In a major policy shift, the education ministry, with World Wildlife Fund help, hopes to foster awareness of green issues
The mainland's national school curriculum is about to get a lot greener in what has been touted as a major breakthrough in education policy.
The Ministry of Education has launched new guidelines making environmental education a compulsory part of the curriculum taught to some 197 million children. The guidelines were developed in co-operation with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Zhu Muju, deputy director of basic education at the Ministry of Education, said the guidelines would 'lay the foundations for the nation's sustainable growth strategy'.
They provide for the incorporation of 'environmental education elements' into already existing subjects on the curriculum, such as biology and geography.
'It's not a separate class,' said Ms Zhu. 'It just wasn't practical to set up a special subject for environmental education. But we hope the guidelines will help students develop an overall awareness of environmental issues,' she said.
James Harkness, chief representative of WWF China, said the guidelines aimed to emphasise not only the development of environmental knowledge, 'but also students' skills, attitudes and values, as well as their commitment to building a sustainable future'.
