About 20 students from different schools in Hyderabad were listening to educators, IT experts and a forest conservator as they related how ICT could be used to sustain ecology.

“You know, it is them who are going to grow and carry on for decades to come. They should be sensitivised about the importance of sustaining environment and ways to do that,” Ms Ranjana Saikia, Director (Educating Youth for Sustainable Development) of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), told Business Line .

Launched five years ago with the help of computer maker Dell, the programme is aimed at telling students and teachers how to use ICT (information, communication and technology) to tackle issues related to climate change. Students and teachers from 30 schools in the city participated in the day-long seminar on Tuesday.

“It is one of the most effective modes of dissemination of knowledge in formal, non-formal and informal sectors of education. The project Climate EduXchange is now being implemented in over 400 schools across the country. It has, so far, covered 1.50 lakh students and 1,000 teachers,” she said.

TERI and Dell would organise similar seminars in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. The State-level seminars will culminate into a national-level event scheduled to be held in March in New Delhi.

kurmanath@thehindu.co.in