Posted by Mihir Lal and Shreyaas, Middle School

The class of section A was introduced to model UNEP as part of their Environmental Education project by their teacher, Mr. Toinu Elizah Reeves. They were divided into ten different groups, representing ten different countries. Each group consisted of two to three members.

The first debate, as part of UNEP, took place on March 20th 2010. The topic of the debate was whether genetically modified food was good for the society or not. Some of the groups were very enthusiastic about this debate, but many of the groups were still very confused as to whether they should support GM food or not.

In an interview with Mr.Toinu, he said, “I had participated in model UNEP in school from 9th to 12th Standard. I had a very empowering experience. That is why I wanted to introduce it here.” He also said, “It allows one to understand more dimensions than he or she can get from a text book and / or a discussion.

In an interview with one of the students, Sivanesh, he said, “I really like model UNEP since it is very organised and our teacher shows us how UNEP actually is. I learnt how to gather and present points through this exercise.”