Environment Education in India

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Environment Educationin India

• Bringing Environment into Education
• Driving force The Judiciary
• The Supreme Court wielded the stick twice,
  responding to Public Interest Litigation

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First time

• In 1991, the Apex court in India ruled
• We would require every State Government and every
  education board to immediately take steps to
  enforce compulsory education on environment in a
  graded way.

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Post directive scenario

• In schools, Environment was infused in all
  disciplines.
• In primary level, EVS (clubbing sciencessocial
  sciences) emerged
• Nothing much happened in colleges

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Experts pull the plug

• After a decade, Survey on status of Environment
  Education, created uproar.
• Court Order being shabbily implemented, said
  environmentalists and academics.
• Their verdict
• Infusion leads to ineffectiveness. Separation is
  the solution

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Second Time

• In 2004, the Apex court in India ruled again
• Environment Education to be taught as a separate
  subject in schools
• A basic course on Environment to be introduced in
  colleges in all disciplines.

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Since then

• Now, a debate rages
• Infusion model supporters
• vs
• Separate subject proponents
• Prayer to revert to old order pending before the
  Court

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So, confusion galore

• No consensus on whether Environment is
  interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary,
  metadisciplinary or a discipline in itself??
• So despite judicial intervention, it is yet to be
  a mainstream subject. It remains on the fringes.

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What is missing?

• Initiative to train teachers on how to teach
  Environment.
• Books, journals, films or any accessible
  teaching material
• A platform for educators to share techniques,
  students responses, and experiences.

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What do we need now??

• Programmes which offer all these components and
  more
• Why?
• Because Environment appeals to students

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CSEs Survey
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Gobar Times Green Schools Programme

• A crucial period
• One huge threat Environment yet another boring
  subject??
• So GTGSP. A tool to learn Environment by doing.
• Now over 3500 schools are using it.

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Beyond Books

• The GSP manual A do-it-yourself hand book on
  how to audit water, air, energy, waste, and land,
  within school premises.
• Students and teachers come out of classrooms to
  do thingscount, weigh, measure, explore and
  analyse.
• Yet,
• Fits smoothly into the current curriculum

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Helping hand

• Teachers training programme to build up a
  community of empowered adults, who help students
  to use manual on the ground.
• Thousands in networksome trained directly,
  others via Net

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School 3
School 1
School 2
School 4
School 5
UPLOADING OF DATA ON THE INTERNET
DATA REPORTING SYSTEM
Analysis of data uploaded and shortlisting of
schools
School 1
School 3
School 5
School 1
School 3
School 5
                                                 
                   
On site visit or Telephonic Interview of the
school
FINAL SCORES SCHOOL 1 297 POINTS SCHOOL 3 305
POINTS SCHOOL5 314 POINTS RANK 3 RANK
2 RANK 1    
GREEN SCHOOLS AWARD
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Green Schools Network http//www.cseindia.org/prog
ramme/eeu/html/gsp_registration.htm
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Activity sheets
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(No Transcript)
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Leading edge

• School rated on two parameters
• How green is it Assessment of the actual status
  of school habitat, and the way it is being
  managed.
• How effectively has the GSP tool been used
  Evaluation of the level of involvement of
  different sections of the school community in the
  audit process.

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Under the scanner
Water
Energy
Waste
Air
Land
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Water

• The schools rated themselves on
• How much is being used within the
• premises?
• How much is being conserved?
• What is the technology being used to conserve?

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Land

• The schools rated themselves on
• How much of their land is under green cover?
• How many types of plants and animal species can
  they identify within premises?
• Which pesticides do they use?

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Air

• The schools rated themselves on
• How does the school community commute?
• How eco-friendly are the school-run vehicles?
• Are all the classrooms well-ventilated?

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Energy

• The schools rated themselves on
• What are the main sources of
• energyand how eco friendly are they?
• How much energy do they consume?
• How much do they save?

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Waste

• The schools rated themselves on
• How much waste do they generate?
• How do they collect?
• How much do they recycle?
• How do they dispose?

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The 2006 audit said

• Schools are aware of the importance of wise
  management. But are weak in making linkages with
  real life situations.
• Innovative methods are applied. But follow-up
  process to measure and quantify the impact does
  not exist.
• Environment-related programmes are still
  extracurricular. No structured approach is
  evident.

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2007Second Round

• 50 per cent 2006 participants
• repeated the audit.
• Most improved their scores
• So not a one-time contest.
• Adopted as a way of life

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GSP Second Round

• Who participated?
• Rural-Urban ratio Tripled
• Out of the top 20 schools
• In 2006 3 rural/semi-urban
• In 2007 9 rural/semi-urban

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The 2007 audit said

• Schools have mastered the art of auditing
• Outstanding data collection, tabulation, and
  analysis
• Assessment of impact of resource management
  practices more precise, structured, and
  accurate.
• Students involved in every step. Sharp increase
  in awareness level.

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In 2006 Per capita waste generated??No data
832
832
Solai
Only 5 out of 20 could account how much.
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Waste in 2007

• All 20 schools have collected data on
• per capita waste generated.
• Every school assigned student groups to weigh
  waste.
• Teams included sweepers,gardeners, waste dealers
• Used spring balances hand balancesweighing
  machines.
• Scores have fallen. Quality of data has improved.

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GTGSP proves

• The ability of educational institutions to
  conduct and complete such an audit within a
  limited time period, with technically untrained
  teams, is
• unparalleled.

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Why GSP is a must

• It is a tool to teach environment in the right
  perspective. Its not about pretty birds and
  trees. Its about real life and living.
• It generates data to identify trends and sends
  the right signals. What do we really need to do?

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CSEs learnings

• Audit network must cater to 2 different sections
  of Indians
• ASchools where resource is scarce. Audit is
  needed to ensure basic needs are met.
• B.Schools where there is plenty. Audit is
  required to prevent wastage.

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• It strives to be a
• A TOOL TO BUILD UP
• A RESOURCE-LITERATE GENERATION