: The Church of South India (CSI) has joined hands with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based public interest group, to bring 1,000 schools run by the Church under the latter’s Green Schools Programme.
CSI Ecological Concerns Committee chairman and academic Mathew Koshy Punnackadu, who is co-ordinating the programme, told The Hindu that the Church has taken up the project as a tool to popularise its green mission.
According to Dr. Punnackadu, the programme aims at building the spirit of environment conservation among schoolchildren. The programme will foster environmental literacy among schoolchildren, moving beyond theories and textbooks and focus on exploratory activities.
Self-assessment
The programme envisages self-assessment of the environmental practices of the school by its students using the ‘green schools manual’ prepared by the CSE.
As per the CSE manual, the students have to go around the school and collect information on the use and management of resources such as water, waste, etc.
The collection and interpretation of the data will help them learning key environmental issues. The students will also rate the school on the basis of the environmental audit, said Dr. Punnackad.
70 schools join scheme
Bishop Thomas K. Oommen, CSI Deputy Moderator, launched the project at a ceremonial function held in Kottayam recently. As many as 70 CMS schools of the Church in Kerala have already joined the programme and formalities are under way to rope in the remaining schools, Dr. Punnackad said.
Joining the programme, the children at the CMS School at Vechoochira, near Ranni, have done away with plastic water bottles. The school authorities have installed water purifiers on the premises, providing them safe drinking water.
