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Journalism of Courage
Rupali Waghmare, a student of a primary PCMC school started a cleanliness committee in her neighbourhood of Landewadi near Bhosari last year. She instructs the neighbours on the separation of dry and wet garbage 8211; on how wet garbage should be put into the garbage dump and how dry garbage like plastic bags and bottles can be recycled. When a bunch of school children discovered that the tap of a PCMC tank in their neighbourhood of Pimpale Gurav leaked continuously they wrote a letter to the mayor of the PCMC drawing his attention to the matter. What is common to both these cases is that the school children involved is that they are students who have become aware of environmental issues thanks to the dedicated efforts of some environmentally conscious organisation.
The School Environment Education plan, a joint effort undertaken by the PCMC and the World Wide fund for nature WWF is one such project which is an example of environmental awareness and action can successfully become part of the education process. The results of this catch8217;em young policy which was put into practice in June 1997 with the active support of the then PCMC commissioner, Pravinsingh Pardeshi in the PCMC schools are gradually becoming apparent. 8220;Children are the most important factor to be targetted for the green cause because when such environmental values are inculcated in them they become part of their life,8221; says Dr.Ajit Jagtap, project co-ordinator, World Wide Fund for Nature WWF. With this objective in mind, Jagtap along with co-ordinators Santosh Hinge and Suchitra Deshmukh chalked out a plan of action.
For two hours every month an activity is chosen which included puppet shows, films on water conservation, nature trails to detect medicinal plants, keeping one8217;s environment clean and so on. Special emphasis is given on practical work, for instance a lecture on pollution, members were asked to perform an experiment which consisted of counting the number of vehicles that pass from a given point in half an hour and the resulting pollution.
8220;This prompted some nature club members to only use bicycles,8221; says Jagtap. In another case students were asked to make mats, purses and showpieces out of used plastic bags. During the craft class members of nature club in turn tell the rest of the class about their activities. To promote participation of students, a monthly newsletter called Shristi started in November 1997 includes contributions like poems and articles contributed by students as well as an activity such as plant identification or collecting shells. 8220;As there is no pressure on the students they participate in the activities whole-heartedly. This has definitely had a positive effect on the school children. For instance one group of children who stayed in the slum area of Pimpal Neelak near Sanghvi traced the frequent choking of gutters in their locality to the garbage including plastic bags that was thrown into them. They went around the neighbourhood telling people to put the waste into the garbage dumps,8221; says Jagtap.
Obviously the children take their lessons very seriously. 8220;Environmental issues cannot be battled unless sufficient public support is generated to sustain it. Children have to made aware that their survival depends on it ,8221; says Dr. Erach Bharucha, director, Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research, another environmentally conscious institute which has been involved in the field of environmental education for the past four years. An education officer visits schools in once a fortnight for a one hour non-formal workshop including slide shows, puppet shows, plays designed for students from Std. V to Std. IX. Eleven schools in Pune and 15 each in Lonavala and Pimpri Chinchwad areas have been covered through the programme.
8220;The workshops are made locale-specific, so students in Lonavala schools are taught about the impact of tourism on the environment whereas, those in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation schools learn about effects of industrial pollution on the environment,8221; says Bharucha. Despite the recent spotlight on environmental issues thanks to the world environmental day, they do not figure largely on the agenda of the common man. However the efforts of organisations to push the green cause among a new generation have already succeeded in making children sensitive to environmental issues.
