Thiruvananthapuram, June 19 (Representative) Seeking to inculcate the importance of sustainable waste management practice in young minds, lessons on the subject have been included in the textbooks prepared by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) for schools in Kerala. The revised textbooks for standards 9, 7, 5, and 3 for this year onward feature contents relating to the significance of scientific and sustainable waste management practices as a pioneering initiative to enhance awareness and bring about an attitudinal change. The inclusion of this vital subject in the syllabus was the result of discussions held by the Kerala Suchitwa Mission, Haritha Kerala Mission, and Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam Campaign Secretariat with the Director of General Education.
The lessons on the subject figure in the textbooks Jeevasasthram for the 9th standard, Hindi Patavali for 7th standard, Adisthana Sasthram for 5th standard, Malayalam textbook, and Parisara Patanam for the 3rd standard. “The inclusion of waste management and related topics in school textbooks is a major intervention aimed at bringing about an attitudinal change on a major challenge faced by society. This will greatly help young ones to have a proper understanding of the issues involved and the formation of their character as responsible citizens of the future,” said UV Jose, Executive Director, Suchitwa Mission. The sections on the subject have easy-to-grab descriptions, tables, poems, illustrations, and assignments for students, giving them a clear awareness of the issues involved and how they could help improve the situation around them. The lessons also use the medium of writing letters to a friend.
A section headlined “My school, clean school’ tells the students how they can ensure the cleanliness of their school, assess the standard of cleanliness, the basic yardsticks of cleanliness, and the ill-effects of throwing waste around indiscriminately. They also inform the students about various stages and processes of waste management, such as collection at source, use of different types of waste bins, turning food waste into compost, and the pollution caused by burning plastic materials. The lessons underscore the importance of keeping one’s surroundings clean and waste-free to maintain environmental sustainability and ensure community health.