Friday, October 20, 2017

Education and the Green Diwali


I write this article as a tribute to all teachers and school students of Bangalore. They have achieved what is very difficult for society. During this Diwali (2017) in Bangalore, there was a palpable moderation in the use of fire crackers, particularly in areas where children go to good schools. Moderation of air and noise pollution in our building made me proud. We heard that this was due to preferences shown by school students. I should also thank students living in the neighbouring building with whom we share a common space. My comment is limited to my experience in Bangalore; for a wider view comparing different metros, visit http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/air-quality-nosedives-in-spite-of-a-quieter-deepavali/article19884183.ece?utm_source=email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
There are valuable messages that children can give to parents at appropriate moments on a variety of topics. These include child marriages, violence against women at home, corruption, bullying domestic servants, risk of traveling without helmets, need for annual check-up of BP after a certain age, preventing mosquito breeding in the vicinity, and caring for cleanliness of the environment in general. Creation of social awareness is a major objective of education. Teachers who take a lead in this direction should go beyond their responsibilities at their own schools and use the media to spread awareness in a larger circle.

Some schools go far in this direction. We heard a ‘lecture’ on air pollution the other day from an eight-year old! I learnt that catalytic converters combine oxygen with carbon monoxide and unburnt petrol to produce less harmful carbon dioxide! I do not know how many of our netas have heard about this!

Srinivasan Ramani