January 01, 2024
Ayaan Moorjani
Class 8, AM Naik School, Mumbai
I think working from home and home-schooling are good methods to avoid travelling and congesting the roads. According to me, working from home partially is a good option to decrease carbon emissions. However, distance learning is not a favourable solution as it cannot match the quality and pace of classroom learning. Students may miss out on quality education. Using public conveyance, travelling by school buses and carpooling are measures that should be adopted to reduce pollution. We should avoid any activity that pollutes the air—this must be made into a basic requirement for our well-being. I believe everyone needs to work together to reduce emissions so that we can head towards a better and cleaner future.
Gunnika Khurana
Class 8, Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad
Increased time indoors will lead to higher energy consumption in households. The use of air conditioners, heating devices and other electronic devices will increase. This will lead to pollution through an increase in power generation. Even though individuals might reduce their vehicular emissions, institutions such as schools and offices will still run and consume energy regardless of people’s presence. According to me, the solution of working from home and distance learning is a short-term and immediate one wherein pollution may reduce to some extent initially. However, we need to adopt measures that will help us in the long run.
Keisha Arora
Class 8, Greenwood High International School, Bengaluru
While working from home and home-schooling might reduce pollution levels, the implementation of these measures will lead to many other problems. Most parents who have arduous and time-consuming jobs would find it challenging to educate children at home. If they are unable to spend time with their children and provide them with a proper education, the children’s future as well as the country’s economy will be at risk. Also, working professionals and students will long for social and emotional connections with their co-workers and peers. Instead of adopting these measures, people should be encouraged to use public transport such as buses and metros. People can also use electric vehicles instead of vehicles that run on petrol and diesel.
Dhrithi Chembarpu
Class 5, Dev-In National School, Sahakara Nagar, Bengaluru
Recently, Delhi and Mumbai have been making the news as the AQI in these cities is very high. Ever since then, people have started looking for solutions to this problem. One of the simple ones is going back to work-from-home and home-schooling. Even though there won’t be a drastic change, there might be a little bit of improvement and over time, this will help a lot. Work-from-home will reduce the number of vehicles on the road and carbon emissions will diminish. Home-schooling will help to decrease the number of buses on the streets, but children will be unhappy as they won’t meet their friends. There are many pros and cons to the idea, but I feel the pros outweigh the cons.
Meher Motreja
Class 4, Sparkling Mindz Global School, Bengaluru
Home-schooling and working from home might help to improve the air quality in metro cities, but I don’t think adopting these measures is the best idea. In my opinion, going to school is important because it enables us to connect more deeply with our lessons and interact with our friends. I’m sure that grown-ups like to work in teams too. We should explore other solutions to control pollution. Opting for public transport instead of travelling by car will reduce pollution. Fewer cars will give out less fumes, which will improve air quality. Another way to reduce pollution is by choosing to have laser shows instead of fireworks during Diwali and other celebrations. Laser shows will not only reduce air pollution, but also noise pollution. They are safe for people as well as for animals. Instead of giving up on going to educational institutions and offices, we should implement other such methods to improve air quality.
Livya Khurana
Class 4, Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad
During the COVID-19 pandemic, my parents worked from home and my sister and I attended classes from home. To avoid disturbing each other, we had to sit in different rooms to attend our online classes and take calls. So, distance learning and working from home could cause inconvenience. It will also impact our social life. When we sit at home, we are often tempted to order food. And this food is also delivered to us by people who use vehicles. I feel working from home and home-schooling will not be the ideal solutions to combat pollution. Instead, other solutions should be implemented. We should make use of public transport. Instead of travelling by car, we can walk or use a cycle to travel short distances.
Shiven Bantwal
Class 4, Thakur International School, Mumbai
I think distance learning and work-from-home could help in decreasing air pollution. But these options have some shortcomings. I feel it is always better to study in school because subjects like mathematics are difficult to understand when taught online. I also think interacting with friends and other people is necessary to be happy. So, people can attend school and office on some days and study and work from home on other days. People should opt for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles if they can. They should travel by public transport or cycle to school or office if possible.
