Kolkata: West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) has proposed a hands-on environmental project for school students to be undertaken during vacations, aimed at helping them better understand the link between environmental changes and everyday life.
The proposal has been submitted to the School Education Department. The suggestion emerged during the first round-table discussion on ‘Integrating Climate Education for Child Safety and Resilience in the West Bengal School Ecosystem’, organised by WBCPCR in collaboration with the Climate Educators Network (CEN).
Existing climate education lessons were reviewed at the meeting, and the incorporation of new and relevant issues was also deliberated.
WBCPCR has proposed to the Syllabus Committee that students be assigned hands-on environmental projects aligned with the climatic conditions of the geographical areas in which they live. Officials believe that executing such projects during vacations will expose students to experiential learning and enable them to understand climate-related issues in an effective manner. The projects may also carry marks, which, officials feel, would encourage healthy competition among students. A WBCPCR official said that textbook-based learning on environmental issues has its limitations. Hands-on projects, the official said, would help students understand how environmental studies can be integrated into daily life.
“We have already submitted a booklet containing the proposal along with samples of such projects to the Syllabus Committee for their consideration,” said Tulika Das, WBCPCR chairperson.
Senior officials from the Samagra Siksha Mission wing of the Education Department, the Environment Department, members of the Syllabus Committee, and top officials of WBCPCR were present at the round-table discussion.
Experts who spoke at the event also stressed the need for teacher orientation programmes so that educators can teach environmental aspects included in the school curriculum more engagingly and effectively.