School holds four-day exhibition on life skills, vision for Thane

THANE: As urban planners and civic body officials struggle to find solutions for city's chronic problems, young minds from Vasant Vihar High Schools have ideas and a vision for Thane 2050 that could help.
Congestion at the railway station, poorly maintained markets, under utilised cycling infrastructure and lack of sports facilities are some of the citizen troubles the students have touched upon.The solutions were presented in form of interactive exhibits as part of the school's ongoing four-day festival, Meraki.
"At the Jambhli Naka market, there is an unpleasant smell due to the vegetable waste that is discarded without a thought. We propose that there must be parallel stalls and conveyer belts running underneath. This way, the vendors can drop the waste on the belts which will carry it to the bins and ensure proper disposal," said the presenter.
The students have proposed realignment of lanes for public transport and private vehicles and queues for the popular share-autos at the railway station to decongest the area. The students also want the government to strengthen the mangroves, invest on creating awareness about the rental cycling infrastructure and introduce use of solar power in buildings.
"The entire city banks only on the Dadoji Kondev stadium but as population grows, we need to build more infrastructure for the sports needs. We have proposed hydraulic seating for the TMC stadium on Ghodbunder Road so it can be used for multiple sports," said another student. Officials from the civic body are expected to visit the exhibition.
Spread over 10 levels, students from the pre-primary to class XII created interactive projects, conducted workshops on various themes that taught one the integration of life skills and its sustainability in everyday life. Among the themes the exhibition touched upon were self-awareness, turbulence, creativity, innovation and inheritance. "Life skills today are the need of the hour but aren't part of the textbook curriculum as yet. While we hold classes for students on value education and the like, the exhibition was our effort to incorporate it in everyday lives for our students and visitors," said principal, V Kannan.