Environmental Education in the Age of Environmental Degradation: A Comparative Study of Elementary Level Students of Delhi and Dhaka

Abstract

Abstract:Environmental education is considered to be a continuous and lifelong process that can be learnt through formal or informal ways. The basic assumption behind introducing environmental education as a part of the formal education system from the early 1970s has been to change human knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards the environment through formal education. Against this assumption, the introduction of environmental education at the elementary level studies has been considered to be the beginning of formal environmental education to deal with environmental challenges facing by today's society. The present paper focuses on the effectiveness of environmental education provided at the elementary level studies in two of the fastest growing capital cities of South Asia: Delhi and Dhaka, which are currently facing tremendous challenges. A specially designed questionnaire has been used to collect data from both government and private elementary schools by applying a purposive sampling technique. The findings suggest that students' environmental knowledge is not adequately translated into environmental attitude and behaviour. There is thus a need to re-assess the designing of the course curricula and selection of the study methods and materials used for environmental education for the elementary level students to make environmental education more effective for the younger generations.