Plastic waste as school fees: A school in Assam adopts a novel idea

• The Akshar Forum School in Guwahati is giving admission on a condition that the students will have to collect and submit 200 plastic waste items every month.
• Guwahati in Assam produces nearly 3,700 kg of plastic garbage on a daily basis.
• The school students recycle waste products to form ecological bricks.

The Akshar Forum School in Guwahati is giving admission on a condition that the students will have to collect and submit 200 plastic waste items every month.


"In order to stop the widespread burning of plastic in these villages, we decide to educate the community on the health hazards of burning plastic,” Parmita Sarma, founder of the school and a social worker at Tata Institute of Social Sciences told The Times of India.


Guwahati in Assam produces nearly 3,700 kg of plastic garbage on a daily basis. And this certainly calls for the need to aware people on the impacts of using plastic.


Established in 2016 by a couple — Mazin Mukhtar and Parmita Sarma — the school aims to recycle the waste plastic products and use it to develop their building. In fact, the school has its own recycling unit and students process the waste items to produce environment-friendly ecological bricks.


Akshar Forum School has nearly 110 students, all from the nearby slums.


The government too intends to spread awareness against plastic from schools.

“Banning bottles, wrappers, packaging, bags, cups, plates, tumblers made of plastic or polystyrene on school premises and in school canteen, and encouraging the use of alternative biodegradable products will help sensitize students about the ills of using plastic,” noted a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) circular from 2018.


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