In a first-of-its-kind project in the country, as many as 240 government schools in Kerala will soon install weather stations, recording daily variations in weather conditions in the state.
The project is part of an effort to train the next generation about climate change and how to take the required precautions in the wake of frequent natural disasters such as floods in the southern state.
On Friday, General Education Minister V Sivankutty inaugurated the unique project at the district level in Kozhikode at the Kayanna Government Higher Secondary School.
During the occasion, he stated that the General Education Department has already begun the process of installing weather monitoring stations in 240 schools around the state, which is a first-of-its-kind effort in the country.
Students would gain firsthand experience and understanding of what they had learnt in weather textbooks through such centres.
“Daily changes in atmospheric conditions will be monitored and recorded through the school weather stations. Thus, every child can be made a weather observer… the data collected will be used for further research,” he said.
Each school weather station would include 13 instruments such as a rain gauge, thermometer, and weather data bank.
Weather stations are being installed in 18 government higher secondary schools in Kozhikode, where geography is an optional subject.
Children would record the amount of rain that fell in the area, the wind speed, and the atmospheric pressure in a special chart.
The data gathered from the school weather stations would be recorded by the students themselves in a separate chart.
The ministers also stated that special training would be provided to geography students and teachers as a part of the project.