Dr. Nil Ratan Roy
& Chetan Chandra Das
Abstract:
Environmental Education (EE) is a process in which individuals gain awareness of their environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values, experiences and also the determination, which will enable them to act individually and collectively to solve present and future environmental problems. Environmental education is a complex process, covering not just events, but a string underlying approach to society building as a whole. Hence, for the present study the researcher has adopted descriptive survey method and attempt has been made to find out the trend of environmental education among boy and girl students of higher secondary schools for which data have been collected from primary sources only.
Key -Words: Trend, Environment, Environmental, Education, etc.
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Introduction
Education forms desirable attitudes, value, skills, understanding and interest about the environment so as to preserve it and improve it for survival of the present and future of mankind. Environmental education means where environment should be used as a medium of study using real life situations. Education is for conserving and improving the environment and finding solutions to the problems related to it. Environmental education is a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges develop the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges and foster attitudes, motivations and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible actions (UNSECO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).
Educating the people at large about environment and its components would develop critical thinking analytical and problem solving skills in them. It would develop knowledge and insights to improve quality of human life on earth. Environmental Education (EE) is a process in which individuals gain awareness of their environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values, experiences and also the determination, which will enable them to act individually and collectively to solve present and future environmental problems. Environmental education is a complex process, covering not just events, but a string underlying approach to society building as a whole. Environmental Education provides people with the awareness needed to build partnership, understand NGO activities, develop participatory approaches to urban planning and ensure future market for eco-business. However, the environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environment functions and particularly, how human beings can manage their behaviour and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc. Related disciplines included outdoor education and experimental education.
Significance of the Study
Environmental education (EE) is properly understood that it does constitute a comprehensive lifelong education and one responsive to changes in a rapidly changing world. It should prepare the individual for life through an understanding of the major problems of the contemporary world, and the provision of skill and attributes needed to play a productive role towards improving life and protecting the environment with due regard given to ethical values. So, for imparting effective environmental education, it is required to give environmental studies as a mandatory subject to all level of education and whether Environmental Education is affected among learners’ attitude and practice etc. In this issue some questions are aroused that how much higher secondary level students are aware of environmental education. That is why, the present study has been undertaken.
Objectives of the Study
1) To study the awareness among boy and girl students towards environmental education in
Chirang district of Assam.
2) To study the open mindedness among boy and girl students towards environmental education in
Chirang district of Assam.
3) To study the scientific temper among boy and girl students towards environmental education in
Chirang district of Assam.
4) To study the thoughtfulness among boy and girl students towards environmental education in
Chirang district of Assam.
1.4 Objectives of the Paper
i) To study the emerging concerns of working women in Assam.
ii) To find out the percentages of participation of women in different fields
Hypothesis
i. There is no significant difference among boy and girl students’ awareness on
environmental education.
ii. There is no significant difference among boy and girl students’ open mindedness on
environmental education.
iii. There is no significant difference among boy and girl students’ scientific temper on
environmental education.
iv. There is no significant difference among boy and girl students’ thoughtfulness on
environmental education.
Delimitation
The present study is delimited to students studying at higher secondary level schools in Chirang district of Assam.
Method
For the present study the researchers have adopted descriptive survey method and all the data have been collected from primary sources.
Population and Sample
The present study is concerned with the higher secondary level students in Chirang district. There are eight higher secondary schools and all the students belong to the number of population of the district and as a sample the researchers have taken 20% students from eight higher secondary schools by using random sampling technique.
Tools Used
For the present study the researchers have used self- developed standardized tools. This tool has four subscales like Awareness (A), Open-mindedness (OM), Scientific Temper (ST) and Thoughtfulness (T) on environmental education and each subscale has five items along with two Yes and No responses.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
All the collected data have been analyzed by descriptive statistics like Mean, Standard Deviation and ‘t/z’-test in the following table-
Table 1: Level of Environmental Awareness among Boys and Girls Students:
| Level for Trend of EE | Ranges of Scores | Boys | % | Girls | % |
| Higher level | 27-40 | 48 | 45.71% | 46 | 44.66% |
| Moderate level | 14-26 | 57 | 54.28% | 57 | 55.33% |
| Poor level | 0-13 | 0 | 00 | 0 | 00 |
`It is observed from the above table that 45.71% boy and 44.66% girl students are having higher level of environmental awareness and 54.28% boy and 55.33% girl students are having moderate level of environmental awareness. Again, it is also found that there is no poor level of environmental awareness among boy and girl students in Chirang district of Assam.
H0-1
There is no significant different among boy and girl students’ awareness on environmental education.
Table 2:“z” test for boy and girl students regarding their awareness on environmental education:
| Group | N | Mean | SD | z/t Value | Level of Significance | |
| 0.01% level | 0.05% level | |||||
| Boys | 105 | 6.89 | 1.56 | 2.27 | Not significant | Significant |
| Girls | 103 | 6.39 | 1.68 | |||
From the above table, it is observed that obtaining ‘z’ value 2.27 is less than table value at 0.01% and more than at 0.05% level, so the calculate value at 0.01% level is not significant and 0.05% level is significant. So, it appears that there is no significant difference among boy and girl students’ awareness on environmental education at 0.01% level. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. But at 0.05% level there is significant difference among boy and girl students’ awareness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
H0-2
There is no significance different among boys and girls student’s open mindedness on environmental education.
Table 3: ‘z’ test for boy and girl students regarding their open mindedness on environmental education:
| Group | N | Mean | SD | z/t value | Level of Significance | |
| 0.01% level | 0.05% level | |||||
| Boys | 105 | 6.55 | 1.58 | 2.0 | Not significant | Significant |
| Girls | 103 | 6.11 | 1.69 | |||
From the above table, it is observed that obtaining ‘z’ value 2.0 is less than table value at 0.01% and more than at 0.05% level, so the calculate value at 0.01% level is not significant and 0.05% level is significant and it appears that there is no existing significant difference among boy and girl students’ open mindedness on environmental education at 0.01% level. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. But at 0.05% level there exists significant difference among boy and girl students’ open- mindedness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
H0-3
There is no significant different among boy and girl students’ scientific temper on environmental education.
Table 4: ‘z’ test for boy and girl students regarding their scientific temper on environmental education
| Group | N | Mean | SD | z/t value | Level of significant |
| Boys | 105 | 6.22 | 1.78 | 1.13 | Not significant |
| Girls | 103 | 6.48 | 1.49 |
It is also observed that obtaining “z” value -1.13 is less than both critical or table value at 0.01% and 0.05% level, so the calculated value is not significant and it appears that there is no existing significant difference among boy and girl students’ scientific temper on environmental education. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted.
H0-4
There is no significant different among boy and girl students’ thoughtfulness on environmental education.
Table 5: ‘z’ test for boy and girl students regarding their thoughtfulness on environmental education:
| Group | N | Mean | SD | z/t value | Level of Significance |
| Boys | 105 | 5.96 | 1.38 | 3.47 | Significant |
| Girls | 103 | 6.62 | 1.50 |
Again it is observed that obtaining ‘z’ value 3.47 is more than both critical or table value at 0.01% and 0.05% level, so the calculated value is significant and it appears that there exists significant difference among boy and girl students’ thoughtfulness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Major Findings
1) It is observed that 45.71% boys and 44.66% girls’ students are having higher trend of environmental education and 54.28% boys and 55.33% girls’ students are having moderate trend of environmental education. Again, it is also found that there is no poor level trend of environmental education among boy and girl students in Chirang district.
2) It is found that obtaining “z” value 2.27 is less than table value at 0.01% and more than at 0.05% level, so the calculated value at 0.01% level is not significant and 0.05% level is significant and it appears that there is no exist significant difference among boy and girl students’ awareness on environmental education at 0.01% level. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted. But at 0.05% level there exists significant difference among boy and girl students’ awareness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
3) It is observed that obtaining “z” value 2.0 is less than table value at 0.01% and more than at 0.05% level, so the calculated value at 0.01% level is not significant and 0.05% level is significant and it appears that there is no existing significant difference among the boy and girl students’ open- mindedness on environmental education at 0.01% level. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted. But at 0.05% level there exists significant difference among boy and girl students’ open- mindedness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
4) It is found that obtaining “z” value -1.13 is less than both critical or table value at 0.01% and 0.05% level, so the calculated value is not significant and it appears that there is no existing significant difference among the boy and girl students’ scientific temper on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted.
5) It is also found that obtaining “z” value 3.47 is more than both critical or table value at 0.01% and 0.05% level, so the calculates value is significant and it appears that there exists significant difference among the boy and girl students’ thoughtfulness on environmental education. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Conclusion
For the present study the researcher has attempted to find out the trend of environmental education among the boy and girl students of higher secondary schools in Chirang district. So, it is found that at 0.01% level there is no existing significant difference among the boy and girl students’ awareness and open- mindedness on environmental education but at 0.05% level there exists significant difference among the boy and girl students’ awareness and open- mindedness on environmental education. Again, it is found that at 0.01% and 0.05% level there is no existing significant difference among the boy and girl students’ scientific temper and thoughtfulness on environmental education and it is also found that 45.71% boy and 44.66% girl students are having higher trend of environmental education and 54.28% boy and 55.33% girl students are having moderate trend of environmental education and it is also found that there is no poor level trend of environmental education among the boy and girl students in Chirang district of Assam.
References
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The writer is the Associate Professor, Dr. Nil Ratan Roy, Department of Education, Visva- Bharati (A Central University, & an Institute of National Importance), Santiniketan, West Bengal, & The writer is the Research Scholar, Chetan Chandra Das, Department of Education, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.