GUWAHATI:
An Activity room was inaugurated at the 2nd Ek Prithvi Model School at Cotton Collegiate Govt HS School here on March 4.
Ek Prithvi is an empowering action-oriented environment education model of WWF-India where the whole school is motivated to explore, understand and apply the principles of sustainability in their school ecosystem. The programme focuses on building conservation leadership among students by enhancing knowledge, skills and action competence to adopt pro-conservation attitudes and sustainable lifestyle choices.
“There will be a teacher to coordinate The school. They have given us one Coordinating teacher to run,” said an official of Assam state office of WWF-India.
“The WWF will provide posters and banners related to environmental education. Binoculars will also be installed and there will be a library for students, where students can come and learn, will also arrange an eco-trail and all to get the students a step closer to nature,” the official said.
The inauguration was followed by an orientation programme for teachers/educators as the first step for this school in association with WWF-India.
With a focus on building environmental awareness and knowledge, developing the requisite capacity & skills and enabling action for conservation, WWF-India launched its whole school programme – Ek Prithvi, in 2016.
The programme reached all districts of Assam with support from Samagra Shiksha. Assam (SSA).
Ek Prithvi Assam programme with 10 schools in Morigaon district started in 2019 in partnership with SCERT (State Council for Educational Research and Training).
WWF-India’s Assam 1st Ek Prithvi Model School is at Lokapriya GNB Secondary School at Pobitora, Morigaon where the activity room was set up in February 2022.
The activity room was inaugurated by Amir Hussain, deputy director of elementary education in the presence of state coordinator, WWF-India Assam State Office, Archita Baruah Bhattacharyya, Balay Kr Borah, principal, Cotton Collegiate Govt HS School, Tapashi Sarma, district programme officer, (TT&P), SSA, Kamrup Metro and Kakumani Hazarika, DPO special trainee and Prof Ranjit Chowdhury, senior advisor, WWF Assam.
The launch was followed by the lighting of the lamp along with Guru Bandana and Ek Prithvi Anthem.
The activity room was briefed on its importance aiming towards sustainable development followed by the environmental floor games.
The inauguration ceremony was followed by teacher orientation where the teachers participated along with the principals of the schools.
In her welcome address, Archita Baruah Bhattacharyya explained various works done by WWF India with glimpses of Ek Prithvi Assam.
In his inaugural address, Amir Hussain appreciated the initiative of WWF-India towards the goal of sustainability and expressed his hope that the activity room will positively impact the students’ as well as the teacher’s life.