The Importance of Ecological Education in Schools

How important is the environment in our everyday life and what impact we have on it and what can you do as a student? There is no need to mention how radical our lives have changed in the last decades due to the ignorance we gave to the eco-friendly aspects.

How bad things are?

The environmental status of each year is increasingly worrying: the forested spaces are reduced, the deserts are spreading, the agricultural soils are degraded, the degree of pollution is higher, and the ozone layer is thinner, the greenhouse effect is accentuated, and many plant and animal species are endangered.

يبقى الإنسان محور أهداف الفكر البيئي، وتتمثل أولويات مفاهيهمة في صون الامن البيئي للإنسان

It can be generalized that developed countries produce large amounts of waste and pollutants, they consume large amounts of energy and natural resources, and the impact that these countries have on the environment is highly destructive.

Because life cannot be separated from the environment, all education should be directed toward the protection of the environment. Human society needs to be interrelated and to know that each action will produce a reaction that is often unpredictable in the complex of living systems.

When natural resources are exhausted on a large scale, and the environment is polluted, it is not only a matter of local effect on plants and animals, but also the health of the people is part of this. What is healthy for nature, as a rule, is also healthy for its creatures and every man must be responsible for the impact that his life has on the life of the planet.

In every corner of the world, people cut down forests, mineral extracts and energy sources, eroding surface soil, pollute air and water, creating hazardous waste and breaking natural areas at an unprecedented pace in the history of life on earth.

Because demands arising from overpopulation and development are growing, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to meet their needs and desires and it also becomes impossible to escape the consequences of serious environmental degradation: species disappearance, desertification, pesticide contamination, increased health problems, famine, poverty and even the loss of human life. All that information along with the cause and the effect should be introduced as a strong information ready to be showed to each student.

Importance of ecological education in schools

Ecological education is a process that aims to improve the quality of life by providing people with the right “tools” they need to solve and prevent environmental problems. Environmental education can help people gain the knowledge, skills, motivations, values and commitment they need to efficiently manage their earth’s resources and take responsibility for maintaining environmental quality.

Environmental issues are urgent and need to be addressed by the whole community, and this must be an integral part of the solution. The divergent views on the state of the environment, the consequences of its degradation and the role of education are good subjects for discussion and debate.

Also, ecological education shows you how to go green and how you should not impose a certain kind of thinking on people, it can help people learn how to think – including how to solve problems, make decisions, weigh options and align values with personal actions. For those who don’t know too well this domain or want to have the highlights of this subject, you can try to reach look online writing services which can help me do my homework.

The environment is a subject and an important aspect which should be everyone concern – that’s why for those who have this theme as the main subject you should try to look essay writing or writing services online. Doing that you will get online help for your research and get all the important aspects – how this domain affects our everyday life and what should we do for creating a better world.

Objectives of ecological education

The objectives of environmental education around the world are similar:

• to protect and where necessary to restore the structure and functionality of natural systems;
• to stop the loss of biodiversity;
• to protect soil against erosion and pollution,
• protecting the most precious habitats;
• implementing different plans to protect biodiversity;
• developing a strategy to protect the marine environment;
• extending regional and national programs that relate to forest management;

On the other hand, ecological education enhances problem awareness and understanding of personal values by “discovering” attitudes and comprehension, helping students to evaluate and clarify their feelings about the environment and how it contributes to its problems. It helps each person to understand that people have different values, and conflicts between them must be addressed to ultimately prevent and solve environmental problems.

Eco Clubs provide an opportunity to students to participate in environmental projects and activities.

Environmental education is also a practice, in the sense of learning things like planting a tree to reduce consumption, or how to live, producing a negative impact on the environment as little as possible.

Specifically, this kind of class emphasizes some important objectives of environmental education:

• Awareness: understanding and sensitivity to the environment and its problems; develops the ability to understand and differentiate incentives, process, refine and expand these perceptions; contributes to the use of these new skills in several contexts.
• Knowledge: basic understanding of how the environment works, how people interact with the environment and how they appear and how to deal with environmental issues.
• Attitude: a set of values and feelings of care for the environment, motivation and devotion to participate in maintaining the quality of the environment.
• Skills: the skills needed to identify and investigate the problems of the environment and to contribute to solving the problems of the environment.
• Participation: Experience in using the acquired knowledge and skills for positive and well-thought-out actions that will lead to solving environmental problems.

Salman Zafar

Salman Zafar is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of EcoMENA. He is a consultant, ecopreneur and journalist with expertise across in waste management, renewable energy, environment protection and sustainable development. Salman has successfully accomplished a wide range of projects in the areas of biomass energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, recycling and waste management. He has participated in numerous conferences and workshops as chairman, session chair, keynote speaker and panelist. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management and environmental sustainability across the globe Salman Zafar can be reached at salman@ecomena.org

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