HYDERABAD: The lessons of National Green Corps (NGC), a successful initiative by the Union ministry of environment and forest (MOEF) and Climate Change are set to be part of the school syllabus in Telangana from the next academic year.
“Unlike the previous system which had a separate book on environmental studies, the new pattern will include lessons within the syllabus so that it makes learning of environmental science much easier for students,” said WG Prasanna Kumar, state director of NGC, Telangana.
The NGC was introduced by MOEF in 2001 to raise awareness among children of environment and climate change. Under the programme, experts in environmental science from various government bodies and NGOs conduct training sessions for teachers from a few selected schools and the lessons will be taught at school by the trained teachers. This will be in addition to the main curriculum.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) of Telangana has decided to include lesson on environment in the school syllabus this year. The NGC has welcomed the move and provided inputs for the new syllabus. “There is a proposal to do the same for the Intermediate syllabus as well,” said Prasanna Kumar, who was also on the committee for changes in school syllabus of Telangana.
The success of NGC programme in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh has given rise to the demand for its extension to more schools. Currently, only 250 schools in every district have NGC programme. NGC officials feel that there is a need to make some changes to the programme in order to make it more efficient. But only the MOEF can make the changes in the programme.
As part of the programme, the NGC also conducts several competitions like essay- writing, drawing and colloquium on environment-related topics to raise awareness among the children. However, the budget of prize money for each school is only Rs 2,500 a year. NGC officials are now thinking of conducting a single competition for entire district and increase the prize money so that it will leave some impact on students and draws their attention.