Environmental
Education and Training
Ministry
of Environment and Forests, Govt of India
What are some of the signifi cant achievements of the EE Division?
The
National Green Corps (NGC) and the National Environmental Awareness Campaign
(NEAC) have been two massive outreach programmes. Over 10,000 organizations
participate every year in the NEAC for awareness on different themes and the
NGC engages about 100,000 school eco clubs every year in co curricular
activities. These two schemes provide a huge platform which we can use for
moving into much more well coordinated actions for environmental improvement
and conservation.
The two centres of excellence –
CP Ramaswamy Environment Education Centre and the Centre for Environment
Education – which are supported by the MoEF have been doing considerable
innovative work in diverse fields in a locale specific manner. Their work ranges
from sacred groves and natural heritage conservation to working with
industries, urban and rural communities, youth etc. The combined efforts
through the NEAC, NGC, and the centres of excellence, the Resource Agencies for
NGC and the State Nodal Agencies result in outreach to several lakh people
every year.
What is the vision of the EE
Division for the coming years?
An
appraisal of the Environment Education, Awareness and Training Scheme of the
MoEF was done recently. Using the inputs from this appraisal, we have put
together a new strategy in which the EE Division aims to work closely not only
with other divisions within the MoEF but also with other ministries, such as
Ministry of Human Resource Development, NCERT, Urban Development, Energy and
others.
As we move into the 12th Plan period, the EE Division will be taking
the lead to reach out to them. The idea is to make communication and education
an integral part of the programmes in these sectors.
The other aspect is the need to
significantly scale up the reach of the EE Division’s programmes. While the
outreach of NEAC, NGC etc is quite large, the section they don’t reach is much
larger. The Planning Commission is also supportive of the idea of enhancing the
coverage of EE programmes.
We are
also seeing a very important role of EE in the implementation of the Green
India Mission, which is one of the missions under India’s National Action Plan
for Climate Change. The implementation of the Green India Mission will start
soon, as we move into the 12th Plan period.
What is
the role of MoEF in facilitating EE with MHRD and NCERT?
There has been progress made by
MHRD in making EE part of the curriculum. Following the National Curriculum
Framework 2005, the NCERT has advocated the infusion approach which the Supreme
Court has accepted. The preparation of a syllabus for EE and other materials in
the last seven eight years have helped. However, MoEF believes that infusion
alone will not be enough. It is not a question of either infusion or separate
subject; in fact we should certainly have infusion and all subjects must reflect
environment and sustainability concerns. But it is essential to also have a
separate time and space in the time-table where the learnings from different
core subjects are brought together and environmental understanding can be
synthesized. MoEF is taking this very seriously at the Ministerial level and
has initiated high level discussions with MHRD.
The
MoEF has in fact contributed to the evolution of this thinking.Through the
Environmental Education in the School System (EESS) project implemented by the
MoEF from 1998 till 2003, for which CEE was the national consultant, a detailed
study of the nature of infusion was done by BVIEER and other partners. This was
followed by an initiative with 15 states for preparation of textbooks with
infused EE content. The capabilities and experience developed in the centres of
excellence and other partners should be very useful in further evolving the
approaches for school-based Environment Education. The NGC experience of course
can offer many learnings and case studies for project-based learning which the
NCERT is advocating. We see a lot of synergy between the efforts of the MoEF
and MHRD for EE.
What about support for EE and
ESD research?
Now, with the greater
understanding that the recent appraisal of the EE scheme of the MoEF has given
us, as well as recommendation of working groups that Ministry had set up to
provide further impetus to EE, we do hope to put in place some research on EE
and ESD. This will be especially important as we align the work of the EE Division
with that of other divisions of the MoEF and other Ministries.
EE and
ESD programmes need to be designed carefully to lead to transformation of
society and so it is important that we are able to see what is working, what
the barriers are, etc. Such research can also help identify systemic
difficulties in programme implementation, which can be a valuable contribution
in our development strategies. The view about EE that it is for ‘beneficiaries’
also has to change, it is important for all segments of society.
Areas of Work of MoEF’s EE
Division
The Ministry of
Environment & Forests (MoEF) is the nodal agency in the administrative
structure of the Central Government for the planning, promotion, co-ordination
and overseeing the implementation of India’s environmental and forestry
policies and programmes. The primary concerns of the Ministry are
implementation of policies and programmes relating to conservation of the
country’s natural resources including its lakes and rivers, its biodiversity,
forests and wildlife, ensuring the welfare of animals, and the prevention and
abatement of pollution. While implementing these policies and programmes, the
Ministry is guided by the principle of sustainable development and enhancement of
human well-being. The broad objectives of the Ministry are:
• Conservation and survey of
flora, fauna, forests and wildlife
• Prevention and control of
pollution
• Afforestation and
regeneration of degraded areas
• Protection of the
environment and
• Ensuring the welfare of
animals
The Environment Education
Division or EE Division of the MoEF has the following objectives:
o Development
of educational/teaching materials and aids in the formal
o education
sector
o
To
encourage non-governmental organisations, mass media and other concerned organizations for promoting awareness among the
people at all levels
o
To
promote environment education through existing educational/scientific/
o
research
institutions
o
To
ensure training and manpower development in environment education; and
o
To
mobilise people’s awareness for the preservation and conservation of
environment
The programmes
conducted/initiatives launched as part of this scheme are categorised under
Formal and Non-Formal sectors. Programmes under Formal Environmental Education
are:
• Environment Education in School System
• Environmental Appreciation Courses
• Environmental concepts in Management
and Business Studies
Programmes under
Non-Formal Environmental Education are:
•
National
Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC)
•
Eco-clubs
(NGC)
•
Global
Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)
•
Mass
Awareness
For more details on these
programmes, schemes and guidelines, please visit the webpage on the EE Division
http://moef.nic.in/modules/divisions/ee/
For further information, please contact:
Environment Education
Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Government of India
Paryavaran Bhawan,
CGO Complex, Lodi Road New
Delhi - 110 003
Phone: +91-11-24367664,
24364593
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