Schools Must Make Tomorrow Earth-Friendly

A climate change reality-check offered through protests by Greta Thunberg was perhaps the need of the hour for schools to take up the environmental cause more seriously. Coming from a student added more impetus to the cause with more and more schools actively participating through marches and protests to take up the issue with more seriousness.

However, there is a lot more that schools could do to ensure that tomorrow’s citizens become more environmentally conscious. Schools could be the guiding force to make this come true. So what can schools do to make the future green?

Most schools have already been employing such initiatives as projects based on effective utilization of waste, and coming up with ways and means to conserve energy consumption. However, those tend to be short-lived. An interdisciplinary approach to the same could be one possible solution. Environmental Management as a subject alone cannot handle the issue, and therefore schools could come up with initiatives such as clubs to enhance the impetus that go into spreading the awareness. A student-led teachers-monitored environmental related club that functions through the year could spread the word not only across schools but also to countless homes where students could reinforce teaching and learning.

Further, an interdisciplinary approach could also involve incorporating various awareness-related topics into multiple subjects. For instance, most schools opt for literature as a subject at least till grade 8. Involving literary theories like ‘Ecocriticism’ as a part of the literature curriculum and reading literature that moves away from the traditional anthropocentric viewpoint might inspire young minds to put nonhuman aspects at the center and start caring for all nonhuman elements.

Lastly, if schools encourage more and more students to lead campaigns outside school premises to spread awareness amongst the masses, teaching people values such as energy consumption, and demonstrating ways to reduce one’s carbon footprint, we would not only save the planet and keep it greener for our children tomorrow, but also shape leaders of tomorrow who are environment-conscious.

Schools play a vital role in how the future looks for the world. Let’s train our students to take the reigns and do what is right.