Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal
Bantwal, Sep 4: Roshan Alexander Pinto, a teacher at Carmel Girls’ High School, Modankapu, in Bantwal taluk, has been selected for the State-level Best Teacher Award on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, recognising his sustained efforts in science education, environmental conservation and community awareness.
Pinto has made a mark by nurturing scientific thinking among students, promoting environment-friendly practices and serving as a resource person at numerous science workshops and conferences. For several years, he has also been creating awareness among students about the importance of water conservation.
His initiatives at Carmel School include Jal Andolan activities by students to highlight the need to conserve drinking water, awareness drives on providing water for birds during summer and programmes encouraging students to educate the public on the importance of water. His efforts have earned wide appreciation and have been featured in the media on several occasions.
A strong record in science education
Pinto’s students have been selected 20 times for the state-level science exhibition organised by the Department of Public Education and have won awards.
They have also been selected 10 times for the South India-level Science Fair, winning prizes.
Pinto has been selected twice for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition. Under the INSPIRE Awards, his students have represented the state four times and the national level once.
At the Indian Science and Engineering Fair, they have won medals on six occasions.
He has participated six times in the national-level science model competition organised by the Agastya International Foundation, winning prizes. He also secured a gold medal at the national-level science exhibition competition organised by Shell NXplorers.
Pinto has participated twice in the state-level National Children’s Science Congress. He has also served as a resource person for workshops for high school students and teachers, besides taking the lead in demonstrating simple science experiments.
Turning environmental lessons into action
Through the school’s ‘Green Future’ environmental club, Pinto has encouraged students to develop environmental consciousness through a series of practical initiatives.
These include campaigns for the ban on plastic bags and distribution of cloth bags, besides the construction of more than 1,007 recharge pits to facilitate rainwater percolation.
Under the ‘Chimv, Chimv’ campaign, the school constructs units every year to provide food and water for birds. Other initiatives include the ‘My Green Tree for My Breath’ tree-planting programme and making and using seed-paper pens prepared by students.
Through the ‘Let Us Start the Change Today – Let Us Give Up Plastic’ campaign, students prepared around 5,000 paper bags and distributed them free of cost to traders, earning appreciation for the initiative.
Pinto was also selected for the state level in a science seminar and received a consolation prize in a national-level video-making competition on science experiments organised as part of the India International Science Festival.
He was selected for the state level in a science exhibition and received a special prize at the South India Science Fair, adding further recognition to his contribution to science education and environmental initiatives.