Daily Times

Education is a basic human right, a public good, and a public responsibility. The UN General Assembly proclaimed January 24 as the day of education. In this regard, the fifth international day of education is being observed on January 24, 2023, under the theme “To invest in people, prioritize education.” Building on the global momentum generated by the UN Transforming Summit in September 2022, this year’s day will call for maintaining strong social and political mobilization around education and charting the way to translate commitments and global initiatives into action. Thus, education must be prioritized to accelerate progress towards all sustainable development goals against the backdrop of a global recession, growing inequalities, and climate change (CC), which is the most important and critical aspect added to this discourse. This article focuses on three aspects in the context of education day, i.e., Pakistan, the climate change crisis, and the role of education.

Pakistan is among the single-digit list of countries that are most vulnerable to climate change (CC), where extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent and extreme in the coming decades, which warrants urgent action on climate-related issues. In 2022, Pakistan witnessed severe heat waves, droughts, and floods that had a devastating impact on lives, assets, infrastructure, and livelihoods on a massive scale. A severe heat wave resulted in crop losses, power outages, and forest fires. This was followed by unprecedented monsoon rains, which left one-third of the country under water, over 1,700 casualties, and more than 33 million people affected. Thus, it needs an hour for interventions to halt further deterioration and to execute this task in a manner that is inclusive and sustainable.

There are two types of intervention at this vital time i.e. Hard Intervention and Soft Intervention. Mass awareness via education is the most important part of a soft intervention strategy for tackling CC because it prepares children in schools and youth in universities to understand it. Since the issue is manmade and involves the masses, legal and administrative remedies may not be of much help after a certain threshold as compared to proper curriculum-based education. And, Education for Climate Change should go beyond science and address values, customs, actions and lifestyles, which are responsible for CC.

The design and methodology of education, however, need to be ascertained. Environmental Education (EE) was previously a discipline to teach Climate Change (CC), and now under Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)’s global framework 2030 for the next ten (10) years, Education for Climate Change (ECC) is integrated with ESD because climate change is not purely a scientific discourse but has socioeconomic, cultural and psychological dimensions as well.

Science-based education imparts knowledge but does not bring about behavioral change. Inter-disciplinary education engaging the social sciences for developing societal understandings, cultural keys, and political will can change attitudes.

Regarding the design of ECC, there are two schools of thought. CCE can be simply scientific education about causes and consequences, or it can be interdisciplinary pursuits aimed at changing lifestyles, as in South Korea and Australia.

Science-based education imparts knowledge but does not bring about behavioral change. Inter-disciplinary education engaging the social sciences for developing societal understandings, cultural keys, and political will can change attitudes. For example, scientific knowledge of the adverse effects of smoking is not enough to motivate people to stop smoking. Instead, education aimed at changing lifestyles toward more sports, etc. can help.

Academic literature reveals that climate change education has two parts. The “climate” part needs to be told in scientific terms. The second part is education for ‘Change’ which aims to promote positive change. The latter part must challenge normative values that shape our behavior. It helps transition from unsustainable normative values like an exorbitant lifestyle to more sustainable values.

The education systems in Pakistan like most countries currently lack these attributes. There is no systemic approach to ECC in Pakistan at the school and university levels. At the school level, there is only some scientific know-how in the subject of geography or social science. At the university level, it is only available in some undergrad and postgrad programs as a course predominantly on scientific lines. Some schools have been adopted by civil society organizations as “green schools” for informally educating students through workshops and seminars and practicing water and resource conservation strategies. Some civil society organizations, such as the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, Green Squad, and Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change, organize walks and seminars to educate the general public, students, and other stakeholders about climate change. Thus, climate change policy has missed out on the component of helping education departments and private education systems by incorporating Education for Climate Change (ECC) formally as a discipline, the line having its two components, “Climate” and “Change.” ECC needs to be introduced like in Finland with its ‘Climate’ & ‘Change’ components. Schools should be funded to act on CC activities. Universities should also promote CC research to strengthen local action. In this regard, curriculum design with a specific focus on, content-based knowledge like climate, deforestation, habitat loss, water cycle, soil erosion, and air pollution should be introduced. Similarly, school-level textbooks should raise awareness of strategies to address pressing environmental concerns, such as reducing carbon consumption, encouraging low-carbon development, reducing deforestation through sustainable forest management, and improving water and waste management.

At the university level, possible topics, like the annual flood cycle and how to manage it; sustainable agricultural methods; existing areas of pollution and potential strategies for improved water, soil and waste management; sustainable forest management; and awareness of valuable endemic species (both flora and fauna) and how to protect them should be factored in for graduate-level studies. For this message to be of epidemic proportion, it has to be well polished and tweaked so that the general public can absorb adaptations. And agents in the form of a well-connected network of experts (e.g., scientists), and connectors (e.g., social media influencers, mosque imams, CSOs, etc.) should carry out mass awareness campaigns. Thus, there is a need to intensify the awareness campaign to ensure that the next time someone calls climate change a hoax, people question that person’s basic knowledge instead of cheering him.

The writer was formerly associated with APS Bahawalpur and can be reached at ghaniausman786@gmail.com.