Bihu, the State festival of Assam, and agro-biodiversity was analyzed and shown to them. Local specificity was also important for ensuring community participation. Sustainability and Replicability Sustainability requires internalization of the values of a programme. A large number of schools have already internalized the learnings of the programme and are now engaged in carrying out their own awareness drives. Schools such as Hindustani Kendriya Vidyalaya, Maharshi Vidya Mandir have conducted rallies on various environmental days including World Environment Day, Earth Day, Global Handwashing Day and World Wetlands Day to create public awareness. Some schools such as North Guwahati Girls’ High School have been able to influence local level decision making. They surveyed and measured the water leakage from all the public sources in the vicinity and pressured the local government authority to repair or replace all the leaking taps in the area. Dhemaji Girls’ High School, on the other hand, has established a seed bank of local agro-biodiversity and has prepared a dance drama video on environmental protection. The programme could be replicated elsewhere by a similar partnership adapted to local 94 THE ASIA REGIONAL FORUM ON BIODIVERSITY conditions. Ownership by the local government, sponsorship by the public or private sector, and engagement of civil society organizations should be explored to replicate the programme. Since SSA has partnered in this phase and has conducted teacher training programmes, it will broadly influence the overall agenda of teacher training in the future. The Government of Assam has initiated a mass teacher training programme of 5,000 teachers. ASTEC, CEE, DSE and RCE Guwahati have been involved in the initiative. The module of this training programme is by and large similar to the Paryavaran Mitra module. Future Plans Once the first phase of the programme is over, an intensive review of its activities, achievements and challenges will be conducted to draw up a future course of action. Already, all possible efforts are being made to mainstream the programme and create ownership at the government and local levels. Conduct of teacher training programmes will continue through the NGC network. Learnings at the current phase suggest that the trained teachers are better equipped to handle ESD issues both in curricular or co-curricular situations. FURTHER READINGS 1. National Green Corp New Document (http://moef.nic.in/divisions/ee/NGC_Bro.pdf ) 2. Paryavaran Mitra Website (http://paryavaranmitra.in) 3. Explore, Discover, Think, Act booklet (http://paryavaranmitra.in/PM_Book.pdf) 4. About Navodaya Vidyalaya (http://navodaya.nic.in/welcome%20sbs.htm) 5. NGC Case studies (http://paryavaranmitra.in/NGCcasestudy.html) 6. NGC programme in Assam (http://www.astec.gov.in/ngc/index.htm)
In Celebration of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 84th Birthday Anniversary
To see the actual publication please follow the link above