THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a first-of-its-kind climate education initiative, Kerala is turning schools vulnerable to climate change into knowledge hubs and students into ‘weather warriors’. Nearly 15,000 higher secondary students are being trained to scientifically assess climate risks surrounding their own schools using GIS tools, weather data and disaster maps.
Supported by Unicef and jointly implemented by Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) and Institute for Climate Change Studies (ICCS), the programme aims to make schools not just safer, but smarter in the face of floods, landslides, drought and rising heat.
Kerala’s repeated exposure to floods, landslides, drought and rising heat has highlighted how vulnerable many schools are — especially those located in flood plains, fragile slopes and heat-stressed regions. Rather than viewing these schools as disaster prone, the programme treats them as centres of preparedness, scientific learning, and community resilience.
The Kerala Climate Connect: Building Climate-Resilient and Risk-Informed Schools initiative enables students to assess the climate risks around their own campuses and prepare evidence-based preparedness plans using scientific tools.
Nearly 15,000 students from over 246 schools are expected to participate. The project builds on the success of the Kerala School Weather Station (KSWS) network established in 246 higher secondary schools, where students already record daily weather parameters. The new phase takes this further by introducing risk-informed school mapping (RISM), where teachers and students use QGIS software, satellite imagery, IMD rainfall data, and Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) hazard maps to calculate flood, landslide, drought and heat stress hazard indices for their schools.
“We have introduced the concept of the school functional catchment (SFC). Instead of limiting assessment to the school compound, students map the surrounding area whose disruption could affect school functioning-approach roads, bridges, drainage channels, transformers, water sources, nearby settlements and health facilities. This allows them to understand how climate events outside the campus can still cripple schooling,” said Suresh Kumar S, core team member of the KSWS initiative.
The project is being implemented in three phases, involving software-based hazard mapping, field-level exposure and vulnerability assessment by students, and preparation of a final risk-informed school map and report.
“Last month, geography teachers from all 14 districts underwent intensive state and district-level hands-on training in GIS mapping, hazard-index calculation and weather data interpretation. These teachers now act as master trainers guiding students in their respective schools,” said K Rajendran, director of ICCS, which functions under the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.
Unicef has granted Rs 18 lakh for the project. “We are also planning to upgrade and make the existing weather infrastructure automated so that the students can compare the data collected manually with the automated readings,” he said.
Besides this, authorities are planning to organise a National Students Climate Conclave in June. “We will be inviting proposals from Plus One students from government and aided schools. As many as 100 proposals will be shortlisted and presented at the conclave and selected teams will receive financial assistance,” SSK state programme officer Shaji B said.