Schools sow the seeds of a healthy environment

Times of India , Monday, April 21, 2008
Correspondent : Neha Pushkarna
NEW DELHI: With last year's Nobel peace prize going to former US vice-president Al Gore and intergovernmental panel on climate change, headed by Indian environmentalist RK Pachauri, for "disseminating greater knowledge about man-made climate change", city schools are also doing their bit to bring the environment debate into popular discourse among students. 'Think green' is their new motive. And this is not just a one-day euphoria for the Earth Day on April 22. Given the importance of the issue, many schools have made it a year-long practice by roping in NGOs and other forums to run environment projects for their students. At Salwan Public School (Afternoon) in Rajendra Nagar, students have been encouraged to take up greening work on the Ridge Road stretch behind their school. They have already planted trees on one side of the road and plan to take the project ahead. NGOs like Navdanya and Hriday Shan are lending their help for the noble cause and other campaigns like water conservation, paper recycling and tobacco ban. "Moreover, DMRC has also allowed us to plant saplings between pillars 74 to 136 on Pusa Road. Our students have decorated the pillars with 16 mural paintings and they also look after the green stretch set up by them," said principal Vijayalakshmi Singh. The school has given two pillars to each class and they are regularly sent to the stretch to water the plants and weed out grass. At Modern School, Barakhamba Road, middle school students have become skilled in vermicomposting — it's the process of producing vermicompost, which is nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer and soil conditioner. Started a year ago, today the project produces organic manure for the huge green part of the school spread over 25 acres. "We also participate in various projects initiated by TERI. Our students have done research projects on carbon dating and recently, they also interviewed R K Pachauri," said school principal Lata Vaidyanathan. Schools have become more sensitive to climate change also because of an all-round change in the curriculum. "These days NCERT books revolve around environmental topics. Schools now test students not only on theory but on various activities. And environment is one subject which requires filed work," said Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas. Some schools are telling their students to be proactive on a day-today basis. Students of Apeejay School in Pitampura have been asked to take out the unused papers from their old notebooks, bind them together and use them as fair notebooks in the new session. ' 'We also ask our staff to not use plastic or paper cups but ceramic ones for drinking tea or coffee," said principal D K Bedi. At present, students from at least 20 schools are part of the KidsCall campaign started by Germany-based World Future Council. They write messages, letters, design posters and shoot videos on environment-related issue. These messages will be collected and displayed at the G-8 Summit to be held in July this year. neha.pushkarna@timesgroup.com

 
SOURCE : Times of India, Monday, April 21, 2008
 


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