CHENNAI: Over the past few months, the ‘environment’ has been on the news — even national TV for that matter — for longer than it’s been used to. While cases of everyday pollution, violation by private players, increasing incidents of man-animal conflict, and several manifestations of ecologic erasure and climate change are relegated to the attention of local audiences and ‘activists’, it was the government’s active and apparent role in this year’s events that caught the public attention.
From the move to denotify parts of the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary to allow for development projects to the release of the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification that sought to remove public say in what happens to the land they live in, the powers that be had made it clear which side they fall in.
Even as the usual swarm of activists and concerned citizens called for a great revolution from the common man to protest against these decisions — and the call was answered in great numbers — a large population of the country still remained uninvolved. Perhaps, they were unaware of their rights, or the role they could play or did not know how much unrestricted mining in one corner of the country could affect them and theirs. Whatever the reason may be, this wasn’t new; those on the field know there’s little you can do about bystanders. And then they came for our books.
Even amid war and turbulence, when pitted against poverty and peril, our lot has relied on educating the ones left behind to escape the shackles of the present. While there’s plenty to be desired about the education system we have inherited, it does its job. But, when limited by a virus and struggling to rise to the new standards of remote learning, trimming the system to the bone seemed to be the easy way out.
When the CBSE decided to remove the lessons on secularism, democratic rights, local governance and such from the syllabus of classes 9 to 12 this year, to make it easy for children, it caught the country’s collective attention. Yet, what didn’t make the headlines was that crucial chapters on the environment — Evolution, Reproduction in Organisms, Waste Management, Water Resources and more — were also axed. Caught in a virus-riddled world, that the children are growing up without the chance to acquire the basic knowledge about the ecosystem they inhabit may not warrant much concern from all quarters. But teachers, environmental activists and some students think it deserves our attention. Especially given the subject’s checkered past.
Of additions & revisions
In June 2005, the government led by Manmohan Singh declared that all state board syllabi will contain a separate subject called Environmental Studies (EVS); an effort aimed at educating and preparing the future generation to live sustainably and help others do the same. Most state boards complied, as did the CBSE and ICSE boards.
The subject allowed students to delve into many aspects of the environment — from tribal traditions and traditional conservation practices to carbon footprint and ways to reduce it. In the interest of digging into practices that work, it brought rural solutions to the urban population; emphasising the rural population’s minimal dependence on pollution-causing activities. Hence, composting and biogas were no longer just concepts in retro movies but viable alternatives.
“Details like tribal lifestyles, environment- friendly traditional practices, sacred groves, latest inventions, and stories of how we choose the environment over multiple disastrous projects, were included in the EVS subject. Children grew up learning the magnitude of our diversity and the various ageold practices adopted to survive in harmony with our bio-diversity,” says Vineeta Bhaskaran, a high school teacher in Chennai. However, this reform was short-lived.
By a new order from the National Council of Education and Research and Training (NCERT) in 2012, the subject was removed from the syllabus and the chapters dispersed into other subjects like Science, Geography, and History. NCERT thought it best to adopt an infused model rather than a distinct subject for environmental education in an announcement.
Teachers still found ways to make do with the new way of things. “When EVS was made compulsory as a subject, most schools appointed Science or Geography teachers to teach it to the students. It was already a lightly taken subject at the time as very little was done to involve naturalists in the educational process. When the subject was disintegrated later, not much had changed because most of the syllabus was infused into other subjects.
Students had a basic knowledge of various environmental problems, activities and innovations. Many were even interested to contribute to the solution. Now, with the removal of chapters like Evolution, Environmental Issues and Management of Natural Resources, it is likely that these kids will grow up ignorant and make the problem worse,” says Vidya Krishna, a secondary school teacher.
Playing by the pandemic
In 2020, what we know of the education system itself took an unexpected turn. The global pandemic that swept across nations, took with it access to education for many underprivileged children who cannot afford the means to learn from a distance. Given the unforeseen delay in switching to digital classrooms and most schools’ limitations with the medium, there was the call for action to make it easier on the children. Even as the authorising bodies were advised to trim subjects, scrapping parts of lessons here and there, it took the easy way out — removing chapters in its entirety across all boards.
Core chapters related to environmental studies — like Reproduction in Organisms, Evolution, Strat e gies for Enhancement in Food Production and Ecosystems in the CBSE Class 12 syllabus, and Forest and Wildlife, Water Resources, Waste Management, and Control and Coordination in Animals and Plants, in Class 10 CBSE syllabus — didn’t stand the test.
“With chapters on heredity, environmental resources, conservation and our environmental history removed, we are sealing our fate of not being equipped to sustainably live in harmony with the other living beings on earth. At a time when the climate crisis is at its peak, it is imperative that we have as much of the youth involved in the movement to protect our environment because they will be the ones battling the consequences of our irresponsible actions today.
The inclusion of this information in academics ensures that each child is at least subconsciously aware of the problems we face and can take an active part in solving them,” says Priyanka J, naturalist and climate activist. “Earlier we would have tree plantation drives or nature walks for children to have experience- based learning.
Learning about the environment was easier taught practically and the students love seeing and learning new things about their surroundings. Now, with the revised syllabus and the pandemic, it has not only become difficult to teach children about healthy environments but show them too. They will grow up not appreciating their surroundings, which can prove to be fatal for the future of this country,” remarks Jaya Kalyan, a Class 9 Science teacher, addressing the fact that basic information on sustainability has been erased from the pages of current Class 10 and Class 12 textbooks.
Problem-solving at a loss
Loss of syllabus isn’t just a problem of a possible future; it affects a key part of the solution- finding process — student involvement. Over the years, the country has had great success in addressing several environmental problems by developing solutions offered by school and college students. For example, the self flushing toilet for the urban poor in North Chennai made by children associated with Janagraha an NPO. Off-late NGOs like Reap Benefit have constructed boot camps and various other platforms where children can address certain civic issues with solutions of their own.
“With all the problems we need solving in the environmental space, we rely heavily on solutions provided by the youth. If the youth of tomorrow is not even aware of some of the larger threats the world faces, we can wave sustainability and healthy living, goodbye,” says Jaya. While the removal of chapters related to environmental studies is concerning enough, a closer look at the ones removed only opens up room for more concern.
Even as activism in any form is frowned upon in our democracy today, we still find room for it. This comes from the basic understanding of our rights and the government’s role in protecting them (however grudgingly). That this knowledge is limited to certain sections of the population goes to show why protests against environmental disasters initiated by the government or the corporate lobby are limited to these sections.
What the syllabus revision does is to further remove easy access to such knowledge. “Removal of chapters on decentralisation and local government undermines the understanding of a basic principle of empowering local people to make decisions for themselves. These decisions should also include resource allocation and maintenance, mainly because these communities have age-old knowledge about the resources of their lands, and also the best ways to protect them.
The above-mentioned chapters facilitate the development of a basic understanding of what ecological destruction is bringing about — underground water depletion, food scarcity, air pollution, water pollution, land degradation and social injustice to certain sections. Further, these chapters also provide a way forward by mentioning sustainable development practices, eco-friendly actions, soil and water conservation techniques and more,” says Srijani Dutta, a Class 12 CBSE student.
Independent effort it is
With such learning removed from the school spaces, concerned citizens might be forced to take matters into their own hands if they want the young generations learning anything about the environment. Soon enough, environmental sustainability awareness will be taught in workshops alongside family planning and how to use a toilet (shauchalay), kicking the country 10 paces behind whatever environmental progress has been made in the last 20 years.
True enough, a few independent collectives have already taken up the task of educating children, but with the blessings of a few schools, says Devika Poonam, a class 11 teacher. The Ecology Project, run by Sara Mohan, curates important concepts in ecology for school children in the most undiluted way possible. “I base most of the syllabus on relevant, related issues. We did a whole lesson on corona, linking it to diseases and ecosystem health.
I try to give them pure ecological topics in an incremental manner and connect it back to local experiences that they can have. Hence, when they were learning about wetlands and waterbirds, we went to Vedanthangal for the real experience,” she says. Many of her students went on to actively contribute to the Vedanthangal art campaign. They are also among the many who are questioning the National Education Policy 2020 for its particular focus on the removal of chapters related to the environment.
Rife with speculation
Even as the adults around them have not stopped to take stock of the impact of this syllabus revision, students faced with the loss have their own theories about why it was implemented, to begin with. “The decision (of revamping the education policy) also seems politically oriented because the government wants to boost the country’s economy by promoting activities that are toxic to the environment, some of them illegal too.
Maybe the government doesn’t want the youth to raise their voice against it, and the best way of doing that is by not letting them know about the issue,” speculates Vidwansh Sharma, a 14-year-old Fridays For Future volunteer. Amid half-baked information and conspiracy theories, it is only a reformed education and economic model that includes sustainable living that can offer hope for our continued existence. An evident detail the government of India may be overlooking.
Past effort
In June 2005, the government led by Manmohan Singh declared that all state board syllabi will contain a
separate subject called Environmental Studies; an effort aimed at educating to live sustainably.