Students’ perception of the green school program: an evaluation for improving environmental management in schools

Abstract

Green school is a school that encourages students and the school community to have environmentally caring attitudes and behaviors in daily activities both at school and where they live. At a further stage, the green school program also seeks to integrate environmental aspects into learning according to the learning topic or in what is termed a green curriculum. In Indonesia, a green school program was known as the adiwiyata program. The purpose of this study was to analyze how students perceive green schools. The research was conducted at SMA N 3 Surakarta, one of the national green schools in Surakarta. The research method was carried out with a quantitative approach with a questionnaire-based survey of 171 students. The results showed that most green school students state that their school has implemented four criteria of the green school program, namely the existence of environmentally friendly policies, implementation of an environmentally-based curriculum, participatory-based environmental activities, and management of ecologically friendly supporting facilities. The school management has been carried out by the principles of sustainable environmental management, such as providing green open spaces, waste management, reducing the use of single-use plastics, making biopore infiltration holes, and others.