Environment literacy in schools stressed
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 27 2025: Environment and Climate Change director Dr Tourangbam Brajakumar, on Thursday emphasised the urgent need to integrate environmental literacy in school education to foster public awareness on the adverse impacts of climate change and encourage affirmative action.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a state-level symposium competition held under the theme "Ending Plastic Pollution Globally", Dr Brajakumar reminded the gathering that climate change remains a pressing global challenge and its impact is being increasingly felt in Manipur.

The competition, organised by the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change as part of this year's World Environment Day observance, was held at the directorate's Porompat office.

Dr Brajakumar said that plastic pollution significantly contributes to climate change and while plastic products remain convenient, reducing the plastic footprint is vital to protecting the environment.

This is the reason why the government is banning single-use plastic, even if not all plastics, he said.

The director maintained that public support is crucial to make such initiatives successful, and encouraged people to return to the use of alternatives that existed before the rise of single-use plastics.

He also stressed that effective environmental policies must be framed by incorporating feedback from the grassroots as well as research findings by scholars and academicians.

Policies to combat environmental degradation need to have perspectives from the ground level.

The directorate will shoulder the responsibility of implementing these policies, he said, reiterating that environmental education beginning at the school level is key to building a conscious and proactive society.

Highlighting continuous efforts to promote awareness, Dr Brajakumar said that the directorate has been organising such competitions for the past few years and it is planning to send state representatives to national-level events in the future.

One student each from 27 colleges from across the state took part in the symposium competition, held with MAHUD director Nepram Geetkumar as the chief guest and Environment and Climate Change joint directors Ph Vivekananda, and Neeta Arambam as guests of honour.

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