Mumbai: Nature workshops to help teachers learn green lessons

From July, around 8,000 schoolteachers will take part in workshops organised by the Maharashtra Nature Park, Dharavi, to learn more about environmental problems such as climate change and global warming, which will further be inducted to their students.

From July, around 8,000 schoolteachers will take part in workshops organised by the Maharashtra Nature Park, Dharavi, to learn more about environmental problems such as climate change and global warming, which will further be inducted to their students.

The-first-workshop-will-take-place-on-July-15-with-an-agenda-relating-to-ecological-issues-in-Mumbai-such-as-garbage-disposal-waste-water-traffic-congestion-and-air-pollution-Photo-YEP

The first workshop will take place on July 15 with an agenda relating to ecological issues in Mumbai such as garbage disposal, waste water, traffic congestion and air pollution. The workshops will be conducted in four different languages – English, Hindi, Marathi and Tamil.

Avinash Kubal, deputy director, Maharashtra Nature Park Society, said, “Our aim is to create a change in the lifestyle and thinking process of Mumbaiites by reaching out to young students through their teachers.”

Kubal said the focus would be on students from 12 to 16 years. “Teenagers have the power to grasp new ideas easily. Our focus is to make the young generation aware about the importance of the environment,” he said.

The Maharashtra Nature Park plans to complete the workshops over a span of three years, wherein teachers from roughly 3,400 private, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and trust schools will take part.

Teachers were of the opinion that even though environmental sciences is part of the school syllabus, it is not taken seriously. Nandini Deshmukh, former head of department, zoology, Kirti College, Dadar, said, “Environment studies is becoming an optional subject in schools. Students as well as teachers should inculcate environmental thinking and behaviour as a part of their personality. If at a very young age, students are introduced to this kind of a thought process, a change will take place in the entire community."