INFERNO 2012 - Educating Future Stewards of the Earth

Inferno 2012, an inter school competition organized by DPS Sharjah began with a bang on 12^th December 2012.

One of the burning issues of the world today is conflict between optimal utilization of natural resources and protection of environment. The objective of INFERNO 2012 was to invoke the spirit of enquiry and reasoning among the students, to identify and resolve these issues from their own perspectives.

The program was inaugurated by Mr. Ashok Chandra, chairman of DPS Society who praised the driven initiative in his welcome address.

Our Principal Mrs Vandana Marwaha underlined the fact that Education for sustainable development consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way.

Mr Dinesh Kothari, Pro Vice chairman, DPS Sharjah, Mrs Rashmi Nandkeolyar, Principal, DPS Dubai, Mr Ali Khayyal and other heads of DPS Sharjah added colour to the event with their august presence

The program kick started with Opinions – a rendezvous of experts in the world of environment and business who initiated and guided a discussion on the topic ‘Economic Growth and Sustainable Development cannot work in Isolation’ and responded to student’s queries. Students representing each school had the privilege of participating in the interactive session with our eminent panellists.

Providing an electrifying atmosphere, enabling students to think beyond clichéd knowledge was the Model Earth Summit convention. It included a Debate on a Crisis situation which culminated into negotiating the final treaty and drafting of the MEC (Model Earth Charter). The award for the best delegation was bagged by DPS Sharjah (represented US) and Our Own English High School (Girls), Sharjah (represented France) was the runner-up.

As a part of it, participating teams also submitted the profile of the country they represented, which showcased various environmental issues related to that country. Country Profile of Australia presented by Modern High School was judged as winner and that of Canada presented by Our Own English High School (Boys), Sharjah was the runner-up.

An influx of young and vibrant students flowing with upbeat ideas brought a new sense of energy to the off stage event of Green Flicks - an original documentary (video) on any pressing environmental issue. The documentaries were submitted to EEG/WWF for evaluation. The winning documentary was by Dubai Modern High School and DPS Sharjah emerged as the runner-up.

My Earth Charter, a unique ground level initiative from DPS Sharjah, in which each team prepared a charter detailing various provisions that could be implemented on a school level to make their school environment friendly. The charters were also submitted to EEG/WWF for evaluation and Central School Dubai and DPS Sharjah were judged as the winning team and runner-up respectively.

At 12.45pm, began the valedictory function. Dubai Modern High was adjudged the overall winner and lifted the rolling trophy. Wajahat M Jilani of Our Own English High School (Boys), Sharjah was declared as ‘Best Delegate’ for the event.

The commendable efforts put in by the SST department led by Mrs Chumki Sengupta, event supervisor Ms. Sunita Sadhu and her team in organizing this unique event on environmental awareness were acknowledged and appreciated by all. In this context it is worth mentioning the tireless effort put forward by Mrs. Anjum Hassan, environment coordinator, in providing technical inputs and guiding our school towards achieving the green flag.  

Inferno 2012 campaigned by Delhi Private School, Sharjah succeeded in enabling students to identify themselves with relevant environmental issues and created outstanding awareness on the gravity of the issue.