Environmental education in educational institutes especially schools is vital in shaping young minds towards the importance of environmental conservation and protection. Environmental education has been of paramount importance for directing students towards their responsibilities to environment. Keeping this in view, the school curriculum of Nepal has been including environmental education from ages. In some schools, it is being taught as separate subject whereas in some, the topic has been merged with other subjects. But is the curriculum enough? Does it cover all the fundamental teachings as required?

Four years before when I was in school, environmental education came along with health education. We were taught about pollution, pollutants, and management aspects. Four years back I was surprised to see the same curriculum still running. Many changes in the world of conservation and protection have been made by then.. But the sad fact is that many students are still unaware of major yet simple environmental protection techniques such as 3 R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) for instance (this fact drawn as direct talk with students during environmental programs)

Environmental education at present is an important part of learning. Global warming and climate change issues are affecting people around the globe indiscriminately. For mitigation and adaptation at least minimal amount of proper knowledge is mandatory. At this time, least government should do is design an effective course a course that can cover all the fundamental aspects of environment management and protection.

In my view, environmental education in schools in Nepal should cover following aspects:

1.   The regional, national and international status of environment and the burning issues around the globe.

2.   The sources and causes of environmental degradation and the control and management measures in local level with hint of sustainable solutions.

3.  The minimum rules, regulations and laws abiding environmental conservation.

4.    The components and the functions of environment as a system.

5 The rationale behind environmental education including our responsibilities to conserve, preserve and improve.

The update of the environmental issues is very much necessary if we are looking for real changes. I have raised this issue in some environmental programs before. Hopefully, someday this will be heard and necessary changes made. The inclusion of environmental education is itself an act of appreciation. However, unless the course is designed to develop good understanding towards environment, real actions will always hide behind the books.