Mumbai schools participate in Climate Action Project, introduce related curriculum

Several schools in the city will participate in Climate Action Project, an international initiative that aims to create awareness about climate change and environmental

Several schools in the city will participate in Climate Action Project, an international initiative that aims to create awareness about climate change and environmental threats amongst school children.

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Through the project, schools will teach a six-week curriculum on climate change in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations (UN). A total of 107 countries are a part of the initiative.

City-based schools like Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School (CNMS) in Vile Parle, Sanjivani International School in Navi Mumbai and Navy Children’s School, Colaba are participating in the project.

“Climate change is real and it’s high time we start talking about it at the school level. Through this initiative, we want students to participate in the crusade against climate change,” said Kavita Sanghvi, principal, CNMS and climate action ambassador with the project. Schools will start teaching the curriculum from this month, and will gradually introduce different themes and concepts related to climate change and environmental hazards.

As part of the six-week programme, schools will not only include climate change and climate action as part of their everyday teaching but will also encourage students to take up several activities like environmental awareness drives, tree plantation programmes, etc.

“We have started the programme at our school and to begin with, geography teachers have been entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the curriculum. Just last week, we had a conversation with students about Greta Thunberg and showed them one of her talks to encourage them to talk about climate action,” said Vandana Saxena, principal, Sanjivani International School.

Sanghvi said more schools in the city are likely to join the campaign in the coming days. “We have sent out an appeal to several schools and have also written to the state education department in this regard. We hope that more schools participate for the good cause,” she added.