PANJIM: Even before ‘waste management’ can be included in the school curriculum, students have become the game changers in garbage management in the State. Very soon ‘zero waste’ is likely to be part of school curriculum, but already almost 17 tonnes of dry trash, segregated by students, is collected from 403 high schools every month.
Waste management has become part of a student’s daily school duty, mainly due to the initiative of Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC). The figure available from the corporation indicates that, with an exception of holidays, approximately 17 tonnes of dry waste are collected from the schools, which otherwise would have been left scattered around.
The efforts will be amplified from the coming academic year with the corporation recommending to Goa Education Development Corporation (GEDC) to include ‘zero waste’ as compulsory in the Environment Science subject for school students.
GWMC Managing Director Sanjith Rodrigues said the concept of four bins has been introduced in all schools, educating the students to segregate waste before dumping in the bins.
There are separate bins for glass and metal, paper and card board, non-recyclable waste and plastic in schools. Rodrigues said students are enthusiastic to follow the norm and they make sure that the garbage goes in the right bin. The bins are then collected by the corporation.
The initiative, which had started in July 2017, had just 0.5 tonnes of waste collected from schools when it began. Data available with the corporation reveals that within two months the garbage collection skyrocketed and touched 17 tonnes, except when schools are closed for Diwali and Christmas vacations.
Rodrigues said that in each school, one nodal teacher is appointed to oversee the implementation of waste collection. The corporation has been constantly engaged with students and teachers creating awareness.
The corporation has also submitted a draft of the ‘Zero Waste Goa’ programme to Goa Educational Development Corporation which can be included in the academic curriculum.
The curriculum extends to all classes in the school and also to the BEd training. “It is always needed that we train the teachers first. So this curriculum can also be introduced in the BEd course,” Rodrigues said.
