Building energy efficiency awareness in schools through curriculum interventions and sensitization programmes

In an attempt to sensitise the young minds, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Ministry of Power has set the ball rolling in the form of an innovative programme addressing the need for awareness on energy conservation within the school network through formal and non- formal approaches. This included a series of sensitization programmes and an attempt to develop draft recommendations on a national curriculum on energy conservation for classes 6 - 9 in schools across the country.
In the current phase of this pilot programme 30 schools in Delhi are being selected as the target group. The project is being implemented by TERI, who has a successful track record of spreading the message of environment conservation among school children. As part of the sensitization activities, TERI has already held debate, essay competition and poster making among the school children with topics related to energy conservation.
The draft recommendation of the syllabus to be given to BEE will be prepared in consultation with an expert panel, which is slated to meet sometime next month. To ensure that the content of the syllabus is all encompassing, experts have been drawn from various educational institutions, working in the field of education and energy and is expected to be ready by June next year. Drawing from its research resource, TERI will also focus on developing supplementary resource material including brochures, posters, stickers, lesson plans, on various issues related to energy.
The recently concluded inter school competitions such as the energy debate, poster making and essay writing competition proved to be excellent channels to sieve the inherent talent and knowledge of the children on issues related to energy. They were a major success both in terms of participation and feedback. More such events will be organized in the coming year. Training workshops for teachers are also being organized under the project. Questionairres and survey forms are also being filled from time to time to access the knowledge base of the participants.