Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd, believes the educational system in the country needs to be completely retooled.
“If a balance is to be achieved, then it is fundamental to our education system that there is more focus on urban schools,” Premji told students on Saturday during the first edition of the company’s Earthian Awards 2011-12. “There is need for a reorientation and the way we measure educational standards should be more competent in nature.”
Students from schools and colleges across the country had sent in papers on key challenges or themes related to sustainability, such as climate change, sustainable cities and water management. From over 1,700 applications, the best five papers from each category were recognized by the Wipro Foundation.
Premji said the Earthian programme itself was a means of including environmental issues in the curriculum. “The objective of Earthian is to have environmental studies incorporated into school curriculum,” he said.
“While some urban schools have it already, it should reach out to government schools.” Anurag Behar, chief sustainability officer, Wipro Ltd, said it was important to sensitize students to environmental issues since they would be the policymakers in the future. “Sustainability and its challenges are too critical and must involve tomorrow’s citizens,” he said.
“Today’s students will have to lead the long-overdue transformation of our planet and society to one that is more ecologically and socially sustainable.”
The winning schools included Prakriya Green Wisdom School, Bangalore; Rishi Valley School, Andhra Pradesh; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Delhi; Anubhuti School, Maharashtra; and Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, Bangalore.
The winning colleges included the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and various IITs and IIMs.
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