Earth Hour is education dept's new mantra

Practicals work much more effectively than theory and the education department is going by this rule, specially when it comes to teaching students about environment conservation.

Taking the route of practicals over theory, the education department is planning to instruct all principals of all aided schools in the district to teach students the concept of ‘Earth Hour’ and ask them to observe it between 7 pm and 8 pm on the 15th of every month.

Speaking to dna, a senior official of the education department said that during that one hour, people must try to observe ‘zero power usage’ by switching off the lights and appliances running on electricity unless keeping them on was extremely necessary.
Asked about the development, deputy director of education Suman Shinde said that such a proposal is being mulled.

“Yes it is being considered under the Best Practices initiatives that we undertake, but I am yet to present the formal proposal to my seniors. When we teach students about environment conservation, somehow I feel that the message is not being implemented in practical life. So we thought of taking up power saving as one of our core initiatives where we ask students, principals and teachers to save power for one hour on a fixed day every month,” she said.

But why an evening hour? It is because the electricity usage is maximum during this hour. Also if students do this in their homes, the message goes not just to them but their families as well.