- Government Boys Higher Secondary (Manigam), Lamdon School Ladakh, and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Leh honored for Waste Management, Cold Desert Water Strategies, and Climate Resilience Initiatives
JAMMU: Wipro Limited, a leading technology services and consulting company, held the 14th edition of Wipro earthian Awards for the year 2024 recently, at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. The awards are a conclusion of an annual program designed to foster integrated sustainability education and recognize Indian schools and colleges that actively promote sustainable action and thinking.
Winners from Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh:
- Government Boys Higher Secondary school, Manigam, Jammu & Kashmir: The school from the valley of Kashmir produced an award-winning submission on solid waste. The struggle to manage the growing issue of solid waste was well represented and documented by the students. The difference between linear disposal of waste, and circular recycling/ reuse management was well represented by them. They developed a good understanding of the solid waste journey in the local area.
- Lamdon School (Tsang Chu), Ladakh: The school team brought in a different perspective on water management in the cold desert environment of Ladakh. Similar to hot deserts, water is in short supply there. However, the requirement is less, due to the low temperatures. Water management remains an issue. Challenges of storage and distribution were highlighted by the team.
- Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Leh, Ladakh: The team documented changes in the attitudes of people. There is increased awareness due to climate change. The team explored how ice stupas play an important role in the conservation of glacial water. Climate change is causing huge disruptions in people's day-to-day lives. Drip and sprinkler irrigation is practiced on the campus. The school is residential. Therefore, water consumption is higher than a day school.
Anurag Behar, Chief Executive Officer, Azim Premji Foundation, and Narayan P.S., Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives, Wipro Limited, and Managing Trustee, Wipro Foundation, felicitated the winning teams with certificates and cash prizes.
Narayan P.S., Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives, Wipro Limited, and Managing Trustee, Wipro Foundation, said, “The annual Wipro earthian awards is the culmination of the 14th edition of Wipro’s long-running program that seeks to ignite interest and foster learning in young minds on humanity’s unique relationship with nature. Bringing students and teachers together from schools spread across the country, the Wipro earthian program is designed to generate action-based learning that celebrates the underlying connectedness of the individual with the larger fabric of community and nature. We continue to be inspired by the spirit of resilience and optimism we see in our young citizens as they get ready to face the multiple challenges of sustainable development the world faces.”
The Wipro earthian program is one of India’s largest sustainability education programs for schools and colleges. The 2024 edition of this program received over 1,500 project submissions, of which 23 winning and 43 shortlisted entries were selected by an independent jury. The teams from the winning schools demonstrated a deep understanding of biodiversity, waste and water, through a combination of activity-based learning programs and written essays.
Since 2011, Wipro earthian has engaged with over 50,000 schools, 4,000 colleges, 2,00,000 students, and 40,000 teachers. This year, participation remained high with more than 1,500 submissions from schools and over 700 from colleges. Support from Wipro’s education partners, including CEE, CPREEC, Wild Ecologues, IIT Madras, IIM Bangalore, state governments, and educators in the SEN, has expanded the program’s reach.
