ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND AWARENESS FOR SUTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL

Abstract

Environmental education is important to stimulate active participation of the masses in addressing, debating and protesting on significant environmental issues. School system provides the largest organized base for environmental education and action. Environmental education plays vital role for creating interest in environment. This is the crucial time that environmental awareness and environmental sensitivity should be cultivated among the masses particularly among youths. For the awareness of society it is essential to work at a gross root level. So the whole society can work to save the environment. If we want to generate the environmental values in our children we have to know the responsibility towards environment and also we have to show our behavior as a like eco-friendly. A national level core team and regional level teams are conducting orientation programs, preparation of training manuals in EE collaborating with state boards to promote in the respective states. These efforts have to be vastly enhanced in order to bring about a level of awareness and action that will help conserving and improving the quality of our environment. In this direction, orienting teachers, designing suitable, pragmatic activities that are regional and local specific are the urgent need. In this exercise, NCERT has initiated several levels of interaction with various educational functionaries such as administrators, curriculum planners, teacher educators and teachers.