ECO CLUB WORKSHOP CONDUCTED AT ST. JOSEPH’S SR. SEC. SCHOOL ON THE THEME “SWACHH CHANDIGARH – GREEN CHANDIGARH”
“Cleanliness is always defined to be the emblem of purity of mind.”
An Eco club workshop was organised at St. Joseph’s Sr. Sec. School, Sector 44 D, Chandigarh, in collaboration with the Department Of Environment, Chandigarh and Yuvsatta following all COVID protocols. The theme of the workshop was “Swachh Chandigarh – Green Chandigarh”. Eco club incharges from over fifty schools of the city participated in this endeavour.
Dr. Abdul Qayum, DFC, Department of Forests & Wildlife graced the occasion as the chief guest along with Dr. Amrit Pal Singh, MOH, Municipal Corporation as the Guest of Honour , Mr Pramod Sharma , President Yuvsatta ,Mr. Kulbhushan Kanwar, environmentalist, and Ms. Monica Chawla, Principal, St. Joseph’s Sec School.
In his speech, Dr. Abdul Qayum said that the goal of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan is to improve the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) curriculum and teaching methods while promoting hygiene practices and community ownership of water and sanitation facilities within schools.
Dr. Amrit Pal Singh, MOH, stressed on participation of Eco Clubs in school by promoting waste management through inculcating the habits of waste reduction, recycle, segregation and composting among young ones.
Ms. Monica Chawla, principal St. Joseph’s Sr. Sec. School, suggested many easy to do activities and programmes which can be organised at school level to imbibe the values of green living among young students. She added that as children spend a significant amount of time in school, it’s not surprising that the school environment plays a large role in determining whether they stay healthy and continue to learn or not. She emphasised on the need to introduce the concept of cleanliness, sanitation and being eco – friendly citizens. She highlighted the concept of ‘ Buyerarchy’ i.e the need to reuse, recycle in order to reduce our carbon footprints by buying less. Also she informed about the ECO Bricks which have been introduced by the school cabinet members wherein every student will contribute in the making of these. Another unique idea that is being implemented at St. Joseph’s is that of ‘Green Dollars’ according to which, Josephians would earn them for every good Green Deed. She also mentioned that the school has been awarded WIPRO Award for acquiring the 1st Position in Chandigarh and emerged as 1st runner up by the GRIHA Council for Exemplary Performance at the 12th GRIHA Summit, New Delhi.
During the workshop teachers discussed the best practices organized by their Eco Clubs under Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan and how this can be replicated and scaled up further.Presentation regarding their best practices was given by five schools on the work done by them under the Eco Club. Games were conducted for the participants which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. The Chief guests were presented mementos and all the participants were gifted complimentary masks, sanitisers and green plants. The participants received tiaras, Eco savior sashes, badges and book marks made of eco friendly materials crafted by the host school.
The workshop concluded with a session on “Easy to do composting methods by Ms. Smidha Bansal of Green Karma and a street play “Be the Change” by young students of St. Joseph’s Sr. Sec. School. It was a very fruitful session which drove home the fact that it is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the world we live in.
