"Mizuiku - I love clean water," an education programme to promote children's awareness of water conservation, has been launched in My Duc and Thanh Oai districts of Hanoi.

The 12-month programme is being jointly organised by the districts' education and training divisions and the Suntory Group and Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage (SPVB) as an initiative to celebrate the World Water Day on March 22.

Executive Chairman of SPVB Katsuyasu Kato said, "We expect the programme to help Vietnamese primary school students, who are the future protectors of the country's environment, just as it does in Japan."

The pilot programme will target about 1,600 pupils and teachers of six primary schools in the two districts of Thanh Oai and My Duc, Hanoi.

It will focus on activities to educate children on the role of water on the planet and to raise children's awareness on the importance of water resources and water hygiene in their daily life, so that they can lead healthy lives and water resources can be conserved for future generations.

The project will also donate 40,000 USD for the installation of water facilities and for upgradation of toilets that are in a state of serious disrepair in these schools.

In Japanese, Mizu means "water" and iku stands for "education". Mizuiku is a natural water education programme that has been successfully implemented in Japan since 2004. Over 10 years of its implementation, 98,000 children and parents in Japan have attended teaching classes and outdoor activities of the programme.-VNA