EDD concludes environmental awareness talks in Tibetan schools in north east India[Wednesday, 3 May 2011, 4:56 p.m.]

Jigme Norbu, an environmental researcher at EDD, interacting with schoolchildren at a Tibetan school in north east India

RAVANGLA: An educational talk series on Tibet’s environmental issues jointly organised by Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Department of Information and International Relations and the Department of Education in the Tibetan schools in north east India was successfully concluded. Two environmental researchers of EDD in their talks imparted information on Tibet’s current environmental issues to schoolchildren of two senior secondary schools, Central School for Tibetans in Kalimpong and Sambhota Tibetan School in Gangtok, on 29 and 30 April respectively.The two researchers also urged students to request their families and relatives not to indulge in illegal trade of endangered animal parts.”Both students and teachers have shown grave concerns over the deteriorating environmental situation in Tibet and how best could these be stopped,” the two researchers, Ms Chokyi and Mr Jigme Norbu, told TibetNet in an e-mail message.“This kind of talks as told by some teachers are very important source of knowledge on Tibet’s current environmental situation for the students and they requested us to conduct such programmes more often,” the researchers said. Some of the schools have been practicing  3R – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. CST Kalimpong has been reusing their textbooks and only about 10 percent of textbooks in the school are being replaced. The students use wooden planks to practice Tibetan handwritings as in olden times, which not only reduce the use of paper but also keep alive the Tibetan culture.