Recently the activism of a Swedish environmental activist came to the fore. Greta Thunberg all of 15 focused on the risks posed by global warming. She had started off with the idea of The school strike for the climate also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate and Youth Strike 4 Climate. It has now evolved into an international movement of school students who take time off from class to participate in demonstrations to demand action to prevent further global warming and climate change. All this publicity and widespread organising began after she staged a protest in August 2018 outside the Swedish parliamentholding a sign that read School strike for the climate.
On Friday there was a well-attended school strike in Guerim with school children from various schools attending. They held up placards berating institutions and the government for their shortcoming in protecting the environment and more importantly in adding to it. This it is now expected to be a weekly affair and will be held in various parts of Goa and in the country. Now this begs the obvious question, is there or will there be a Goan Greta Thunberg who will drive this initiative forward. It was a question that made people think and ponder.
Claude Alvares, environmentalist was in Bengaluru when he answered the call for his response. Claude said “Most of the youth don’t seem concerned about the environment. The youth in Goa are stuck in schools and colleges which do not encourage an interest in life in the real world. It is all about exams and grades. There is pressure from the system and from their parents who are also living out their aspirations through their children. The school curriculum is all about memorizing and appearing for exams. The pressure on the youth is tremendous”. He went on to say that it was not unique to India with the situation very similar in England and other countries. The initiative by the young Swedish girl he said was great but he was not clued into her story completely and hence did not want to make any comments. Speaking specifically about Goa, he said there was no scope for environmental activism. Now, he said the students had an extra subject to learn on environment which left the feeling irritated. The environment, Claude said cannot be taught from textbooks and in class but out in the fields, the lakes, the mountains etc. The schooling system he said did not encourage students to go out of the class to learn. The classes he said were utterly sterile places without any plants or any greenery. He ended by saying in this system the only people who seemed to be happy were the parents when they children did well, marks wise and that was it. A Greta Thunberg out of Goa he said was not really possible but he was willing to be surprised. He said it was possible to take a smart Goan kid and train them to talk in such situations. But that was that. On the other hand,Rajendra kerkareminent environmentalist said the youth was very concerned and they were certainly taking part in initiatives to protect the environment. He said ‘The Vivekananda Environment Awareness Brigade was going around the state and organising street plays, mobile exhibitions to name two such initiatives. They had earlier gone around the state planting jamun tress wherever they were invited. This helps reduce carbon emissions. The fruit having plums have medical use to. It received great publicity and there was I know for a fact great enthusiasm in the schools for such initiatives. Give it time there will be a Goan heroine who will push these concerns.”
Another group that is very aware of the developments on the ground are Eco Champions for Goa. They were involved in the school strike at Guerim. Mohan Kumar smiled when he was asked this question. He said “There were several young motivated and committed young students at the strike yesterday. The turnout was very good and now there are several movements in Goa to protect the environment. What happened in Guerim was great. More students and schools should be encouraged to come. Some schools I am aware are already educating their students about the problems. These strikes now will happen every Friday. We will see students increasing their roles possibly and some may be even keen on taking it as a lifelong battle. Greta Thunberg is there in Goa, give it time”.
