Teachers of 18 city schools discussed ways to protect the environment at a conference on Wednesday.
They underlined the need to engage children and said it is no longer enough to be aware of the need to protect the environment but to act.
The programme was a joint initiative of Vinisha, an NGO that works for the environment, and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which runs education institutions.
The conference “Striving towards a pollution-free Kolkata,” was held at Bhavan’s Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir in Salt Lake.
“We want students to work towards a less-polluted city and for that, there has to be action,” said Ramesh Chandran, founder of Vinisha.
Chandran said that a few decisions were taken on Wednesday which included the distribution of 1 lakh seed packets by the children. Every kid will give seed packets to at least five people in their neighbourhood.
The distribution will start in January. “The packets would be made by students themselves,” said Chandran.
Teachers shared ideas that they could implement in their schools, like adopting a plant and declaring schools as no-plastic zones. “We discussed the road map for next year and how to involve more and more children in the programme. But this programme cannot be limited to the school but taken beyond the campus,” said G.V. Subramanian, director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata.
It was also discussed how adults could practise things that would make children more aware of the need to protect the environment.
“Adults know what is right but do not usually follow it. Instead of telling kids what to do, they might follow simple things like not keeping the tap running or the fans and lights switched on in an empty room. When children see these things they will automatically emulate,” said Arun Kumar Dasgupta, principal of Bhavan’s Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir.
Pooja Goswami, a teacher at Delhi Public School New Town, said that the session stressed on the need to implement what is known.
“We have to make the kids aware of the importance of working towards a pollution-free city,” Goswami said.