SWISS (Sensitization on Water Issues for School Students)

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To sensitize and motivate students on issues related to water resource management and link these to their everyday lives, TERI with support from Agilent Technologies worked with a group of schools in Gurgaon. TERI was associated with these schools for 6 months with the objective of educating students about water and related issues, to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among students towards the environment and create an informed group of citizens to ensure a sustained movement. 16 schools in Gurgaon were members of this project.

The milestones achieved under the project were

Formation of a water group
Tree plantation drive
Visit to a water treatment plant
Water quality monitoring
Inter-school skit competition
Inter-school quiz competition
Dissemination of resource material to schools
Development of a website link on water

At every stage of the project, different aspects of the issue (water conservation- day to day use of water, rainwater harvesting, purification, health and hygiene, water quality testing) were introduced to the students. Students were involved in many activities like sensitization workshops, water survey, hands on water quality monitoring, quiz and skit competitions, field visit, development and dissemination of resource material and regular updates on the web.

A monsoon and post monsoon water testing session was also conducted in Salwan Public School and Chiranjeev Bharati Public School, Palam Vihar to generate awareness among the students on the quality of water they drink.