Teaching Sustainability In Schools

Over the last six months, I have written several columns, for this hugely influential magazine, on the overarching theme of ‘sustainability’. Under this broad framework, I have discussed climate change, water scarcity, waste management, deforestation, air pollution, urban flooding, the challenge of plastics, the responsibility of factories and food security. I plan to continue on the theme for several forthcoming issues to discuss other major contributors but, for now, I want to pause and look at the importance of ‘teaching sustainability’.

Again, within teaching, my focus is ‘teaching school children’. At a later date, I will share my thoughts about ‘teaching in institutes of higher learning’ as well as the role and responsibility of organisations like the All India Management Association (AIMA), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Challenges posed by climate change, hugely impacted by our obsessive consumption patterns, are immense. Even the UN has proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 and many countries, including India, have made pledges in varying degrees of reduction in emissions.

There are many dimensions to the issue – the need of developing countries to continue development projects, tenuous debate on ‘per capita v/s total emissions of a country and international confabulations will continue for a long time. Investments required for meeting the challenges – to quote a statement by the new World Bank president Ajay Banga on 3 June, his first day in office – “is in trillions of dollars”!

In addition to excellent campaigns through the print and electronic/visual media, there is an urgent need to sensitise our school children and their teachers. We have seen in the past that any social messages understood and accepted by small, more impressionable children have paid handsome dividends. Whether it was the Diwali crackers or plastic bags, sound pollution, water conservation… children have played a key role.

Towards this goal, The Climate Project Foundation (TCPF) – an independent India Chapter of the Climate Reality movement started by former US Vice President Al Gore – has been doing commendable work. Whereas their community outreach includes various aspects, their flagship Green Campus Programme (GCP) deserves special mention and serious scaling up by way of strategic partnerships. The Green Campus Programme aims to motivate the schools to re-evaluate and reformulate the environmental norms and practices at their campus to create a healthier and more sustainable environment for the students, teachers and staff.

The underlying idea is to reduce the carbon footprint of the school. This programme also drives students to use natural resources in a responsible manner and practice effective methods so that these become a way of life for them. It encourages them to get the school certified under the ‘green school rating system’ of the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). They have already done a lot of work in the National Capital Region (NCR), Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and also made beginnings in some other states, but there is a need to make footfalls in many more states and Union Territories (UTs). Unfortunately, severe constraints on funds – and consequently trained manpower – prevent them from a major expansion. Let me mention here the main activities under GCP and its objectives. 

The magnitude of the task is mind-boggling. India has nearly 15 lakh schools, out of which over 12 lakhs are in rural areas and 2.5 lakh in urban areas. In addition to the inputs of the TCPF, each school has to spend Rs 4-5 lakh for acquiring the solar panels and rainwater harvesting set-up. Most schools just don’t have the wherewithal to spend that much. Unless the government(s) decide to give a grant, the programme can’t really scale up and will remain limited to the top private schools and maybe some Kendriya Vidyalayas.

The green campus programme essentially consists of three parts. The first is creating an infrastructure with low carbon emissions and resource efficiency. This is with solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, scientific waste management and green spaces. This helps provide the support required to impart sustainability education. The second step is using the green infrastructure to impart awareness and training to the students and staff. This is done with the help of exercises specially developed to help students interact with the green infrastructure.

Finally comes the stage of making the community around interact with the green infrastructure. This happens during the parent-teacher meetings and when fairs and programmes are arranged by the school and people come to visit. During these visits, they have the opportunity to see solar installations, rainwater harvesting and waste composting.

Under the GCP, TCPF has also held a number of drives against pollution created by plastics, burning of leaves and the annual issue of agricultural residue that has sadly become more of political wrangling between state governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, rather than anyone doing anything significant to understand the matter and find a permanent solution. They also encourage conservation activities like use of cloth bags, tree planting during the monsoon season and water conservation.

An important aspect in all their activities is the ‘motivation and leadership’ provided by school principals and teachers. These ladies and gentlemen of course, participate in the classes for students but, in addition, TCPF organises standalone ‘principal’s conclaves’ and ‘teachers training programmes’. To make their work easy, detailed worksheets are distributed and methodology is explained for organising various programmes. Workbooks, posters and other digital media support is also provided to keep up the momentum.

The foundation staff and the country director – a highly experienced environmentalist – maintain a regular tempo of activities and programmes which help teachers and students of the schools engage with the external ecosystem, which may consist of information about and visits to other schools in the country. Organising programmes like Youth for Earth and other competitions periodically helps the students show off their skills and achievements. All this encourages a spirit of healthy competition and teams often come up with innovative ideas which may be beneficial in the coming times. The TCPF is now exploring possibilities of taking the ‘green campus programme’ to colleges and universities. Despite their limitations, such efforts would at least ‘seed the programme’ and hopefully institutions themselves will be motivated to find the resources and spread the message.

What I am happy about is the hugely improved level of understanding the problem and admission that ‘human activity’ has added in a big way to the rapid advance of climate change and also that ‘human activity’ can help a lot in ameliorating the situation. I can never forget an incident around 10 years ago when I was to make my one-hour ‘climate change presentation’ during the convocation ceremony of a Business School in Delhi. While the auditorium was being set up for the big day, the director of the school – an MBA and with two PhDs – invited me to his office for a cup of tea. I was speechless when this highly educated gentleman, responsible for overseeing post-graduate education of 300 kids – suddenly posed a question “Mr Kalra, we appreciate your coming today and addressing the students but what is the big deal if the earth’s temperature actually goes up by two degrees C?”. Thankfully, today everyone is aware of the peril we are hurtling towards.