Global warming. Deforestation. Climate change- terms that school kids today are familiar with, thanks to environmental science being part of the curriculum. But is environmental concern limited only to textbooks? Schools are stepping beyond classroom lectures to including campus initiatives, projects and field visits to make seemingly abstract terms relatable to children.
Awareness is prerequisite to action , though awareness should not be an end in itself, believe educationists. “Students need to be educated on why plastic should be eradicated rather than merely being told to ban plastic,” says Pavai, principal, Vasavi Vidyalaya. Similarly a workshop on electronic waste was followed by an exercise were students were encouraged to collect and turn in used batteries and gadgets.
Making the school a green campus must be an initial step before talking about environmental conservation, believes K.G.Meenakshi, Correspondent, Sivananda Balalaya. “By making the school plastic free, filled with trees and home to many birds, we create an eco-friendly world right in the campus.” The school encourages students to try their hands at organic farming and prepare manure from kitchen waste. Sparrow boxes have been set up in the campus and grain and water set out for birds much before concern over the dwindling avian population became a much discussed topic, says Meenkashi.
Eco-friendly behaviour is requisite to moulding a holistic student, believes Subathra, founder, CREA Academy. “We instil eco-friendly ways by encouraging them to commune with nature. The school has close to 100 trees that are tended to by students regularly.”
An eco-literacy programme in being launched in the school in collaboration with a California-based organisation where children would be encouraged to take up community based projects.
Believing there is nothing like practice when it comes to driving home vital messages, Ms.Pavai says students are involved in watering plants in the school garden, collection and segregation of wastes. “Around 100 students were selected and given saplings, but their work does not get over with planting these saplings. They would be assessed periodically on how they tend to the plants.”
Sparking the innovation of students is essential to generate creative eco-friendly ideas. “We asked students to make a paste of used paper and fenugreek seeds and shape hem into objects. We were amazed at the ideas that took shape- bowls, toys and utility items all rendered attractive in vivid shades.”
It is not sufficient that schools take out rallies but implementing them is a sign of taking environmental issues seriously. “A ‘ban the bulb' rally by students was followed by replacing all incandescent light bulbs by compact fluorescents lights,” says Sivagami Sathappan, coordinator, Brindavan Vidyalaya. In an initiative to start early, primary school kids are involved in cultivating a vegetable garden in the school, for which manure is procured from vermicomposting done by high school students. Some schools have started taking awareness beyond campuses by way of village clean-up programmes.
