EDUCATION ACTING AS A PROTAGONIST IN COMMUNICATING THE OBJECTIVES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”- Nelson Mandela. This imposes the urgency for us to contemplate on the role of education under the New Education Policy 2020 as a catalyst in disseminating the objectives of sustainable development among the youths. The implementation of such policies should initiate at a more grass root level. `It has been observed that concepts such as these have at times been restricted to certain conventional patterns and shall be viewed from a more empirical and non-theoretical vistas.

Talking about the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP), one must try to comprehend the rudimentary blueprint that it professes. The policy advocates replenishment of every strand of the education system. It fosters for a more fitting superintendence along with flexibility in administration of the education system to uphold the enthusiasm of the 21st Century’s educational goals. It also highlights the Sustainable Development Goal (4) that seeks to pursue- inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.   The intellectuals have laid down three potent paradigms of the conceptual model of sustainable education in India whereby they have given us an alternative to cognize the three paradigms as three ‘Drivers’. The foremost among these shall be the body of ‘Profit’ in this case regarded as the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India, who is the protagonist here in terms of fashioning the policies along with equipping economic resources that would enable to steer the wheel of a centralized education in the country, treated as a medium for generating profit. The second in this category is the –People, also termed as the second driver. The people are the ones indulged in dispersing these policies in our education system whether at the primary or secondary levels as direct or indirect stakeholders. The third driver is the-Planet which can range from a variety of concepts such as the educational system settled, the ambience of the schools also referred as the educational eco-system which is a quintessential establishment for the teaching and learning exercise to be a plain- sailing one and also for educational transactions of any kind. The basic objectives of the drivers such as the intent of Driver 1(Profit) shall be” Ensuring learning outcomes through effective curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and technology “. The focus of Driver 2 (People) shall be “Enhancing educational human resource competences through training and practices”. The final objective lies in “strengthening the educational eco-system through good infrastructure and technology access”.

There are certain fundamental components that must be taken in to notice while discussing the reciprocity between the drivers-

1. Driver 1 (Profit/MHRD) – The Ministry Of Human Resource Development must confirm that the curriculum designed would cater to the needs of the learner and evaluations based on such pedagogy shall systematically measure the outcome of the learners. Further the accessibility of assets pertaining to technology should accommodate the furnishing of the quality of education across the country.
2. Driver 2 (People, Human Resource)- The training of teachers shall be a sturdy one to advocate a better quality of aptitude in teachers. The schools should shoulder the responsibility of developing physical and cognitive skills in the students. The administrative body of the educational institutions must be enlightened through periodic leadership workshops, action-research projects, professional networks and virtual learning groups.
3. Driver 3(Planet, educational eco-system)- The question of location plays a pivotal role here because it becomes a mandate for the schools and communication facilities to be within the convenience of the learner. The materials essential to garnish such learning for example text-books, uniforms, note-books, etc shall be made available to all. The edifice of the schools requires improvisation with the technological efficacy to promote productivity in the teaching-learning venture.

Thus, schools shall be treated as a cardinal unit for dispersing the values of sustainability. The partaking of each and every individual in the process is a pre-requisite in order to uphold the scrupulous norms of sustainable consumption, promote equality, preach the values of conservation of natural resources, practices and life-style channelizing the safeguarding of the environment, converting it into a sustainable habitat.

‘Protecting The Future; The role of School education in Sustainable development – An Indian Case Study’ by Colin Bangay, is a manifesto that seeks to establish the significance of education along with the deterrents that reduce the influences of education. It further puts forward the academic discipline of Environmental education as a surrogate for curtailing such hindrances. Colin has decisively asserted that education, falls under the prerogative of both the central and the state governments and coined as a concurrent subject. Environmental Studies as a discipline is taught in the cities of India as a separate subject for the primary classes and for the higher classes, it is incorporated somewhere in the curriculum. With this, Colin has provided an overview of the several initiatives launched to flare up the character of environment and sustainability in the scholastic realm.

Centre For Environment (CCE) – The Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with some external funding are regarded as key components in navigating this machinery. The CCE is responsible for dispersing the knowledge with respect to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in India. The CCE is tangled in the advocacy of two national level enterprises namely the Paryavaran Mitra (PM), friend of the environment and the Ministry of External Affairs- National Green Corp Program (NGC).

Talking about the NGC which was launched in 2001-02, is a co-scholastic program to encourage the involvement of secondary students. It enlightens the students on several themes such as biodiversity, Water and Energy conservation, Waste and Resource management along with land use planning. The NGC is also active in supporting the State selected local implementers. It is not exempted from the fabrications of endowing and educational distribution through state, district, block along with the level of schools in the gigantic federal structure of India. One interesting point asserted in this paper is that the North-Eastern Himalayan states act as active respondents of the ESD. 

The Paryavaran Mitra (PM) propounds to germinate 20 million Young Green Leaders in order to deal with the vulnerabilities of sustainable development at their spheres of influence. The program was set forth to impart knowledge regarding Water and Sanitation, Biodiversity and greening, Energy, Water Management along with Culture and Heritage. Colin believes that if ESD has to be included in the mainstream norm of the education system, it is essential to exemplify it’s standing both in terms of results and scale. The potency of education in disseminating the virtues of sustainable development shall move beyond the radius of conformist norms of education and look towards a more cross-disciplinary aspect. The efficacious enactment of ESD shall require greater attention and identification. The stumbling block here is to narrow down the aperture between hypothetical understandings and quixotic norms.

There are many such literatures penned down by scholars to unveil the subject matter of education, accelerating the ethos of sustainable development. They seek to establish, the value of education through vocalization of education at the school level. The need of the hour is to educate the masses through integrated incentives of enrolment and attendance along with promoting equality. Education sets to trigger a sensation of a holistic development in an individual. Researchers have suggested that an escalation in the primary level of education in schools witnessing the enrolment from the labor populace can yield positive outputs. The promotion of elementary education finds a refuge in programs such as National Policy of Education 1986 which opened the ambit of propagation of education for all. The scheme was revised in it’s plan of Action in 1992 and The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) called for a homogenized mode of primary education at the district level in 1993. The District Primary Education Program was an outcome of such revisions establishing to motivate the rate of enrolment and retention among the rural population. Another one in the loop has been the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2001, MHRD). It aims at providing essential elementary education and installing improvised infrastructures. These initiatives have encountered obstacles in their ways of execution such as the ratio of left-outs and drop-outs, insufficiency in the proportion of trained and skilled teachers, a deep divide in the comprehension of science and technological assets.

This article reads the prominence of education working as a modus operandi for the ethics of sustainable development, education that seeks to promote the content of sustainable development can help in the brainstorming of the quality of educational practices and better cognitive skills. The groundwork of sustainable development in education is not an entirely new born doctrine. It has been a part of Environmental education that first came into being in 1960 and Development education which first came into light in 1970. One very enthralling aspect furnished by scholars is the intent to expound the basic definition of education of sustainable development. So long we have been understanding education and sustainable development as two different and distinguishing phenomena but in this journal the definition put forward by- The World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 makes our understanding a more lucid one. It states” Education for sustainable development is about the learning needed to maintain and improve our quality of life and the quality of life of generations to come. It is about equipping the individuals, community groups, businesses and government to live and act sustainably as well as giving them an understanding of the environmental, social, and economic success involved. It is about preparing for the world in which we will live in the next century and making sure that we are not found wanting “. 

The purview of education for the promotion of sustainable development shall be embedded in the encouragement of basic education, rehabilitating of the existing education system at all levels, augmenting of public consciousness at all levels for a clear understanding of sustainability along with proper training and skill development schemes. Thus on walking on such a roadmap, the attainment of the intent of achieving the goal shall not be a far-fetched one.

The closing commentary shall focus on ‘Education For Sustainable Development, A Sourcebook’ published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization providing before the spectators an array of information pertaining to the concept of sustainable development starting from the inception of the principle to the meticulous paraphrasing of the entire philosophy of sustainable development. It throws light upon the several apparatus that can be used to re-orient the curriculum to address the issue of sustainability. The sourcebook provides thoughtful steps for the teachers to ensure that the stimulations enable to break down the complexities associated to the concept of sustainable development by enriching the salient features of the same.

The stimulations comprise some basic steps such as 

1. Engaging the students with both visual and auditory learning modalities.
2. Talk about real life-problems faced by the communities
3. Promote high-order thinking patterns

The stimulations shall be accompanied by a set of techniques like class-room discussions, story-telling and certain activities which would help in the transition of the monotonous class lessons into participatory ones. The book also is a narrative on the foundations of the Education for sustainable development (ESD). It talks about the fact that ESD does not restrict itself to a single discipline. For example, when one takes up issues like water quality, subjects like mathematics would help students in interpreting data regarding the amount of pollution, biology as a subject would help the students in studying the affect of pollution on the organisms. History would help the students in deciphering the concept of global change and the basic idea that such changes have been a part and parcel of every society. What is indispensible here is that, the citizens, educators and leaders realize that sustainable development is a burning topic.

Language is one such hurdle that needs to be an uncomplicated one. The language used for the mode of communication must adhere to the variations in the intellectual and cognitive abilities of the students. The curriculum designed for class-room teaching must ensure flexibility in the use of language, such that the lessons could be imparted in vernacular as well.

The New Education Policy 2020 talks about the Sustainable Development Goal (4), which is an inordinate initiative but the basic understanding of sustainable development shall be the focal point of the policy. The concept when conceived in a more expansive manner can help generates better understanding of the issue as a whole rather than just making one such goal the cornerstone of the policy. Knowledge that persists among students at the primary and secondary levels regarding the basic utility of sustainability is far too scarce. The concept is somehow, confined to the pages of the geography textbooks and that too with a completely vague idea of it. Talking about environmental studies, the subject is still not a major discipline in many schools. Socially useful Productive Work (SUPW) which includes co-scholastic subjects such as Yoga, Music, Fashion Designing, etc could be channelized in dispersing the knowledge regarding sustainable development in a more innovative manner. Such as the students learning courses like fashion-designing could be motivated to study the usefulness of the three R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The students can also learn about the culture of indigenous communities and can try to study the fusion of such aboriginal and the mainstream fashion. There can be a plethora of initiatives undertaken to make learning a less monotonous one.

It becomes integral to inject the students with basic ethics that would take care of their evolving ideas about the environment they live in. Community services such as planting of trees, holding  environment themes photography contests , writing articles, discussions with environmental activists and many other such initiatives are methods in which we could propagate the understanding of sustainable development not just as theories but also can put it in practice.

REFERENCES

Protecting the future- The role of school education in sustainable development- An Indian Case Study- Colin Bangay- British Council https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1167824.pdf ,Accessed on 30/08/2021 

Education for sustainable development- A conceptual model of sustainable development in India- Atasi Mohanty & Deepshikha Dash-International Journal of Development and Sustainability , Volume 7 Number 9 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329309588_Education_for_sustainable_development_A_conceptual_model_of_sustainable_education_for_India , Accessed on 01/09/2021

Education for sustainable development; A study of Actions, Achievements, and Challenges With Reference to School Education In India- L.N Bhagat & Ashok Ornon-  http://www.dise.in/Downloads/Use%20of%20Dise%20Data/L.N.Bhagat%20&%20Ashok%20Oraon.pdf , Accessed on 02/09/2021

Education for Sustainable Development in 21st Century – DR. Harishankar Singh- Bilingual Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Volume- 1 , Year- 1  https://www.shodh.net/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&download=32:32-educational-for-sustainable-development-in-21st-century-dr-harishankar-singh&id=1:vol1-issue-1&Itemid=29 , Accessed on 02/09/2021

Alokananda Nag

Intern, Asia in Global Affairs

(The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author.)