CHENNAI : In a bid to sensitise and educate students on Solid Waste Management, the city corporation has launched a new syllabus called ‘Trashonomics’, which will roll out from January 1. Initially, this will be implemented in 50 corporation schools for students of class 7 and 8 and will later be expanded to all 281 schools across the city.
Alby John Varghese, Deputy Commissioner of Education, City Corporation, told Express that the curriculum will give a brief idea on solid waste management, composting biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. “Essentially, we want to give children an idea on how to sustain waste and types of garbage generated. They need to know ‘our waste is our responsibility’,’’ he said.
He added citizen volunteers will be roped in to teach the syllabus. “For practical learning, we will set up 50 composting pits, one for each school,’’ he added. Kavitha Selvaraj of CityWorks, which translated the book ‘Trashonomics’ to Tamil, said the book has five chapters titled problem, solution, organic waste, recyclable waste and reduce waste.
“Each chapter teaches a different value. The children will learn about kinds of waste material, energy consumption, and be thoughtful about waste management,’’ said Kavitha. As per the module, the children will have one class per week and the five chapters will be covered in four sessions. As a pilot project, CityWorks experimented with the syllabus in three corporation schools in Zone 9 (Teynampet). Principals of the schools said the curriculum received good response.
‘’When we tell them just verbally, they don’t listen. So with the use of composting bins, we make them source segregate daily. Now, it has become a part of routine,’’ said Dhanammal, headmistress of a Corporation high school near Mandaveli railway station.
The HM said that during PTA meetings, even parents were briefed about this to practise. “Interestingly, parents said that they learnt source segregation from their children. The classes have been very successful and we will continue this in a full-fledged manner in the future,’’ she said. Corporation officials said all Assistant Education Officers have been briefed about the new syllabus and they will further ensure successful implementation.