Enough has been said about the environment and all in the right spirit but active engagements is what the youth needs today. On the occasion of World Environment Day 2014, students from two schools in Guwahati took charge to observe the day themselves and in turn engaging their peers in meaningful activities.
The two programmes were organized at Amronga Borihat H.S School, near Mirza (Kamrup) and Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti school, Guwahati. In this, Eco Concept, a Guwahati based non-governmental organization working on Environmental Education acted as the mentor and guide, supported by Public Health and Engineering Department, Guwahati.
The students from the two schools- both from different setups, showed sincere dedication towards the environment, understanding it and taking steps to ensure its protection.
In Amronga Borihat school, the celebrations began with a procession from the school upto the Borihat bazar. Around 1000 students of the school took the walk holding placards and shouting slogans on safeguarding the environment. 10 students from the school then took responsibility for organizing extempore speech, drawing and ‘best out of scrap’ competitions. From the selection of topics in the extempore speech contest or judging the performances- all of it was managed by this group of senior students, themselves. Topics at the extempore speech contest ranged from water conservation, impact of chemical agriculture, to rivers, pollution, acid rain, natural disasters and so on to induce peer-to-peer learning in an exciting way. The best-out-of-scrap contest was designed to help students think out- of-the-box and create something out of the waste in their own campus.
Extempore speech contest at Amronga Borihat H.S schoo
“This was the first time, we got a chance to organize something on our own and it was a totally enriching experience as it helped us learn so much about ourselves”, said Simanta Kalita, one of the senior students of the school. The students are now geared up to start an eco club in the school so that environment protection or care is not limited to just one day but is a sustained effort.
On the other hand, students at the Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti school held a photo exhibition and a street play contest- both themed on environment. After this, the students planted over 50 saplings around their campus and plan to continue this effort all the year round. The support for saplings was provided by the District Administration. Speaking about this idea of youth taking the charge themselves, a teacher from Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti, Julie Baruah said, “The children today are aware of the facts and are sensitized enough it create a clean and healthy environment for the future. Let us all raise our voice and help in handing over a safer and cleaner world to them.”
“We are trying to create spaces for these young energies to come and express their concerns, ideas and care for the environment through creative, non-formal ways. This is to help knowledge translate to experience and experience to connection. Action follows connection,” said Nilutpal Das, President of Eco Concept.
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