Celine Dias
Cleanliness is a state of purity, clarity, and precision. And the best time to inculcate the habit of cleanliness is when the students are young because once the bug gets into them, it sticks for life. This has been the firm belief at Government High School, Gaval Khola,Canacona.
The first initiative towards cleaner and greener surroundings was taken when Goa Waste Management Corporation decided to sponsor dustbins for the school We have separate bins for plastic waste, paper/reusable waste, and glass/leather/cloth waste. With the coming of the bins came the need for waste-segregation. The first lesson we learnt was that we need to collect the waste not scatter it.
Most of the waste at school came from remains of the midday meals, staff tiffins, and students’ eatables. The school bought the ‘wet composting bin’ which took care of the wet waste of the school. Euletario Carneiro, from Navelim was instrumental in guiding the teachers and the students how the composting bin works. Considerable amount of liquid manure collected here everyday is used as natural manure for the school’s fruit and vegetable garden.
The school now has a good harvest of vegetables and fruits like mashmelons, pumpkin, khola chillies, lady fingers, etc, nourished on pure organic manure. These fruits and vegetables are in turn bought by the staff at a nominal rate, thereby covering the expenses incurred for the garden’s maintenance.
The second lesson was that waste can be re-cycled and re-used.
Goa Waste Management Corporation implemented a scheme to collect plastic from the school every fortnight to make the institution plastic-free. We got the students organised and appointed a cleanliness monitor for each class from class V to class X. Each student was encouraged to get plastic waste from his/her home to the school on a fixed day. Students of class V brought plastic waste every Monday, class VI on Tuesday and so on . Cleanliness monitors maintained a record of waste-collection . At the end of the year the students who were consistent in collecting the plastic for the whole academic year were honoured.
This cleanliness drive, which started at the school as part of learning, is now spreading. Children are seen advising parents and elders not to litter. Some teachers too are inspired by the students to carry their own plastic from their respective homes.
The third take-home point from this exercise is that a small positive act can have a great impact on the society.The urge to have a clean school has now become a bigger phenomenon. Awareness is now slowly but surely percolating into the society as a whole. Last year, GHS,GavalKhol,Canacona was the highest collector of plastic among all schools in Canacona Taluka.
I as a Head of the School feel that we should make the students realise the importance of proper waste-management. Then, we can achieve our goal to make our villages garbage free. Our teacher Vishant Bandekar, who is closely associated with the cleanliness campaign feels that our school should be a role model for other educational institutions around the state”
The contribution of IswariVaiz, a daily wage staff who looks after the disposal of wet waste, needs to be highlighted. he has been contributing to the cause with zest and enthusiasm.
In early days few realised that the keeping the school clean would result in a movement which is now taken up by students, staff and parents of GHS,GavalKhol. They take pride in what they have achieved. To sum up in the words of George Bernand Shaw, “Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.”
(The writer is the headmistress of Govt High School, Gawal Khola, Canacona)
