” Mai Anh added.

Vietnam’s ASEAN Eco-Schools Award 2025 centers on the theme “Plastic-Waste Free Schools.”

Applications must be submitted in two ways at the same time: a hard-copy dossier sent to the Newspaper of Agriculture and Environment, Lot E2, Duong Dinh Nghe Street, Hanoi; and a single compressed digital file uploaded to Ecoschool.vn.

The deadline is October 31, 2025, based on the postmark for mailed submissions or the timestamp on Ecoschool.vn for online submissions.

According to Nguyen Tan, Director of Hue City’s Department of Education and Training, environmental protection and plastic-free initiatives have long been priorities for schools in the area. “Building environmental awareness among students is an essential part of holistic education. When students understand and act for the environment, they become ‘green ambassadors’ who inspire their families and communities,” he said.

Mr. Tan emphasised that the “Eco-School” and “Plastic-Reduction School” models set valuable examples for other schools to follow. “The education sector will continue to encourage schools to replicate these models and support institutions in delivering effective environmental education,” he affirmed.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has tasked the Vietnam Agriculture and Nature News in coordination with relevant agencies and units and the Green Future Fund, with organizing the ASEAN Eco-Schools Vietnam 2025 Awards - “Plastic-Waste Free Schools.” 

For details, visit the online edition at nongnghiepmoitruong.vn, the Awards website: ecoschool.vn, or contact Journalist Nguyen Quynh Chi, Phone: 0967181555, Email: nquynhchi.00@gmail.com.