Euro-India
Eco-Parks
Background of an idea whose time
has come
update
page |
|
Perspective
of St. Peter's School, Panchgani "We are located in a cloud forest approximately 4,200 ft above sea level. The area between our school town, Panchgani, and our neighbouring twin hill resort, Mahableshwar, has been notified by the State Government as a Sensitive Eco Zone. We are perched on the Sahyadri mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. The UN has declared this area as one of the 18 bio-diversity hotspots on the planet. We live in an age of accelerated technological change. Heightened levels of pollution poison our air, land and water with carcinogenic and other gene mutating active chemical radicals. We face increasing natural & man-made disasters - global warming with accompanying cataclysmic climate changes, acid rain, ozone depletion, deforestation & desertification, exponential extinction of bio-diversity & a population explosion. These are some of the challenges our youth will face in the 21st century. Ecological intelligence is perhaps as important for the development of our students as emotional intelligence & academics. As educators, we risk ignoring the signs of the time. India's population has crossed one billion - 70% being in rural areas. Ignoring the impact of 700 million people on our fragile environment perhaps begins with not equipping our students with ecological & social awareness. The ICSE Board has already taken cognizance of a Supreme Court Directive regarding Environmental Education, and from 2007, Environmental Studies will be a mandatory subject in the curriculum. After serious deliberation, The Board of Trustees of St. Peter's have decided to move beyond the limits of the classroom and academia. They have chosen to give our students a residential experience in ecological living - a core foundation to build theoretical constructs for the prescribed Environmental Studies Curriculum, where 20% of evaluation has been reserved for practical fieldwork. We are in the process of transforming our pedagogy – essentially, learning from living, with time bound deadlines for (web) documenting and sharing our learning experiences. Our Eco Camps are a beginning..." We were honoured when Helena Law, a teacher from Finland - the world leader in the PISA ratings - decided to study our school system and networked us with European educators / teacher entrepreneurs with a proven track record with the European Commission - and so our pilot project was birthed... European
Educators' Perspective |
