THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To foster the importance of sustainable waste management from a young age, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in Kerala has revised textbooks for Classes 3, 5, 7 and 9 by including content on the significance of scientific and sustainable waste management practices. The textbooks featuring these lessons are Jeevasasthram for Class 9, Hindi Patavali for Class 7, Adisthana Sasthram for Class 5, and the Malayalam textbook and Parisara Patanam for Class 3.
Suchitwa Mission Executive Director U V Jose emphasised that incorporating waste management topics in school textbooks is a significant step towards addressing a major societal challenge. The educational intervention aims to help students understand the issues involved and to shape them into responsible future citizens, he said. The decision to include these lessons was taken following discussions involving officials from the Kerala Suchitwa Mission, Haritha Kerala Mission, Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam Campaign Secretariat and the Directorate of General Education.
The lessons are designed to be easily comprehensible, with descriptions, tables, poems, illustrations, and assignments to provide clear insights into waste management issues and solutions.