The Punjab School Education Department on Friday issued detailed guidelines to all government, government-aided and private schools in the state, directing them to mandatorily implement the Swachh Evam Harit Vidyalaya Rating (SHVR) programme for the academic year 2026-27.The directions, issued by the office of the Director General of School Education, Punjab, follow a communication from the Union Government dated July 16, 2026. The circular notes that building on the success of SHVR 2025-26, in which more than 10 lakh schools across the country took part and 191 schools received a certificate of merit at the national level, the Centre has decided to continue the programme for 2026-27. The initiative aims to promote cleanliness, a healthy environment, holistic development and environmental awareness among students.According to the guidelines, the SHVR portal and mobile application will go live from August 1, 2026, through which schools will carry out online registration and self-assessment. Orientation workshops will be conducted at the national level by NCERT in collaboration with UNICEF, followed by capacity-building sessions for officials and stakeholders at the state, district and block levels. Schools will be assessed on six parameters — drinking water, toilets, handwashing with soap, operation and maintenance, behavioural change and capacity building, and activities linked to Mission LiFE.Schools have been divided into two categories — Category-I, covering pre-primary to Grade VIII, and Category-II, covering Grades IX to XII. At the district level, three rural and three urban schools will be selected in Category-I, along with three rural and one urban school in Category-II, following which selected schools will be nominated to the state level. From the state list, 20 schools will be picked for national nomination, with the process for the national level ultimately selecting 200 schools — 70 rural and 30 urban in each category.Schools awarded at the national level will receive a special incentive of Rs 1 lakh as composite school grant, while heads of select schools will also be sent on a three-day exposure trip. As per the timeline, the online application process will run for two months from August 1, with district-level assessment to be completed by October-end and state-level assessment by the first week of December.National-level cross-validation will continue from the second week of December 2026 to the second week of February 2027, with the national-level ceremony to be held on a date to be announced later. State, district, block and school-level committees have been constituted to oversee implementation, with the Director, SCERT, heading the state-level panel.