Delhi’s Directorate of Education(DOE) has asked all the schools in Delhi to start giving all the teachers and the students mandatory classes on air pollution and how we can curb it. Under the government’s Champions for Climate Action School Program, non-profit organizations like My Right to Breathe(MRTB) and Help Delhi Breathe (HDB) have come together to design proper course content for these classes.
Ever since Diwali, the complete National-Capital Region (NCR) has a tremendously low-quality air. The Air-Quality index jumped above 500 on 28th October. Delhi government has declared health emergency is all the schools till November 5.
More than 80 people die every day of air pollution
Delhi is known to have one of the poorest quality of air across the whole world. According to a 2018 study, more than 80 people die daily in Delhi just due to the poor quality of air.
DoE has specifically asked MRTB and HDB to make and organize training sessions for every school across Delhi. The aim of the program is to increase awareness about the air pollution problem in Delhi and across the world and how can we act on it.
Program organized by MRTB and HDB
The course would include some very basic concepts like the causes of air pollution, how it gets monitored, how it leads to severe breathing problems and how can we act on it to improve the air quality.
Some of the teachers have already attended some classes of the program organized by MRTB and HDB and recommend that these are types of lessons are something that students really want to learn. They can see this problem around them every day and it is a massive step by the DoE to create new leaders and advocates in the battle against climate change.
Schools have been carrying out their private sessions in the past under the government’s advice but this is the first time the government has mandated compulsory lessons across whole Delhi.
The MRTB and HDB have been working with India’s leading educationists and climate activists across the world to develop the content for students such that they remain interested in learning more about the climate change problem in the world.
