Now,state adds a green chapter to school syllabus ……..Sanjeev Shivadekar
Mumbai: Schools will soon voluntarily have to include an additional three hours a week for outdoor exercise to help students understand the importance of the environment.The state government wants students to learn the importance of environment care at an early age.The project meant for students from classes VII to XII will not only help them learn the importance of the environment,but also fetch additional grace marks on the lines of National Service Scheme (NSS) and can be taken up for two years at a maximum.
The concept is not to burden the students with more studies, said Suresh Shetty,state environment minister.Unlike environment taught as a subject inside in the classroom,students will have to step out of the school premises for three hours in a week to get firsthand experience of the value of environment and the need to protect it,the minister added.For effective implementation of the project,initially on a pilot basis 50 schools will be selected from five districts,from tribal,rural and urban areas.The selected schools will have to appoint one dedicated unit head teacher to help children in the project,who will be paid extra for the purpose.
Meanwhile state environment secretary Valsa Nair-Singh said,It is not just a project,but an attempt to involve students in taking care of the environment. She added that students enrolling for the exercise will get grace marks on the lines of the NSS.Modalities are being worked out to ensure that students are rewarded for saving the environment. The project will differ from school to school depending on the environmental problem in that respective area.For instance if a school is located in a place which faces industrial pollution,the school enrolling for the project will have to work on ideas and measures to tackle the menace.
The department wanted the project to be mandatory for schools across the state.But the school education department felt that will make parents and students view the exercise as a burden as it would be over and above the existing syllabus.Hence,it was decided to keep the project voluntary and enroll those students who are keen on working in the sector to save the environment, a senior Mantralaya official said.The draft of the project is ready.It will be tabled before the state cabinet meeting for approval, the official added.
Environmental and educational activists have welcomed the move.I am happy that the government is playing the role of enabler.It is very important to catch people young, said environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal.Ramesh Joshi,who has been working in the field of education,said,Education should not be curriculum-oriented,but practical too.The idea to have practical studies on environment along with routine theoretical syllabus is a good move.