Environmental Orientation at School Education Scheme

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India, appointed IES as a Nodal Agency under the Scheme of Environmental Orientation at School Education (EOSE) for the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Under the Scheme, IES has established strong network with the NGOs as these NGOs play an important role in disseminating Environmental Education among masses. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India has also appointed Indian Environmental Society for setting up of two Resource Centres on Environmental Education in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Programme: Background and Objectives

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India has appointed IES as a Nodal Agency for the states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Punjab under the Scheme of Environmental Orientation at School Education. The Scheme is supporting the capacity building program with the aim of promoting environmental education activities. The major objective of this programme is to strengthen Environmental Education in the School System through the following:

• Strengthening infusion of Environmental Education
• Creating a separate space and time for environment at the middle school level
• Teachers Training for effective environmental education
• Use of non-formal methods with the involvement of NGOs

The Ministry has also appointed IES to set-up two Resource Centres on Environmental Education (EE), one at Himachal Pradesh and other at Jammu and Kashmir, to provide information and training on EE and other related issues.

Progress during the Year

As a part of the activity of the Nodal Agency, IES has organized three workshops, one at Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), second at Hoshiapur (Punjab), and third at Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir). In each of the workshop, approximately 50 participants representing different organizations like Department of Education, SCERT, MHRD, State Pollution Board, State Department of Science and Technology, Forest Department, NGOs, Academic Institutions, etc. have participated in the Workshop. During the Workshop, the points like Current Status of Environment in the State of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Jammu & Kashmir; Need of Environmental Education; Gaps of Environmental Education in School; Status of Environmental Education in Schools; Infusion of Environmental Education in School Curriculum; Steps taken-up to promote the Environmental Education among schools; Environmental Education and Role of NGOs; etc were discussed with the experts.

It has been realized that there is lack of literature available on Environmental Education in these states. To overcome the problem, it has been recommended that the Nodal Agency should collect and develop the literature on the relevant topics related to Environmental Education. The publications of IES – Our Environment (in English) and Hamara Paryavaran (in Hindi) - distributed during the workshops were highly appreciated by the participants at the Workshop and IES is also planning to develop more publication of the similar kind.

During the Workshop, the Society also discussed with the participants about the Guidelines for the Assistance to the Scheme for Assistance to Voluntary Agencies for Experimental and Innovative Programmes in the field of Environmental Education and distributed the same to them. The Society has also distributed these guidelines to other agencies of other project states of the country. The aim of the Scheme is to promote experimentation and innovation, and to complement in diverse ways the Scheme to be implemented by the State Government, for the achievement of the goals spelt out in the National Policy for Education (NPC) for creating environmental consciousness among the students on the basis of guidelines.

Based on the guidelines, the Society has received a large number of project proposals from the states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Delhi.
An empowered Committee has been formed by the Society to scrutinize the proposals received from the voluntary organization.

Resource Centre on Environmental Education

The Society has been selected by the Ministry of human Resource development for setting – up of two Resource Centre, one at Himachal Pradesh and other at Jammu & Kashmir with the aim to enhance the capacity of students and teachers, facilitate activities and action project to address local environmental issues through Hands-on Environmental Education. The Resource Centre will have a specialized collection of information concerning environmental and conservation issues covering a wide spectrum of domains including environmental education, air, water, soil, solid waste management, tourism, transportation, etc.

Eight teachers training workshops were conducted, four in each state, by the Society as a part of the Resource Centre. Twenty schools from each state were selected from which 40 schoolteachers have participated in the training workshops. The Training programmes have covered the parameters like atmosphere, hydrology, land-cover, soils, solid waste management, etc.

The Society has developed some educational material like Eco-club - a step towards the environment awareness, Environmental Orientation to School Education, Solid Waste anagement etc. to enrich the learning experience of teachers, students and others.
Three workshops (one at Jammu and two at Himachal Pradesh), of one day duration, were organized by IES. One eco-restoration camp at Shimla for school children was also organized by the Society. During the camp, the school students were informed about rainwater harvesting, solid waste management, etc.

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