MESA (Make Earth Smile Again), an initiative that focuses on making education more eco-friendly, launched its ‘My Green School’ project at the Sethu Bhaskara Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ambattur, on March 15. This is MESA’s second green school in India after Sacred Heart Matriculation HSS, Chennai.
MESA is a social enterprise working towards environment management in India by creating awareness about conservation techniques and eco-friendly practices that can be adopted in schools and colleges. The main objective is to make students understand their responsibilities towards the environment and guide them to use the ideas in a classroom setup in the best possible way.
M Vijayakumar, IAS, member secretary, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), was the chief guest. He inaugurated an eco-lab on the school premises on the occasion. An eco-lab, another brainchild of MESA, is similar to the science labs in schools. The concept enables students to learn the aspects of the environment in a practical and fun-filled way.
The eco-lab includes the infrastructure necessary for sessions ranging from gathering manure in compost pits and converting it into biogas to recycling waste paper.
M Vijayakumar said in his inaugural speech, “These eco-friendly initiatives need to be embraced in every school that promises children high quality education, as the future saviours of the environment toddle into kindergarten every year and they need to be empowered with practical knowledge.”
My Green School project in the school is being coordinated by Benjamin along with the MESA team, comprising its director K Abdul Ghani and organisers Rajesh and Jaya Krishna. The coordinators and organisers term the initiative the most fun way to connect with the environment and contribute towards conserving it for posterity.
The function was presided over by Sethu Kumanan, correspondent, Sethu Baskara M H SS and S P P Selva Kumar, principal, who felicitated the guest of honour.