Knowledge of the Municipal School Children regarding environmental condition and enhancing the same through educational programme

Full text

P: ISSN No. 0976-8602 RNI No.UPENG/2012/42622 VOL.-V, ISSUE-I, January-2016
Asian Resonance
164
E: ISSN No. 2349-9443
Knowledge of the Municipal School
Children Regarding Environmental
Condition and Enhancing the Same
through Educational Programme
Sarjoo Patel
Assistant Professor,
Deptt. of Family and Community
Resource Management,
Faculty of Family and Community
Sciences,
The Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda,
Vadodara
Keywords: Knowledge, Environmental Condition, Educational Programme,
School Children.
Introduction
Increasing population, basic human needs and consumeristic life
styles and large-scale industrialization are regarded as the major culprits
contributing to the gradual environmental degradation of our „spaceship‟
called Earth (Das and Behera, 2008) Nature has started showing its
revenge for the abuse which we human beings have done on it. We all are
witnessing the drastic changes in our environment in the previous years.
Rise in temperature, increase in rainfalls, earth quakes, droughts and
destruction after tsunamis are becoming a part of our daily news headlines
which is alarming for the forthcoming disaster. During the present century,
the environment has undergone a revolution. World is facing serious
problem of environmental degradation, population explosion, increase in
depletion of physical resources, environmental pollution and technological
growth. These are the factors resulting in an unprecedented deterioration
of our environment. The truth is that the life of future generations of this
planet in the next century is in real danger and the danger might come
earlier if something is not done on a global scale (Chaman Preet Kaur,
2008).Its deterioration has come about mainly as a result of human
activities especially those concerned with industrialization, unrestrained
Abstract
World is facing serious problem of environmental degradation,
population explosion, increase in depletion of physical resources,
environmental pollution and technological growth. These are the factors
resulting in an unprecedented deterioration of our environment. The truth
is that the life of future generations of this planet in the next century is in
real danger and the danger might come earlier if something is not done on
a global scale. The most burning problem today is of climate change
.Whichever way environmental degradation is categorized it is glaring that
the most environmental damage is the resultant effect of environmental
problems. Environmental awareness needs to be created through formal
and informal education to all sections of the society. Everyone needs to
understand it become ‟environment belongs to all and every individual
matters when it comes to conservation and protection of environment.
Environmental education must be imparted to the student right from the
childhood stage. Children who are the future of the country should have
knowledge about the present environmental condition as in many
developing countries they comprise nearly half of the population. Taking
all this into consideration a study was conducted on assessing the
knowledge of Municipal School Children regarding environmental
conditions. Once the knowledge was assessed an educational
programme was developed for enhancing their knowledge and awareness
regarding environmental condition and their role in environmental
protection. The results of the study showed their low level of knowledge
and therefore a need was felt to give them knowledge about the issues
such as ozone layer, harmful effects of global warming, role of individuals
in reducing the global warming and help save the environment. They were
made to understand that even a small contribution on each children‟s part
will lead towards the sustainable development which is about finding
better ways of doing things, both for the future and the present.

P: ISSN No. 0976-8602 RNI No.UPENG/2012/42622 VOL.-V, ISSUE-I, January-2016
Asian Resonance
165
E: ISSN No. 2349-9443
growth of human population and the mismanagement
of the world‟s environment. The environment and its
conditions is the major and burning problem of not
only a single state or a single country, but for the
entire world (William, 2006)
Environment has its own limit as well as
capacities to disperse, degrade, absorb or otherwise
dispose off unwanted waste in the natural sinks of the
atmosphere. As the population expanded,
urbanization and industrialization increased, resulting
in large amount of waste, of all kinds, ever increasing
beyond the nature‟s capacity presents a daunting and
serious problem. The most burning problem today is
of climate change .Whichever way environmental
degradation is categorized it is glaring that the most
environmental damage is the resultant effect of
environmental problems. Public awareness about
environmental conditions is needed. Of late, some
awareness has taken place related to environmental
degradation, pollution etc. but incomplete knowledge
and information and ignorance about many aspects
has often led to misconceptions. Environmental
awareness needs to be created through formal and
informal education to all sections of the society.
Everyone needs to understand it because
‟environment belongs to all and every individual
matters when it comes to conservation and protection
of environment. Environmental education must be
imparted to the student right from the childhood stage.
It is a welcome step that now all over the country we
are introducing environmental studies as a subject at
all stages including school and college level, following
the directives of the supreme Court (Kaushik and
Kaushik, 2008).Children who are the future of the
country should have knowledge about the present
environmental condition as in many developing
countries they comprise nearly half of the population.
Furthermore, children in both developing and
industrialized countries are highly vulnerable to the
effects of environmental degradation. The
environmental crisis is an outward manifestation of
the crisis of mind and spirit. “It all depends on how do
we think and act if we think”. Man is all powerful and
the supreme creature on this earth and man is the
master of nature and can harness it at his will, it
reflects our human centric thinking. On the other
hand, if we think “Nature has provided us with all the
resources for leading a beautiful life and she
nourishes us like a mother, we should respect her and
nurture her”, this is an earth centric thinking. The first
view urges us to march ahead gloriously to conquer
the nature and establish our supremacy over nature
through technological innovations, economic growth
and development without much botheration to care for
the damage done to the planet earth. The second
view urges us to live on this earth as a part of it like
any other creation of nature and live sustainably. So,
we can see that our acts will follow what we think. If
we want to check the environmental crisis, we will
have to transform our thinking and attitude. That in
turn, would transform our deeds, leading to a better
environment and better future. (Kaushik and Kaushik,
2008).
Carl Sagan, the great astrologer, has pointed
out that “we are the first species that has devised the
means for its own self destruction”!
Taking all this into consideration a study was
conducted on assessing the knowledge of Municipal
School Children regarding environmental conditions.
Once the knowledge was assessed an educational
programme was developed for enhancing their
knowledge and awareness regarding environmental
condition and their role in environmental protection.
Objectives
1. To assess the knowledge of Municipal School
Children regarding environmental conditions
2. To develop an educational programme for
enhancing the knowledge and awareness of
Municipal School Children regarding
environmental condition and their role in
environmental protection.
Methodology
Descriptive research design was used for the
present study. The sample of the study comprised of
120 children studying in IV and Vth standard selected
through systematic random sampling technique from
selected Municipal school of Baroda City. Interview
schedule consisted of background information section
and knowledge scale for assessing the knowledge of
the children regarding environmental condition.
Descriptive analysis as frequency, percentages and
mean were used for data analysis.
Major Findings
The findings of the present study are as
follows:
1. Background Information: The majority of the
children studying in IV and Vth standard were
boys. The mean age was 9.5 years. The children
had to study in Municipal school as the income of
the family was meager. The mother and father of
majority were employed in jobs such as peon,
maid, gardeners, drivers etc. The mean family
income was Rs. 1047.00.
2. Knowledge regarding environmental condition:
This section consisted of 36 statements reflecting
the present condition of environment. The
knowledge scale contained three categories of
responses namely agree, undecided and
disagree. All the statements were assigned
scores 3 through 1. The scores were summated.
The possible range of scores was divided into
three categories having almost equal interval of
number as below”.
Table: 1
Frequency and Percentage Distribution of
Children According to Scores, Obtained for the
Knowledge Regarding Environmental Condition
Scores for
Knowledge
Range of
scores
Respondents
(Children) n=120
f
%
Low score (Poor)
12-20
43
35.8
Moderate Score
(Neutral)
21-28
76
63.3
High score (Good)
29-36
-
-
Total
120
100
Mean
23.9

P: ISSN No. 0976-8602 RNI No.UPENG/2012/42622 VOL.-V, ISSUE-I, January-2016
Asian Resonance
166
E: ISSN No. 2349-9443
It was revealed that none of the children
scored high on knowledge scale, 63.3 percent of them
had moderate score which reflected their knowledge
as neutral towards environmental condition and 35.8
percent of the children had belonged to the low score
category which showed that their knowledge was
poor.
A probe into the knowledge revealed that the
children were aware that the temperature of the earth
was rising and carbon dioxide was the main reason
for green house effect but lacked in issues like global
warming, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, use of
ecofriendly goods etc. They were not clear about the
action to be taken to reduce global warming and
pollution. A need was felt to give them knowledge
about the issues such as ozone layer, harmful effects
of global warming, role of individuals in reducing the
global warming and help save the environment.
Educational Programme
The children were explained about the
meaning of sustainable development which is
development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs. All too often, development is
driven by one particular need, without fully
considering the wider or future impacts. We are
already seeing the damage this kind of approach can
cause by changes in global climate resulting from our
dependence on fossil fuel based energy sources. The
longer we pursue unsustainable development the
more frequent and severe its consequences are likely
to become, which is why we need to take action now.
(http://www.sd-commisssion.org.uk/pages/what-is-
stainable.development.htmaldat19.9.2011).
The children were explained about the ill
effects of pollution, global warming, acid rain etc,
causes, consequences and actions required on their
part through posters and question answer sessions.
An informal discussion on environment was done with
the children which proved to be a very effective
means of imparting knowledge about environmental
conditions and ways to improve our environment. The
children understood the concept of living within our
environmental limits as one of the central principles of
sustainable development. The children were taught
about contributing in the good cause of saving mother
earth from further deterioration and were suggested
ways such as encouraging their parents and family
members to switch to walking or cycling for short
journeys instead of using vehicles , using public
transport rather than using personal vehicles,
throwing plastic bags in dustbin and not littering
around, developing kitchen garden even if small
space in available around the house or planting in
pot, encouraging people to grow more trees and
sustain the trees, using more of solar energy which is
cost effective as well as environment friendly,
promoting the use of eco friendly products and
switching off the lights and fans when not needed etc.
They were made to understand that even a small
contribution on each child‟s part will lead towards the
sustainable development which is about finding better
ways of doing things, both for the future and the
present.
Conclusion
First and foremost we all as a responsible
citizen of our country should respect our environment
and take steps for decreasing the environmental
degradation. As Mahatma Gandhi had once told “if
you cannot change yourself, how can you change the
world”. Indeed all of us have to get united and realize
our responsibility of making efforts towards
sustainable development. The present study was
aimed at making the school children aware about the
environmental conditions, the effects, causes and
consequences of pollution, global warming, green
house, gases, etc. and the role they can play is
sustainable development. It is the need of an hour to
indulge in such efforts of community participation and
mass education in which specific categories such as
homemakers, college students; different income
group people etc. can be motivated to protect the
environment. This can be done by using different folk
media, audio visual aids, street plays, drama etc. We
all need a holistic, global, future oriented, equitable
environment friendly and resourceful outlook for our
future generations to sustain.
References
1. Dass. R.C. and Behera. D. K. (2008):
“Environmental Science: Principles and Practice”,
Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, Delhi.
2. Kaushik, A and Kaushik, C.P. (2008):
“Perspectives in Environmental Studies”, 3rd
Edition. New Age International Publishers, New
Delhi.
3. Saini. C. (2008) : “Environmental Sustainability :
A Global Challenge” cited in Gandotra, V and
Patel, S. “Environmental Problems and
Strategies” Serial Publication, New Delhi.
4. William. I. (2006): “The Human Environment,
New York.
5. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/what-is-
sustainable-development.html