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Education for Change
ENVIS Newsletter for Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development
Volume 17, 2011-12
Editorial
Changes are taking place in the School EE scenario in the country. In Dec 2010, the matter of the writ petition no 860 filed by Shri MC Mehta in 1991 was deemed to have been put to rest by the Supreme Court. In response to the writ petition, the Supreme Court had directed in Nov 1991 that EE should be compulsory at all levels of education. The latest decision, which is an acceptance of an Affidavit submitted by NCERT, now directs all school boards to follow the infusion approach for EE.
However, concerns have been raised by the Minister of State, Environment and Forests about the need to strengthen infusion processes and to provide exclusive time and space for EE in the time table. How the infusion approach will play out in the curricula of various state boards also remains to be seen.
This issue of Education for Change brings you a few different perspectives on school EE, from the points of view of policy makers, as well as practitioners.
Environment Education in the School Curriculum
By Sanskriti Menon, Centre for Environment Education
Over the last few years, environment education in the formal school curriculum has been influenced by two national policy documents: the National Curriculum Framework 2005 of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the directive of the Supreme Court in response to a 1991 petition filed by Shri M C Mehta. The Supreme Court gave its final pronouncements on the matter of the writ petition in December 2010.
Dr Jaishree Sharma, Nodal Officer for Environment Education at NCERT provides an overview of the steps taken by NCERT to enhance the implementation of environment education in the school system.
More ...
Shri BMS Rathore, IFS is the Joint Secretary in charge of the EE Division of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. This Division supports one of the largest, if not the largest, school-based non formal Environmental Education programme in the world, the National Green Corps. Shri Rathore shares the vision of the EE Division for the coming years in an interview with Sanskriti Menon, Editor, Education for Change. More ...
By Sharmila Deo and Poornima Phadke, Kalpavriksh
Our hearts soared when a little schoolboy ran towards us with a metallic green wood-borer in his hands and displayed it proudly, taking immense care not to injure or let it fall when other boys crowded around it. They were quick to point out its antennae and checked whether it indeed had two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs! This was soon after we had seen a film on insects screened in their classroom.
Dr. V Shubhalaxmi, General Manager (Education), BNHS in conversation with Sanskriti Menon, Editor, Education for Change describes how her work is helping address the ‘nature education deficit’ in Mumbai. An entomologist and a Fulbright Fellow, Shubhalaxmi has been with the BNHS for about twenty years. As the head of the BNHS Conservation Education Centre (CEC), she has shaped a number of nature education programmes and helped CEC reach out to over 15000 people every year.
By Mrinalini Vanarase
The day Environmental Education was made compulsory in schools my 14 year old nephew declared that he hates environment! ‘You don’t have to hate it’, I said. ‘You know what follows compulsory’, he grumbled. ‘Projects, assignments, evaluation…and boredom! And whatever we do for fun, it is always against the environment. Coke, games, bikes…everything. How could anyone like it?’ More...
Conservation education programme for saving the Ganges River Dolphins
Preeti R. Kanaujia and Dr. Abdul Kalam, Centre for Environment Education, Lucknow
The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica), notified as the national aquatic animal of India is threatened.
CEE with the support from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), initiated a two-year long project in July 2010 focusing on a conservation education programme in the North, Eastern and North Eastern region of India. More..
National Green Corps (NGC) is a nationwide initiative of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, popularly known as ‘a programme of eco-clubs’. The programme, initiated in 2001-2002, aims at building cadres of young children working towards environmental conservation for a more secure and sustainable planet.
In Focus: BVIEER – NGC Resource Agency for Maharashtra - Dr Shamita Kumar, Vice-Principal, BVIEER provides an insight into the NGC programme in Maharashtra.BVIEER is the NGC Resource Agency in Maharashtra and the Nodal Agency is the Social Forestry Dept. More ...
Asia Pacific UNEP TUNZA - Children and Youth Conference
123 children and youth with 45guardian/parents/teachers from 11 countries gathered together to learn about issues and initiatives for Sustainable Lifestyles for a Green Economy. The sessions included talks by experts, interactive sessions, field visits, a traditional organic food festival and the Earth Rocks Music Contest. This was as part of the UNEP TUNZA organized by CEE in partnership with the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India from 6th to 8th February, 2012 in Ahmedabad, India. More ...
Durban Report
Four Indian students were selected by Government of India, to participate in the 17th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Chang at Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 9 December 2011. More ..
Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants. These may be oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festivals, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts all of which is collectively termed as ICH. The Ministry of Culture has initiated an effort to develop innovative and appropriate databases for identification and recording of ICH, including in digital forms and represented on the internet. More ...
The border areas of Uri and Tangdar in Kashmir Valley situated close the Line of Control on the international border between India and Pakistan suffered heavily during the earthquake of 8 October 2005. Human lives, livestock and property were lost. Here are glimpses of the work done by CEE under its ‘Rebuilding Trust’ programme to help and rehabilitate the earthquake-affected people. More ...
Paryavaran Mitra is a nationwide joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, ArcelorMittal India, and Centre for Environment Education. It aims to create a network of 2 crore young leaders, from schools across the country, who have the awareness, knowledge, commitment, and potential to meet the challenges of environmental sustainability in their own spheres of influence. Action in schools Over 7000 schools have carried out and reported on their action projects. Each addressed a local environmental issue in the school premises or improvement of the environment around the school. Some examples ...
Meet the Author
Deepak Apte is a marine ecologist and conservationist by profession. Apte has authored many publications and produced various documentaries for awareness about and protection of marine wild life. His latest contribution is this Field Guide to the Marine Life of India.
Ms Savita Bharti interviewed Shri Deepak Apte on behalf of Education for Change, about the making of this first of its kind field guide on Marine Life of India. More ...
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About Education for Change
Education for Change is the ENVIS Newsletter of the Centre for Environment Education. It seeks to share views about the role of education in different aspects of development; the need for reorienting educational processes, so that they become transformative; experiences of education for sustainability in different sectors, and resources on ESD and for learning about sustainable development. Education for Change is meant for practitioners in various development sectors and others interested in ESD.
Readers are invited to send in articles, news items, announcements of events and resource material, reviews of books, etc for publication in Education for Change to:
Editor Education for Change
Centre for Environment Education
Central Regional Cell
A-10, Garden Estate, 167/1 and 168/1,
New D.P Road, Aundh
Pune -411047
Ph: 020-25898447; Fax: 020- 25887009
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